Oil Pan Job... How bad?

adk793 · Post by **adk793** » 02 Jul 2010, 00:44

Well i had the same issue with my 2000 V70 XC with only 97K miles. My mechanic said it had nothing to do with poor maintenance and was a semi common issue on these cars, so its not your fault. Yes, the bubbles is definitely part of this as here is whats happening with a bad sump/o-ring. Because its bad/leaking, air enters in and combines with oil and goes up to the engine. This is the reason for the ticking and low oil pressure (oil press. light on at idle as revving it increases pressure and turns off the light). So the bubbles you see on your dipstick is the air that enters into the engine along with the oil, so yeah.
However because your oil light isnt showing yet, you are in the early stages. Next step is tge oil light will start coming on as you slow down n the RPMs do that slight drop then raise, and next step is it stays on at idle, especially when warm. And the light will only come on when the car is warm as higher temp equals thinner oil, you get the point

I dont think that this specific repair is much different than a regular V70.

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 02 Jul 2010, 06:33

Thanks adk!

That write-up is exactly the one I was looking at, but being a 1993 850, I think the design is going to be a bit different.

VADIS sure makes it look like a 1 hour job!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 02 Jul 2010, 08:43

I had to jack the engine on my son's car up slightly to get the pan off. I just put the jack under the transmission. We F'd up and used Curil K2 to re-seal it and it didn't work. I bought a tube of the actual Volvo stuff last week and we will take another stab at it next week.

When I changed my clutch on the '94 I found that it was very easy to remove the two clamps that secure the power steering lines and then they move out of the way easily. Things may be quite diffferent on a 4WD though - I have never been underneath one.

...Lee

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 15 Jul 2010, 11:57

So I finally got to looking at the oil pan. It looks pretty straightforward with the exception of this one metal pipe in the way and a couple of the bolts near the oil filter which are hard to get to due to the sub-frame. I think a u-joint will easily fix that issue though.

The metal pipe I'm talking about it shown below. What is it? I've seen elsewhere that it's ok to unbolt the holder (bottom left) and bend it out of the way a bit?

So I'm nearly decided on doing it, just need to figure out that metal pipe and borrow some ramps. Seems to me that ramps are going to be the most sensible approach so I can have the whole area underneath to work with, not obstructed with a jack and stands.

Post by **vjaneczko** » 15 Jul 2010, 13:47

ecbsykes wrote: The metal pipe I'm talking about it shown below. What is it? I've seen elsewhere that it's ok to unbolt the holder (bottom left) and bend it out of the way a bit?

Lower strut brace?

ecbsykes wrote: ... and borrow some ramps.

AutoZone is selling the 'small' RhinoRamps for 40 bucks.

Post by **j_cd** » 15 Jul 2010, 15:28

I've got a pair of those ramps, they work. I'm still in the early stages of this problem I guess. Intermittant valve ticking, but no oil light yet. There are no bubbles in the oil either.

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 15 Jul 2010, 15:43

My neighbor has a heavy duty set of metal ramps that I can borrow, but I did see the Rhino Rhamps deal at AZ, tempting!

And I'm thinking that pipe is the fuel line maybe. It's only on one side, so I don't know about it being any sort of brace for the struts. It feels like a pipe that carries something.

j_cd wrote:I've got a pair of those ramps, they work. I'm still in the early stages of this problem I guess. Intermittent valve ticking, but no oil light yet. There are no bubbles in the oil either.

You may want to try a SeaFoam treatment as JRL suggested earlier in the thread. Could help!

Post by **j_cd** » 15 Jul 2010, 15:59

Hey what part of the valves is visible when you take off the intake manifold? I'll be taking it off again to install the IPD phenolic spacer. When I had it off recently I noticed that the valves looked pretty clean, but I don't think you can see all of them.

I never had the valve ticking until right after I did an oil change with Redline and dumped some Amsoil PI in the fuel tank. So maybe that cleaned the gunk off those oil pan o-rings and allowed air into the uptake tube. If it still ticks after I get it back together, I guess the oil pan will be my next job.

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 15 Jul 2010, 16:10

That's weird! Um... I remember being able to see the intake valves decently when I had my manifold off, but there's no real access to get a good lock.

Post by **j_cd** » 15 Jul 2010, 16:15

Yeah it is weird. Here's a thought. I have been letting the oil drain for a long time, like all day or overnight. That couldn't let an air pocket into the engine, could it? I know that sounds far fetched, but that's my only other explanation.

Oil Pan Job... How bad?

Re: Oil Pan Job... How bad?