DIY: Oil Pan/Sump O-Ring Replacement 2000 XC

[DGB47]

Well turns out the leak was coming from where the turbo return line connects into the oil pan. We replace the o ring and that took care of it.
Thanks again for your help.

[FlyingVolvo]

Good deal! Glad it was something rather simple in the end.

[1998v70xcbill]

what a great write up. Your pan and block looks very clean. I have a 98 v70xc with 190k. hope I don't have to do this soon. Only have had car for 2 months. Finally all is fixed and i love the car. I might have a slight main oil seal leak? Still cleaning block and engine (top to bottom) to find any leaks. I do need to do the pvc system. Added extra vent thur dip stick with catch bottle. Running rotella t6 syn to clean up system. thinking about rebuilt injectors for smoother idle and city MPG only $130 set.

[kevjandon]

This is a great write up and probably the best post out there on this topic. This is an intimidating project but can been done if you have the time, patience, tools and ability to read, watch videos and follow instructions. Prior to this project my skill level was fluid changes, spark plugs, filters (fuel and air), belts and a starter (Volvo's, Porsche's, VW's, BMW's, Honda's, Toyota's).

I just finished this project today! I have 2000 Volvo V70XC with 160K miles (Only 7k miles under our ownership). Wow, what a mess and what a reward when you're done. I had ticking for the first 5 minutes at start up and then consistently when the engine reached operating temperature. The oil light usually took a second or two to turn off after the engine started too. The ticking grew louder over the last couple of months and I knew this project was in my future. Notice I joined the site in September 2013. This is when the ticking started to become louder. My car now has 160K miles.

Upon dropping the pan it was fairly clean. The car has had 5K mile oil changes with mobil one it's entire life. I did Sea Foam it at 155K thinking that would solve the ticking but it didn't. There were no real signs of sludge in the pan (I was expecting mud). The o-rings weren't all that brittle either. They were hard,but none broke upon removal. They o-rings were squished, flattened and/or deformed. One was crimped/pinched exactly like the one in OP's photo (same one too). None really looked like the replacements.

I think my main culprit of my ticking was a crap repair job on the oil cooler o-rings. They were replaced recently but upon removal the it was obvious the previous owners mechanic coated them in some gasket gunk crap which is not required and causes problems. Hindsight being 20/20 these gaskets were all I probably needed to do. However, I'm glad I moved forward and did the entire project with some "while I'm in there" stuff too.

I've read this post several times and questioned if I should just suck it up and do it myself or simply pay someone. I'm so glad I didn't pay someone and did the work myself. Remember my oil cooler o-rings, there are so many short cuts one can take, damage to other components that can be caused by this process and you would be none the wiser if a mechanic did/didn't do it right for you.

The engine is so quiet now I can't believe it! Cold or hot the engine is dead silent. It sounds like a new motor. Rarely does a maintenance procedure produce this kind of result.

This is is such a good write up that I benefited from that I wanted to contribute to the cause and add some comments, lessons learned and "while your in there" stuff that wasn't in the original write-up that would make this project easier and more complete for someone wanting to tackle this beast or when I have to do this again (say another 160K down the road).

1) Go buy a large card board box or two at Lowes for a $2 each. Cut it open and lay it out under the pan. This is the best $2 you will ever spend. You should have 2 oil catch pans too. Make sure they are both drained before you start.
2) If you're going to do this, it is a two day job, minimum. Make sure your car can sit for at least 2 days after you start.
3) If you have an oil cooler make certain you order two oil cooler o-rings. They are about $10 each and don't come with the kit. No one (even ipd's website) will remind you too order them in addition to the kit. I missed this step and it caused the car to sit a third day.
4) The kit does not include an o-ring for the top of the dip stick. You will need to order this separately. Some V70's require one o-ring, others need two. If you have a later model or the updated dipstick you need two. They are the same part (I believe) for either dip stick. I have the early version and ordered the later part number and it fit flawlessly.
5) If you haven't changed the o-ring on the oil filler cap in a while, order one of those too. It does not come with the kit.
6) If you haven't changed your passenger side lower motor mount, order one of those too. When I jacked my motor up by this mount (as described in the post), the mount failed (it was on its last leg). Let's just say this caused a real pain in the ass when it failed as I already had the sump removed. Read notes 10, 11 and 12 to prevent this from happening as this mount isn't designed to be jacked from the bottom.
7) If you haven't replace your transmission motor mount, order one of those too as you have to take the existing one off anyway to pull the sump.
8 ) This project creates the perfect opportunity to change your angle gear (if you have AWD) and rear differential fluid. Each requires a different fluid. I chose OEM Volvo fluids. You'll need 1 liter of angle gear, 2 liters of rear differential fluid and two crush washers (the washers are different from the oil pan drain crush washer) if you want to add this step to the project. Also,if you want to install a drain for the angle gear you'll need to order the kit for that too. Odds are neither fluid has ever been replaced in your car. My car came with a 2" stack of receipts, most from the Volvo dealer and there are no signs either fluid has ever been replaced. And yes, these two fluids are in addition to the transmission fluid.
9) I wish I had made a list and could share, but I didn't. Before you start, make a list of all the torque specifications for each bolt. The highlighted bolts are: oil drain plug, angle gear plug, rear differential plug, motor mount bolts, transmission mount bolts, wheel lug nuts/bolts, oil sump bolts (as noted in the article there are different specs for different bolts), oil filter housing, oil cooler bolts and I'm sure there are more. Also, watch as many of these projects as you can on youtube. There are several great videos out there to become familiar with all the steps required in this project. Pre-load your favorite videos and treads on your ipad or tablet and keep it close to your car for reference.
10) Drive the car for at least 30 minutes before you start (have everything ready to go before your drive). This will help suspend debris in all the fluids you want to replace. This drive is especially important if you want to change the angle gear and rear diff fluids. You will want to remove and replace these two fluids before you remove the oil and start the on the sump as these fluids do not have drains and need to be pumped out. You want to pump the angle gear and rear differential fluid while the debris is suspended in the fluid.
11) Once you get the car up on the ramps, loosen the lug nuts on the front driver wheel. Then jack up the passenger side, remove the ramp and put the passenger side on a jack stand. Then remove the wheel and set it aside. There is a washer nut that needs removed from the wheel well liner. Once removed fold the wheel well liner back (it is designed fold open like a trap door) and hold it back with duct tape or a clamp. The trap door will reveal the lower engine mount. It has two vertical bolts and two horizontal bolts. Remove the two vertical bolts and set them aside.
12) Now grab a piece of wood and put it top of your jack. Jack up the motor using the oil pan (it's ok to do this). You want jack on the passenger side of the pan.
13) Remove the lower engine motor mount by removing the two horizontal bolts and throw the mount away (if you ordered a new one). Keep the bolts and set them aside with the other two.
14) With the mount out of the way (including the lower plate) you can insert a 2x4 piece of wood in it's place. Make sure not to push the 2x4's vertical surface past the subframe on the engine side or it will be in the way when you try to drop the pan. Once the 2x4 is in place, lower the engine (it will rest on hte wood as if it were the motor mount only taller) and remove the jack out of your way. If you can fit something taller than a 2x4 do it. You'll need all the vertical distance you can get (an extra 1/16th or 1/8th inch will be your new best friend and ultimate tool to this project!)
15) When getting the stuff under the pan out of your way (trans mount, power steering line, etc.), there two additional things to note: 1) The power steering line is attached towards the rear of the engine bay too. There is a small double c-clamp that keeps it and another line in position. Remove that clamp and set aside. This allows maximum movement of the power steering line when zip tying it out of the way. 2) If you have all wheel drive, there is an anti-vibration damper under the the angle gear. It is held on to the angle gear with 3 nuts. The bolts are counter screwed into the angle gear case. It's a little tricky getting to the three nuts, but this beast (it weighs about 8lbs) needs removed before you can remove the oil cooler as it prohibits access to the 4 bolts that hold the oil cooler to the sump. It has to come off. Also, remove it before you drain the oil. With this out of the way, the oil will not splash against it. It isn't necessary to remove the anti-vibration damper to change the angle gear but it doesn't hurt either.
16) With the anti-vibration damper removed now is a perfect time to change your angle gear. There is no drain!! There is a bulletin to install a drain by tapping the case through the middle bolt that holds the damper. You need to order this part if you want to do that. I didn't chose this option. Instead I pumped out about 600ml of angle gear (you NEED to measure how much you remove). It was BLACK, thick and full of sludge. This was the most disgusting fluid I've ever seen. I pumped in 600ML's of new clean fluid. Be sure to put back in exactly how much you pulled out.
17) When you remove the bolts from the sump/pan be cautious. The original post describes this but I figured I would point it out again because I didn't really believe it until I saw it. There are 5 different lengths of bolts and two diameters that come out of the sump (and there are lots of them and it gets tricky by the filter even with the filter out). It's not difficult to figure out where they all go but there are 5 different bolt types so use caution and remember where they go.
18) In the photo that identifies all the o-rings that need replaced take note of the ones titled "oil cooler-to-filter o-rings". Now look at the photo of the engine block three pictures above that photo. You'll see a similar tube attached to the block of the engine. It's attached by two bolts. Undo the bolts and remove that tube. Be careful, there are a few ounces of oil in that thing as it has a catch basin. Drain the oil in the tube. There is an o-ring at the end of the tube that attaches to the passenger side. Replace the o-ring from the kit and re-install the tube.
19) I had three o-rings left over from the OEM Volvo oil sump kit (still can't believe they call it a kit when it comes with things you don't need and doesn't come with everything you do need). Anyway, the only place I could think where they could go is on the passenger side tube at the oil cooler o-ring at the bottom of the inside of the pan. The other location might be at a bolt that could be removed on the passenger side of the pan under the pan-to-block o-rings. I wasn't in the mood to attempt to figure it out and be the one to experiment. No one has ever mentioned touching these areas and I wasn't going to be the first.

Well that is it. This is the most rewarding project I've ever done on a car. I'm looking forward to no ticking and another 160K miles from this great car. At the end of the project I have new angle gear, new rear differential fluid, new passenger side lower motor mount, new transmission mount, all new o-rings for everything that is associated with the oil sump, new oil and oil filter. I think I invested about $250-$300 in this project in parts, fluids and tools and about 10 - 15 hours of time. I saved at least 4 times that much when compared to an indie shop or dealership. Neither would have done as thorough of job. Plus, now I have a set of ramps that I got on craigslist for $5!

Thanks to ecbsykes and matthewsvolvosite.com for this great post and forum. I hope my added segments help someone in the future.

[FlyingVolvo]

I'm truly thrilled that this has helped out so many people. Seems like so long ago!

[emt5]

Great write up, I followed the write up for parts of the ordeal. My 98 s70 with 158k was DIRTY, whoever owned it before me did not take care of routine stuff like changing the oil!!

I was getting a valve tick when engine was hot, I could tell that the engine was working harder than it should be. The tell tail for that was the first two oil changes were black and gritty and burnt after 1000 miles.

Long and short: My suction was full of hard oil/carbon deposits so it was no wonder oil pressure was down. The o-rings were not in bad shape but I replaced them anyway. I did not have any leaks prior of the drop of the pan therefor I figured it was the suction all along. I spent 3 hours cleaning the pan in a parts washer and still could not get it as clean as I wanted. Then I spent another 3 hours cleaning the crankcase of the engine. The amount of build-up was frustrating to see but i'm glad I took the time to do it.

[cn90]

Related topic for 1998 and prior models, Oil Tstat O-rings DIY:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 7&start=28

[xHeart]

I'm truly thrilled that this has helped out so many people. Seems like so long ago!

Good story-telling Ed.

[andybbrown]

Great write-up. One question: With the car on ramps, how did you access the engine mount bolts. You must have jacked the passenger side up further off the ramp to remove the wheel to gain access via the wheel arch? Or, can you remove the mount bolts while on the ground then drive car up the ramps?

[kevjandon]

Andybbrown: Read my note 11 in my post above.