850 T5R Rear main leak

fullonloon · Post by **fullonloon** » 06 Mar 2003, 08:57

The car has now done 170k miles and still going well but is losing oil.
It's been diagnosed as oil leaking from the rear main seal.

What are the causes of this, is it just worn out? Could this be caused by overfilling? Are there any measure to take to stop this happening again?

Thanks

Post by **matthew1** » 06 Mar 2003, 11:57

What are the causes of this, is it just worn out? Could this be caused by overfilling? Are there any measure to take to stop this happening again?

A common-ish problem with 850s. Overfilling? Yes, that can cause it. Likely, your miles did it. From what I've read, it's more common on non-Turbo models because they have a flame trap that gets clogged and causes high crankcase pressure.

Choppercpt · Post by **Choppercpt** » 06 Mar 2003, 16:23

I have a '97 non turbo 850 and have been putting up with the leak for a good month now. I finally had to break down and have the seal replaced at an independent volvo shop. It set me back some cash, but I have piece of mind about the oil leak.

I bought the car 6-weeks ago at an estate sale in PA. It sat for about 6-months, and I have had to replace the O2 sensors and now the main seal.