98' V70 XC gas tank leak, what to do?

[850 LPT]

I am not sure if I really want to hear the answers

Maybe I just need to share with you Volvo guys the pain I am about to endure.

The other day I walked by the passenger side of my XC and thought I caught a whiff of gasoline. And I thought, that can't be.
Did it again the next day and the same thing happened.

Then I took off the snow tires and put on the summers, which gave me the chance to take a closer look. It didn't take long to find this:

It's not dripping by any means, even with the car running, so the leak is still very small.
But I did notice that the car cranks a few more turns than usual recently. Could this be related?

So. no matter what it is that's leaking, I can't get to it. Or not easily I should say.

Maybe I should just drive it off the cliff somewhere? But then, maybe I won't make it that far.

Dirk

[scot850]

There are several vent hoses on the top of the tank that can become fairly crusty with age. The system runs on a closed loop so if there is a leak you loose pressure which is used to move the fuel from the LH to RH side of the tank. I'm not sure of the layout on top of the tank of a 98 V70XC as I have not dropped the rear sub-frame on one. Is you carbon canister at the rear?

I know when I did the 2000 R rear sub-frame, one of the vent pipes on the top of the tank was getting a little tired. I has shaped ends and naturally is obsolete. If you decide to do the tank drop and find it is that hose, I may have a good used spare you can have.

Neil.

[850 LPT]

Thank you for the offer on the vent hose, Neil.

The carbon canister for the EVAP is in the front left wheel well on my car.

I have been reading through your thread with your sub frame restauration, this is going to be very helpful. I guess I would be looking at the same job, just for a different reason. As far as I can tell, my sub frame looks fine. I don't think my XC has been exposed to much road salt in it's life, so that's good. There is however some surface corrosion on the frame pieces were the subframe is bolted on, so I would properly address that.

I'm not afraid of the job, but my challenge is finding the time to do it. How long did it take you?

One of my initial thoughts was to have my indie take this on, but it would be way too expensive. Plus, that would rob me of the opportunity to address other things while the frame is out, such as other rubber hoses, fix rust and so on. One thing I will do for sure is to replace the fuel pump.

Dirk

[scot850]

The job took close to 9 months as I was replacing many parts while I was in there. Biggest issues were obsolete parts and back order parts that took up to 5 months to turn up and I couldn't do without. Fortunately for me it is a (never ending) hobby car and I can manage without it.

Volvo quotes about 10 hours for dropping the rear sub-frame and replacing the fuel pump, so that gives you an idea. I was able to get dropping the rear sub-frame down to 2.5-3 hours at PnP when pulling them to get hard to find/expensive parts.

Try taking a look at say Lisle Volvo web-site to look at the parts layout for the rear end of your car.

The issues I had with corrosion was just in front of the rear mounting bolt in the sub-frame both sides. Look carefully at the sub-frame and make sure the flange is totally complete. As the aluminum is not coated, it oxidises in time with salt, and suffers from electrolysis with the dissimilar metals of the sub-frame and the main frame it bolts to. Hence the corrosion you see at the front mount in your picture. The hardest part was removing the sub-frame bolts as the had corroded to the sub-frame where they passed through. I eventually had to shear the rear most bolts and then use a stud remover once the frame was off to remove the remainder of the bolts.

I even have a full sub-frame stashed in the garage for a 99-00 (not sure if it works for a 98) as I actually found a non-corroded one at PnP!

Neil.

[abscate]

Dirk...if you can borescope it you might be able to repair from up top, cutting some access panels, maybe

[abscate]

Dirk...see this one

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60269&start=10

[850 LPT]

Dirk...if you can borescope it you might be able to repair from up top, cutting some access panels, maybe

Hi Steve, I thought about the access hole method but quickly dismissed it. Cutting through the sheet metal with a Dremel will create sparks right over the area that is leaking.
I was discussing this with a friend over breakfast this morning and he suggested doing it outside away from the house. When things go wrong call the fire department and then collect the insurance

I'm trying to figure out the garage situation for a long term project such as this. I have 2 bays, one is permanently occupied by my Ford Capri, and this car will never be parked outside. The other is being used up by my wife's minivan. She doesn't mind loosing her spot during the summer months, so if I get this done say by the end of the year I'm in good shape. Need to verify with her though.
But I would also loose that space to do oil changes and repairs on my other cars. This means I would have to do all that in the driveway.
Another thing is that I have to do some measuring to make sure I have enough space behind the car to work on the sub frame once it's out.

Not looking forward to this...

And I'm still thinking of talking to my indie...

[abscate]

dirk - empty tank, then flood with water before cutting. You can also cut the holes with a nibbler rather than cutoff wheels.

First step, though, is sorting out where the leak is. If you clearly find the hose, then this repair might only take 2 hours or so, including metal work,

Ive got a borescope up here that will probably work

[850 LPT]

Your nibbler idea is great, I will look into that.

I wonder if a borescope would work, because the space above the tank is so super tight. I might look into buying one anyway though because driving this car to Albany might be too risky.

[abscate]

Driving through thrice in the next month...