Rear engine seal oil leak

afay · Post by **afay** » 15 Apr 2006, 11:58

Hello,

I have a '98 v70 with 205k miles. Earlier this week I noticed an oil leak and within in 3 days had to put 4 quarts of oil in the car. I took it to a mechanic that I trust very much and he has told me that the problem is the rear engine seal. His estimation was that to fix the problem it would cost around $1000. He also told me that on a car with as many miles as mine it would be foolish to repair the rear engine seal and not address the transmission at the same time. This would cost another $3000! The estimated blue book value of the car is only $1500 - 3000. I asked him his opinion about whether or not the car was even worth that investment and he said that it was not. I completely trust my mechanic and his opinions. I also LOVE my v70 and was planning to drive it for years to come. I am hoping to get some input on this type of repair and about any experience that anyone has had in investing this much money in an "old" car. Thank you for your help!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 15 Apr 2006, 12:07

Anything wrong with the transmission? Shifting poorly? If not, then do the seal, flush the tranny and be done with it. I've heard similar stories from others and without a transmission swap or rebuild they are at well over 300K miles now.

afay · Post by **afay** » 15 Apr 2006, 13:24

Thanks so much for your response! I have not noticed anything as far as the transmission goes. Do you think that a $1000 investment to fix the seal is worthwhile?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 15 Apr 2006, 15:16

Check around...the part is not expensive at all. they usually charge 8-10 hours for the job. At $100 an hour and 10 hours...well, you do the math. You can probably find a good independent mechanic that charges $80 or less. It's not unheard of for folks to pay less than $700, or even in the 6's for this repair.

I know I'm painting an overly optimistic picture....I would say that there are some horror stories on the AW transmission used in Volvo's....usually AWD's though...maybe that's why your mechanic said what he did.

Anyway, more important than the above, I would suggest you figure out why your RMS went in the first place and take care of this issue so it doesn't do it again. Do you have excessive crankcase pressure? I would look here first. If you lift your oil fill cap off while engine is idling, and gently sit it on the opening, does it float up? It should suck in, or sit there. Is there smoke coming out of your dip stick tube, if you pull it immediately after turning your engine off? Is there oil accumulating under your spark plug cover from your oil cap or the oil separater tube? These are all signs that your PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system hoses and oil separator/trap need replacing. www.fcpgroton.com sells a kit for this for your car. Call them and give them your VIN number if these issues are a problem for you. And then while you're having your RMS repaired, go ahead and get these things taken care of too. Oh, yeah...you'll need an intake manifold gasket too (not sold with the kit...but cheap), as the Intake manifold has to come out to replace the oil trap.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

afay · Post by **afay** » 15 Apr 2006, 15:56

Thanks again! My car is not an AWD so I do not have a transmission issue there. Thank you as well for the other helpful ideas. I will now have a more informed idea of what to talk to my mechanic about on Monday.

On another issue. Other than the obvious, how bad is it for me to be driving this car until it is fixed? As long as I keep pouring in the Castrol will it be OK? Thanks again for all the help.

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 15 Apr 2006, 20:49

My friend/dealer mechanic charges $450 cash to do the job at his shop on the side. I'd call around and see what others want to do the job. $1000 is about what you'd pay at the dealer probably.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 15 Apr 2006, 21:14

Won't hurt the car to drive it...keep oil in it and keep an eye on your oil levels. I have heard of folks forgetting about their "slight leak" and then it developed into a major one before they knew it and when their engine finally seized, they discovered that there was no oil in the sump...rare, but it does happen.