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

[JimBee]

A couple of other things to plan for.

Take one of the M7 (I think) bolts to a hardware store (Menards if there's one near you) and pick up a tap with the same thread size and pitch. Clean out the bolt holes that hold the pan on before reassembling. There some stuff in those holes—probably medium locktite—that can make a bolt bottom so you can't get a correct torque on it and you might strip the threads in the block if you force it. Better to clean them out.

Also, if you can get a couple of extra M7 bolts, cut the heads of them and screw them into the block fore and aft for aligning the pan when you put it together.

And, use a utility knife blade to shave the thin film of anaerobic sealant from both the pan and its mating surface on the block.

Once you get things set up so you can trial run the reinstall, I really think you want to roll the anaerobic sealant onto the pan surface, right over the new quarter-size o-ring. You'll have the pan out on the ground or work surface where you can see what you're doing. With alignment pins installation will be smooth.

I had a buddy help me with the reinstall. You'll need one hand to hold the pan in place once you push it to the block on your alignment pins. The other will be useful for starting some bolts. I used a $10.00 pistol grip 9v rechargeable bit driver, with a 5 inch extension. You can one hand it. Alternatively, you could use a small trolley jack to hold it up in place once aligned on the pins. Tough to do those things without a helper.

Preparation and easy access will make it go smoothly.

You can use the Permatex anaerobic sealant. Same stuff as far as I'm concerned.

[JimBee]

The tutorial I mentioned above adds some details to others that brave souls who venture into rebuilding a P80 engine might find useful. You can download the pdf at the following link:

[E Showell]

Jim -- Thanks so much for the tips. Well, the pan is out, but I've managed to snap the head off of one of the pan bolts and so far, have not been able to remove the remaining stud. I'm considering drilling it out. I've tried heat with a torch and quenching with PB Blaster, but no joy so far. I have toyed with the idea of heating the bolt shank directly with an electric soldering iron, but I'm not sure that's a whole lot different from the plumbing torch. I'm concerned that with drilling I'll just queer the threads so that I'll have to tap for the next largest bolt shank. I'd try an easy out, but don't think it likely to work given the extent of the apparent corrosion. Can I get away with just skipping that bolt and making sure I have a goodly amount of anaerobic sealant in that spot, or it that just a recipe for a leaky pan?

I'll be using the Permatex sealant. I've heard a bead of that sealant is recommended as opposed to rolling it out. I've also toyed with the idea of putting the sealing on the block side of the equation as opposed to the pan side. I figured it might make less of a mess in the fitting. Any reason (other than gravity) not to try that?

I love the locator stud idea -- brilliant. Thanks for the tip.

[JimBee]

That broken bolt is a bummer, though you can use the stud as one of your locators. The aluminum alloy the pan is made of is very rigid and the flange face is milled flat, probably to within a thousandth of an inch. If it were mine, I'd skip that bolt, torque down the others in a criss-cross pattern, side to side, end to end.

We used a bead on the pan, about half the diameter of a toothpaste squiggle. If you do that, make sure you completely surround any bolt holes, especially at the ends and your oil pickup seals. I had a helper who wanted to use the bead approach, if I were to do it again, I think I would go with the foam roller to assure even, full-width coverage. As long as coverage is full width, it might be okay either way.

BTW I'm not sure how well the aluminum will tolerate high heat. You wouldn't want to distort the mating surface at all.

Good luck!

[JimBee]

Whether to put the sealant on the block or the pan? Like you said, fighting gravity to get it on the block more or less evenly all around, will probably be harder than putting it on the pan flange on your workbench. Plus, you might have oil dripping while you're trying to get the sealant on the block. I don't think I would try that. I understand your concern though, getting the pan into place with sealant on it without disturbing the sealant, can be tricky—a 3 or 4 handed task? I was underneath on my back, assistant sitting on something, knees either side of the wheel hub.I did a quick wipe of any oil around the inside of the block. He fed the pan over the dropped frame rail to me, and helped to hold up the front of it while I got bolts started.

I still think that's the best way to go. With the locator studs and your tool ready to get a couple of bolts started when the pan is pushed into place it should be easy from there on.

[JimBee]

One other reminder. You'll need to reinstall your oil pickup tube with the pan partially in place, supported at the transmission end, down toward the front. As I think about this, another argument for rolling sealant onto the pan flange is: You can roll it onto the intake side and back, and halfway from back to middle on exhaust side. Maybe do the front of the flange, too. Then, you won't disturb the sealant while you reinstall the pickup tube. Once that's in, you can finish rolling sealant onto the remainder of the flange and maybe touch up any places it got disturbed. Just some thoughts to ponder.

We found that you can get the bolts on the pickup tube's saddle bracket installed even when the wide rubber seal on the end that goes into the block is not fully seated. Best to get the bolts started and partway in, then make sure the block end tube/seal is fully seated. You can feel it when it is, plus its visible. As I recall, there's no rubber showing when that seal is fully seated. I use silicone spray on all seals to facilitate proper seating; I think it helped on that one. Of course, while you're doing all that, be sure not to disturb the two large o-rings in the front end of the pan.

[E Showell]

So I got everything back together and buttoned up yesterday with significant help from my brother. (Really, my brother got it buttoned up with minor assistance from me). Pan is refilled and I did not notice any leaks although I haven't checked it after sitting overnight. I have yet to start the car which I will do today after replacing the failed sway bar end link that I noticed when removing the passenger side wheel for this job (along with the collapsed front motor mount -- of which I had one in "inventory"). I guess there's a lesson in this. I don't drive each of the vehicles in the fleet often enough to assess their current condition and my 18 y/o son hasn't been driving long enough to tell when "little things" are wrong with the car. The failed sway bar link was the pair to the IPD "heavy duty" link whose catastrophic failure I reported on previously. Those things are a ginormous PITA to remove. I'll post back when I know if my top end tappet noise has been cured by the replacement o-rings. One thing I can say for sure, the smaller of the pan o-rings was slightly out of round and both were considerably flattened out. I imagine I'll get a little noise on initial start up since the pan was off for a week and the engine invariably drained down, although I did prime the oil filter as is my consistent practice at oil changes.

[volvofixer1000]

I want to congratulate you on the excellent job in showing how to replace the o rings on the lubrication system. All the details are extremely helpful.
This gives me a fighting chance. I couldn't afford to pay someone to do it.
I just got the parts, now is the time is the time to get down and dirty.
I will let you know the final outcome.
Thanks for all the guidance

[volvofixer1000]

Well, well, well!!!!!! I almost got it. I thought your job looked very much like mine, but from what I found out, the vehicle that I have is slightly different.
I have a 2006 S40 and I just found out that the A/C compressor has to be at least loosened , I just don't know if there is enough room to push the compressor to the side and drop the oil pan.
Has anyone done this job on this model? if so please let me know where I can read about it.
Thank you

[don_moore_1904]

I wanted to add one tip/observation from my experience doing my 1998 S70 T5. I have two lines travelling under my oil pan. There are two brackets that hold the lines about an inch apart, one on the front frame rail and one behind the engine. The one on the frame rail has an 8mm nut on the backside, while the one behind the engine screws into a rubber block.

There is a *third* bracket located forward of the frame rail, and above it. This bracket simply holds the two lines apart and floats in space. This bracket has a nut built into the back plate of it. In my case, the screw was rusted enough so that it caused trouble because this bracket is *very hard* to access. *All three* of these brackets must be removed, in order to allow play in the lines to get them fully clear to drop the left edge of the sump pan straight down. With the lines clamped to each other, in my case it would not be possible to pull them far enough to the left. Remember the right edge of the pan has to be manipulated to the left *after* dropping the left edge straight down. The write-ups here are very helpful. I'm not done yet - these brackets and PS lines caused me fits.

A ratchet tie was perfect to give the force needed to pull the power steering lines out of the way - the pan must be able to drop straight down. With the lines pulled as tight as possible, there was only 1/4" of clearance. Actually I pulled with one hand while ratcheting with the other.