oil reading after oil leak repair 95 940 turbo 144k miles

[cquarts]

Now I've really got a strange one here. Just fixed a really bad oil leak at the front showing itself at the bottom of the timing cover with surface oil buildup and some slight dripping every time the car was driven for more than a few minutes. I was adding at least a cup a week. Everyone said it was the seals but it wasn't. There's a cover which Volvo calls the sealing flange behind the lower timing belt area that holds the crank seal and the auxiliary seal. It's held on by 6 small bolts with a u-shaped gasket. It had never been touched in the life of the car. The gasket was leaking and the 6 bolts were slightly more than finger tight. So I fixed it with rtv and a new gasket and it is as dry as a bone in the area and has been doing fine and holding oil levels since the fix about ten days ago with some major driving. This morning it was about 10 to 12 ounces down on the stick with no visible signs of even a drop of leakage. It does not burn oil. Any ideas? Can that much be held up in the engine? Thanks Clay

[billofdurham]

That's a sneaky place to have an oil leak, not many would have looked there.

it was about 10 to 12 ounces down on the stick

How far down the stick is that and how long is it since you checked the oil previously? The engine will not hold much back if it stands all night.

Bill.

[skittlejr]

10-12 ounces in ten days of "major" driving doesn't seem that bad in my opinion for a car with 144k miles. i know you said it doesn't burn oil. i guess you are saying that because it does not have blue smoke out the tail pipe, but it's possible, depending on how hard and far you drove during those ten days, that it did use that oil. check it more frequently after normal driving and reasses how much if any it is using.