Long time lurker finally decided to take the plunge. Very impressed with the community and broad knowledge here. Have a question about my V70, but first a bit of a story. Question at bottom if you want to skip the narrative.

The Story:
2002 V70 2.4T with 175k miles. Developed a severe oil leak the other week to the point of not being able to drive it. Investigated and found at least one, if not both cam oil seals leaking. Last timing belt change was 105k, but cannot confirm everything that was done. Because I didn’t have the time to do it myself, I sent it up to the local independent (not Volvo specific) shop. They did the timing belt, tensioner, cam seals, crank seals, water pump, serpentine belt, etc. I asked them to check the PCV system to make sure that wasn’t the cause of the blow out. They did check and stated no problem found, however with the caveat that they weren’t entirely familiar with it and couldn’t guarantee that there wasn’t an issue.

After the work, the car ran much better, smoother idle, etc. Got it home without incident and did the glove over oil filler test. The crankcase definitely under pressure (ie. not vacuum as it is supposed to be). Suspect we still have an issue with PCV system which was likely the ultimate cause of seal failure. It is going to be a couple of weeks before I have the parts and time to do the service.

The Question:
How much or how little should we drive the car, knowing we have new seals but still have a PCV issue? What is the risk for damage? If we leave the dipstick out a bit, will it reduce the risk?

Thanks.

 

Leave the dipstick out a little to vent the pressure until you can replace the breather box and clean the ports.

 

The dipstick thing and don't rev the engine much. Hopefully the new cam seals will resist. As previous poster says, also inspect the oil passage inside the oil pan when replacing the pcv.