Hello Volvo Forums.

I am a new member. It is a pleasure/pain to finally have a cause to post here despite reading many threads. But, I have a question for you experts. I will preempt said question with a statement--I am mechanically illiterate.

Anyway, as stated I own a 1991 240 Wagon that I bought very cheap ($200) about 4 years ago. Since that time, I have had to do so very little to it, and it has always ran great. The other day (Dec 31) my land friend and I ran to the store and took "Ingrid". In the short trip (few blocks) there was a fairly loud "bang" or "pop". I thought little of it as it was a very cold Wisconsin evening. Came back from the store, and parked the 240.

Today, I was heading to work, and began noticing a heavy scent of burning oil coming from defrost vents. Pulled over, and sure enough, lot of oil towards the back of the engine and dripping underneath. The oil was burning on the exhaust pipes on just behind the passenger front quarter panel. Took it to my mechanic and there she sits until it can be looked at on Friday.

My question is, with the limited information provided (can try to answer any follow up questions), will this be an end to an era? Despite virtually no oil in the car, the engine was never knocking or banging. From the little I read so far, it sounded like a "rear main seal". Is that a $1000 fix if that is what happened? Any other theories of what the problem may be?

Oil was changed about 400 miles ago.

Thank you for any information you may be able to provide.

 

Doing some additional (obsessive) reading, I have learned about a deal called as "flame trap". If this became clogged, could it be the reason for the loud "bang" that I heard? Like...it exploded or some such....but yet the engine itself still runs smoothly?

Again, I must stress that I have very limited knowledge on these things. I just someone can offer some information.

 

Yes, check/replace that flame trap; or at least clean it.

Not my pic. http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/B230F_features_v1.pdf

 

Thank you very much for that, and hope! If that got all clogged like, and pressure built up, that would explain the "pop/bang" and oil, huh? What's a rough estimate a part price and rough hours at the shop?

And burns? You may be my new best friend. Just warning you.

Thanks a billion!

 

the flame trap AND the oil recovery box are both suspect here.

its a dirty job, a shop will probably charge at LEAST an hour labor.

you need most of whats on this page
Product Search: PCV CRANKCASE VENTILATION

[more specifically, the oil seperator box, and OE flame trap kit... I'd get the o-ring too]


oh, and you may very well have blown seals. when the flame trap and oil box get totally clogged, the pressure hast o come out SOMEwhere, so it blows seals out. cam shaft seal, intermediate shaft seal, valve cover gasket are all candidates.

 

Brilliant! But all those are still a better scenario than a rear main seal, is that correct?

 

yeah, because that one requires pulling the engine to fix.

any of the front shaft seals will require taking the timing belt off, so you might as well put a new one on, along with tensioner and stuff, just on principles (the labor is already done, and the oil leakage very well may have damaged the old belt). my mechanic likes to do water pumps and thermostats while he's in there, since 90% of THAT labor is done too.

 

Does it make any difference that the leaking seems to be more in the back (opposite of grill)?

 

well, it depends on where its coming from. the oil collector box is under the intake manifold, if that broke, it could be oozing out their and running back before dripping down, or something

I'd go poking around with a really bright small flashlight, and see where all its coming from.

is there any oil on the top sides, like around the exhaust header and front, or by the water pump and stuff?

 

You may have blown a seal, etc. as mentioned above. You may want to shop around a little, a rms job shouldn't cost that much. These motors come out very easy compared to others, you can even check with a tranny shop, they do them as well.

 

Another suspect would be blowing out the cam plug. It's located at the rear of the engine between the cylinder head and the valve cover.

 

Sounds to me that you have blown out a rear cam plug. I have seen this happen on a friends 240 and results in a spray of oil out of the back of the head. The replacement seal looks like this:

Rear Camshaft Seal

If you reach between the engine and the firewall (engine off & cold), you may feel a hole in the back of the head. Many times if the flame trap gets clogged, pressure builds up in the engine and will blow this plug out. IPD used to sell a metal flange that holds this seal in but I couldn't find it on their web site.

You shouldn't drive the car while the seal is missing as you will lose oil and eventually run out ruining your engine. Plus, driving around without the seal will make a mess of your engine compartment.

 

What would we be looking at in terms of parts and labor if it was a cam plug? Sounds like it wouldn't require taking out tranny and engine, but that's just my simplistic thinking.

And car was driven a mile tops since "pop" and now sits comfortably at mechanic until he gets a chance to look at it.

 

the plug? easy. I don't think you even have to take the valve cover off to install those. I know you can replace the front camshaft seal without removing the valve cover.

 

Oh man. I hope that's what it is. I love that car.

 

If its a Rear Main seal, You might save some money with AT-205 Reseal. Watch the video for more info about it.


My volvo had a real bad rear main seal leak, Contacted a mechanic and told me it would cost about $300 to pull out the transmission and put a new seal in. I stumbled across the video above and gave it a try. Went to the Auto parts store, Got a bottle cost around $12. Poured it right into my engine and about 5 hours later the leak was gone. Its been 6 months and not one drop saved me a lot of $. Worked so good I poured another bottle into my tranny.. good luck

 

Finally got my car back today. It ended up being the cam seal plug. That also cleaned out the flame trap. All today, 77 dollars. I'm beyond happy. Thanks to all that helped out!