2002 V70XC PTC job maybe nearing finished?

jasonmartinau · Post by **jasonmartinau** » 18 Aug 2014, 23:00

So, I have this '02 v70XC that suddenly blew a cam seal (leading to catastrophic oil leakage!). Been slowly disassembling it in my spare time and finally got down to the PTC breather box, and it's awful down there.

Close-ups:

And the breather box:

So, multipart question:

1) How can I safely pull the crap out of that return passage going into the block without depositing chunks of ?? into the sump.

2) where does the upper passage from the block come from? Best way to clean it?

3) If I do have to drop the sump to properly clean that return passage, will I have to jack up the engine to get it off?

jasonmartinau · Post by **jasonmartinau** » 20 Aug 2014, 22:09

So I decided to go ahead and drop the pan and clean out that whole channel. It looks like this is just a right angle down into the pan, right? In terms of cleaning, is there any tried and true process that anyone has used? All I know to do is use brushes, chemicals, and maybe pipe cleaners? Seriously when I say I'm a newbie literally this is 1000% farther than I've ever tried to do in a car repair job before (changing oil and replacing radiators), so if there's any "well, whatever you do, make sure you don't....<bad thing>" then I'd sure appreciate someone telling me so.

I haven't done it yet but it looks like the pan will come off easy enough. There appears a possibility it will get hung up on the passenger side motor mount but I'm going to try it anyway. loosened all of the bolts today. Going to maybe pull it and clean it tomorrow or friday whenever my replacement o-rings get here.

Post by **abscate** » 21 Aug 2014, 05:45

That is seriously bunged up. I think dropping the pan is probably the right thing to do, but I don't know the answer to your clearance question, Clarence.

Don't worry too much about gunk in the engine. The big stuff is too big to get into a small oil passageway and will get picked off by the filter. Once you are all back together, change oil and filterl, idle for a few minutes until hot, then change oil and filter again.

Post by **DGM** » 21 Aug 2014, 09:39

jasonmartinau wrote:So I decided to go ahead and drop the pan and clean out that whole channel. It looks like this is just a right angle down into the pan, right? In terms of cleaning, is there any tried and true process that anyone has used? All I know to do is use brushes, chemicals, and maybe pipe cleaners? Seriously when I say I'm a newbie literally this is 1000% farther than I've ever tried to do in a car repair job before (changing oil and replacing radiators), so if there's any "well, whatever you do, make sure you don't....<bad thing>" then I'd sure appreciate someone telling me so.

I haven't done it yet but it looks like the pan will come off easy enough. There appears a possibility it will get hung up on the passenger side motor mount but I'm going to try it anyway. loosened all of the bolts today. Going to maybe pull it and clean it tomorrow or friday whenever my replacement o-rings get here.

Find this "how to" on how to proceed.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=31236

It is very important to clean the return passage (pan & engine). With the amount of sludge present, the passage way in the pan is surely blocked.

jasonmartinau · Post by **jasonmartinau** » 22 Aug 2014, 20:56

Thanks. I had this howto bookmarked already! I don't know how anyone did anything before the internet. I find it interesting, the service instructions from volvo on dropping the pan do NOT mention jacking up the motor off the mount(s) but I have heard varying accounts of how possible it is or isn't without doing so. Hoping I can avoid that. It looks possible but I am actually headed out there in a few minutes to try it out. Just got my o-ring kit and sealant in the mail today from FCP so should be ready to go.

Any thoughts on what type of cleaning solvents I can safely use within that passage? I have various degreasers and tools but unsure what the best approach is. I've heard coat hangers and simple green work well. Beyond that it's a shot in the dark for me.

Thanks!

jasonmartinau · Post by **jasonmartinau** » 25 Aug 2014, 21:13

Wow. A few days later and here's a little update. So I pulled the pan and did not need to jack up the motor. There were a few bolts hard to get to just over that mount but the right extensions/wobbles on the ratchet got me under there. The transmission mount was nearly impossible to remove - It was extremely tight. After that it was easy. That channel was fully bricked all the way through so it was a good thing I did it.

Also, I could not get the oil filter housing off with my strap wrench. I mean no matter what I did. Until I pulled the pan off, then I could straddle it just right... Toughest oil change I ever did. I ordered the tool from amazon that very day.

The only problem in this ordeal was that I might have overtorqued a few of the bolts holding the pan onto the block. Lets just say... I mixed up the units on the torque wrench. But assuming I did a decent job with the gasket goo, how big a problem might this be? I'm hoping if I ever need to pull the pan again I'll get some hela coils and fix them but hoping I'll be ok until then (hopefully never?).

Post by **abscate** » 29 Aug 2014, 12:42

If the pan doesn't leak, don't worry about it. The next person to remove the pan will be someone taking the engine out from a PnP, and can deal with it then.

jasonmartinau · Post by **jasonmartinau** » 29 Aug 2014, 21:03

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will try not to worry

After getting this job all the way done (PCV, front cam seals, timing belt + accessories) I have a car that seems to run smoothly (and with no leaks!). It is giving me cam/crank misalignment codes which I was warned about with removing the VVT hub. Seems to be running fine... should I be concerned about the code?

Also there is a slight 3-5Hz vibration at idle. I suspect that horizontal mount that I removed and reinstalled could be the problem. That whole assembly has a lot more play in it than I would expect... the bushings all seem a little worn out. Also the power steering pump pulley has a slight wobble. Like it's bent a little? Pretty sure not caused by me but who knows. Any ideas of likely culprits here?

bugeye · Post by **bugeye** » 31 Aug 2014, 03:45

If the upper and lower mounts are original, they are shot. These are known wear items. I replaced both on our 2004 XC70 at 92000 miles. Made a noticable difference improvement in shift quality and vibration. Poly mount inserts are available from few online vendors. I have read but have no experience, the poly inserts transmit excessive vibration as compared to Volvo rubber mounts. Good pictures. Thanks for posting.