Urgent Help Finding Oil Leak Topic is solved

[BeerDeer]

I don't have the money and resources to replace PCV for a few weeks. I need to find the oil leak first. Can take the oil dipstick a little bit out to help with the pressure and doesn't blow all other main seals?

[scot850]

Ok. The glove inflating is not good. This means the engine breathing system which helps reduce internal engine pressure is blocked. What this system does is reduce the pressure in the engine when running by recycling the oil fumes in the engine into a catch tank below the 5 silver intake pipes on the left side of your 3rd picture.

There are a few pipes that run from/to this tank underneath the intake pipe. Another pipe runs up to the top of the engine which you can see to the left side of the oil filler when standing in front of the car, or just above the oil filler in your 3rd picture above.

If you have not worked on a car, this is a fairly large job to fix the PCV system involving removing the intake manifold and cleaning and replacing the catch tank and pipes.

Now what happens when you get PCV positive pressure is it puts pressure on the inside of all the oil seals in the engine. when this gets high enough it pushes the seals out of the engine causing leaks like you have.

What you have shown in your first picture is the distributor. It sits on the end of the camshaft. There is a cam seal between that and the distributor which pushes out and will push oil into the distributor and down the side of the engine. There is another cam seal to the right of that on the exhaust camshaft (your car has 2 camshafts, inlet and exhaust, the distributor is mounted on the inlet side). Those camshafts run across the top of the engine and had seals on the other end where your timing belt is under that black cover on the side of the engine.

Finally, the pressure can cause the crankshaft seals to be pushed out which is directly below the distributor and will leak oil between the gearbox and the engine. On a manual transmission this can get onto your clutch plates and cause slipping of the clutch. On an automatic it makes a real mess. There is a crank seal on the other end of the engine as well.

To fix the crank seal below the distributor requires removing the gearbox. That is a big job that the dealer used to quote 10 hours for alone.

There is one thing you can do to try to reduce the pressure on the engine. Pull the oil dipstick up about 2cm so pressure can leak out of there. Tie a cloth around it to allow and oil fumes to be caught and not leak all over. This is just a short term thing to try to reduce the pressure in the engine.

None of these issues is a small one. I would suggest you take the car to a trusted repair shop and have the leak diagnosed. There are repair videos and DIY instructions on the internet. There is one on MVS for the PCV clean/replacement below:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/pcv-s ... -cylinder/

Neil.

[BeerDeer]

Ok. The glove inflating is not good. This means the engine breathing system which helps reduce internal engine pressure is blocked. What this system does is reduce the pressure in the engine when running by recycling the oil fumes in the engine into a catch tank below the 5 silver intake pipes on the left side of your 3rd picture.

There are a few pipes that run from/to this tank underneath the intake pipe. Another pipe runs up to the top of the engine which you can see to the left side of the oil filler when standing in front of the car, or just above the oil filler in your 3rd picture above.

If you have not worked on a car, this is a fairly large job to fix the PCV system involving removing the intake manifold and cleaning and replacing the catch tank and pipes.

Now what happens when you get PCV positive pressure is it puts pressure on the inside of all the oil seals in the engine. when this gets high enough it pushes the seals out of the engine causing leaks like you have.

What you have shown in your first picture is the distributor. It sits on the end of the camshaft. There is a cam seal between that and the distributor which pushes out and will push oil into the distributor and down the side of the engine. There is another cam seal to the right of that on the exhaust camshaft (your car has 2 camshafts, inlet and exhaust, the distributor is mounted on the inlet side). Those camshafts run across the top of the engine and had seals on the other end where your timing belt is under that black cover on the side of the engine.

Finally, the pressure can cause the crankshaft seals to be pushed out which is directly below the distributor and will leak oil between the gearbox and the engine. On a manual transmission this can get onto your clutch plates and cause slipping of the clutch. On an automatic it makes a real mess. There is a crank seal on the other end of the engine as well.

To fix the crank seal below the distributor requires removing the gearbox. That is a big job that the dealer used to quote 10 hours for alone.

There is one thing you can do to try to reduce the pressure on the engine. Pull the oil dipstick up about 2cm so pressure can leak out of there. Tie a cloth around it to allow and oil fumes to be caught and not leak all over. This is just a short term thing to try to reduce the pressure in the engine.

None of these issues is a small one. I would suggest you take the car to a trusted repair shop and have the leak diagnosed. There are repair videos and DIY instructions on the internet. There is one on MVS for the PCV clean/replacement below:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/pcv-s ... -cylinder/

Neil.

Thank you.

I did more testing and the glove doesn't inflate as much anymore after driving for awhile.

We have cold -5°C negative weather here.

I will try again. Also when revving the glove doesn't expand. Stays the same as I saw before.

Another is I took the dipstick a little bit out and I revved. No oil or fumes come out.

Do you think the gearbox needs to be removed? I have automated gearbox. I checked oil in gearbox. There's no black matter. Looks like normal atf.

Also the area of leakage it's isolated to the area shown here. Check attached.

Also check attached of the tubes I noticed they are hard.

Do you think gearbox needs to be pulled out? I didn't notice leak coming from there. It comes from the top as seen in the video we can see dripping.

I don't have funds to have gearbox removed or put this car in a repair shop. It would cost me what? 1000€ to repair? I can't afford that unfortunately. What are my choices.. what should I do.

Pictures attached.

[BeerDeer]

Pictures

[scot850]

You will either have to remove the distributor cap, to see under it, or buy a mirror on a stick so you can see under the distributor.

Appreciate it is cold, it is -15C or below here with the windchill this morning. Not great for working on cars. I am lucky to have a heated garage though!

Back to your leaks. All those leak areas are classic PCV blocked. There is a chance if the cam seal has blown out, there is enough pressure relief to not cause a glove to inflate.

While you can never be 100% sure without actually seeing the car, I'm fairly certain you have a leaking cam seal and possibly a blocked oil catch tank which then leaks oil down the front of the engine.

Your transmission may be ok for now that a cam seal is likely the leak issue.

Neil.

[BeerDeer]

You will either have to remove the distributor cap, to see under it, or buy a mirror on a stick so you can see under the distributor.

Appreciate it is cold, it is -15C or below here with the windchill this morning. Not great for working on cars. I am lucky to have a heated garage though!

Back to your leaks. All those leak areas are classic PCV blocked. There is a chance if the cam seal has blown out, there is enough pressure relief to not cause a glove to inflate.

While you can never be 100% sure without actually seeing the car, I'm fairly certain you have a leaking cam seal and possibly a blocked oil catch tank which then leaks oil down the front of the engine.

Your transmission may be ok for now that a cam seal is likely the leak issue.

Neil.

Thank you again for your kind help and advice.

To provide an update, I ended up using about one and a half cans of Liqui Moly Oil Saver because nearly all my oil was gone. Additionally, I raised the dipstick by 2 cm and wrapped it with a rag, which seems to be sitting securely in place for now.

A friend of mine has been helping me with the car, and he mentioned that there are no leaks near the transmission or gearbox while the car was lifted..

The leak appears to be coming from the top, in the area I marked previously. Based on what I can see and what you've suggested, I’m really hoping it’s just a seal issue...

I also realized I should have mentioned that the car has been leaking for over a year now. I’ve been managing it by topping off the oil periodically, but with the colder weather, the leak has worsened significantly. I’m not sure if the Liqui Moly Oil Saver might have contributed to this escalation, but the issue was present long before.. (Not this badly)

If it’s just the camshaft seal as you suspect, I’ll be relieved. However, if it turns out to be something more severe, like the gearbox, I’ll likely have no choice but to send the car to the scrapyard. Unfortunately, I can’t justify spending over €1,000 to repair a car I purchased for €1,100.

I really appreciate your expertise and any further guidance you can provide. Thank you again for taking the time to help me with this..

[scot850]

I hope the diagnosis is what I said on the cam seals. I hear you on the cost of repairs. We are all seeing those costs escalate.

However, take into account the cost of running a new car. Possibly high payments monthly, it still has to be serviced, sore it may have a warranty, but wear items still have to be paid for in most cases, and then there is depreciation. If only we could buy an 850 for that price here! I have a friend who is trying to sell his 96 10V 850 with over 500,000km on it and hoping for $3000 CDN (too high even here, but if you don't ask........).

I wish you luck!

Neil.

[Krons]

I don't have the money and resources to replace PCV for a few weeks. I need to find the oil leak first. Can take the oil dipstick a little bit out to help with the pressure and doesn't blow all other main seals?

Temporarily you can also cut a small section of the oil cap seal out as a spot to relieve any pressure, in addition to your dipstick. Will want to wrap a rag around it to prevent making too big of a mess.

[DennisCA]

Your leak is 90% likely behind the distributor IMO.

Likely the blown seal is caused by the PCV valve as has been said. I recently serviced the PCV system and replaced that seal on my car when I bought it. It is an annoying operation with lots of hard to reach bolts to remove the intake. I would not want to do it outside in this weather.

But the seal is pretty easy to replace.

A temporary solution might be to disconnect the pipe that goes from the valve cover to the PCV catch bucket, replace it with a custom hose that you let drop down near to the bottom of the engine instead. Then you can vent overpressure below the car and not have it make a mess in the engine bay.

Here you can see the top cover removed and the vent hole is between fuses 2 and 3 counted from the left. Get some hose clamps, 90 degree hose barb fittings and some fuel hose of the right size (don't remember what diameter) and make a custom hose to lead the fumes down and away.

[BeerDeer]

Your leak is 90% likely behind the distributor IMO.

Likely the blown seal is caused by the PCV valve as has been said. I recently serviced the PCV system and replaced that seal on my car when I bought it. It is an annoying operation with lots of hard to reach bolts to remove the intake. I would not want to do it outside in this weather.

But the seal is pretty easy to replace.

A temporary solution might be to disconnect the pipe that goes from the valve cover to the PCV catch bucket, replace it with a custom hose that you let drop down near to the bottom of the engine instead. Then you can vent overpressure below the car and not have it make a mess in the engine bay.

Here you can see the top cover removed and the vent hole is between fuses 2 and 3 counted from the left. Get some hose clamps, 90 degree hose barb fittings and some fuel hose of the right size (don't remember what diameter) and make a custom hose to lead the fumes down and away.

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone for their encouraging words. I intend to replace the PCV and Read Camshaft Seals over the weekend. Should I proceed with using the remaining Liquid Moly Oil Saver? I have utilized one and a half cans, and I still have half a can left. Given the persistent oil leakage, I am considering this option.

However, the PCV kit I ordered does not include the "black box", as illustrated in the attached image. I hope this will not pose any issues, and we will replace all the tubing accordingly.

Additionally, I will inspect the air filter and potentially the intake or MAF sensor, as the vehicle experiences a 100-300 RPM drop while idling, accompanied by shaking. This issue does not occur during driving.

I am hopeful that I can complete these repairs within my student budget. The vehicle has been a reliable companion, but if the financial burden becomes excessive, I may have to reconsider its viability.