2005 XC70 Oil Leak?

james166 · Post by **james166** » 17 Sep 2017, 17:24

I have an XC70 (2005, 116K miles) that is using a lot of oil (maybe 1 qt/1000 miles). Looking around the engine, I noticed it was "oily" in an area in the left side of the engine somewhat to the left of the timing belt. I attached a picture here of what it looks like - in the picture the left side is the timing belt cover and the right side is the coolant tank, and looking down between those you can see a lot of oil. Is this normal? I should also mention I did the "rubber glove test" where I put a rubber glove over where the oil fill port and looked to see if I got a negative pressure. The results showed a slight positive pressure, but not enough fill up the glove.
I'm hoping someone has some ideas on what this all means, and what to do about it!

Post by **abscate** » 17 Sep 2017, 18:02

Too much oil, probably a cam seal leak.

Fix the PCV and cam seal together so it doesn't reoccur. A clean PCV will suck the glove in

dono · Post by **dono** » 12 Oct 2022, 19:09

Old thread but the picture looks exactly like a CAM seal leak (exhaust side) I fixed a few years ago. I used uv dye in the oil to pinpoint it.

MDK · Post by **MDK** » 15 Oct 2022, 11:00

MDK here, so what happens is that over time the " oil trap ' that is below or under the intake gets clogged up and crankcase is trying to relieve the pressure. This unit is bolted to the engine.. a real ¶%©@ to change. Anyway, it causes pressure build up hence the cam seals both front and rear leak if you were to put an air pressure gauge on the dipstick tube you should see approximately -5lbs. I've seen these replaced and the oil leak goes away, but not always. It may be listed as an oil separator.. same thing.