I have a 1990 Volvo 240. I have developed an oil leak on the back side of my engine, looks to be splashing on the firewall, and coming down the passenger side of my engine. I find it hard to get my eyes in there and see exactly what it is. Any idea where this leak is, or what it is?
think maybe it's a rear cam seal? But not sure. Any other oil that can leak oil in that area?

 

If it is a large leak, more than likely it is the rear cam plug. I have seen these blow out before when the flame trap has been neglected causing pressure in the crankcase. You should be able to feel back there (engine off) and see if there is a large hole. You can purchase replacement plugs but you need to address the flame trap issue, otherwise any replacement will just blow out again.

 

Thanks! He cam plug wasn't even there!
Looking at the flame trap I found the trap dirty with yellow goo. Upon removing it underneath was more goo and dirt.

 

How does your oil look? Does it look like a chocolate milkshake? Having yellow goo makes me think there might be water getting into the oil. This could be condensation but I would fear more that coolant is getting into there. That would tend to point to a blown head gasket.

When cleaning the flame trap, check to make sure that the oil separator is clear as well. The bottom tube off of the flame trap runs to the separator. Try blowing through. Air should move easily through it with no obstruction.

 

I was wandering if anyone knows what this sensor could be?

 

i'm not remembering ANY stock sensor there on any of my several redblocks, including a couple turbos. that pipe on the right is the oil return pipe from the turbo, that brass fitting above your mystery sensor is a coolant drain.

 

Yeah i was thinking this could be were the oil was leaking from and running down to were the trans and engine meet. And on a couple lines coming from the trans. Is there a common area were it could be leaking from to get here?

 

clean it all off with foaming engine degreaser, and add a vial of ultraviolet fluorescent oil dye to the engine, drive it a short distance, then inspect in the dark with a UV flashlight.

my hole engine and tranny were soaked in oil from a tiny leak at that turbo drain tube I mentioned earlier. it would blow back at highway speeds and cover /everything/

 

i'd love to know what that "sensor" is, never seen it in any Red Block, this is a B230FT, right, not a six? It doesn't even look like a Volvo type connection, weird! If somebody tapped that in there, why? What is there to measure in that spot?
Apart from that, your oil leak seems to come from above and seems to have been there a while as there is a lot of old encrusted residue all over.
Where does that wire go to, from the sensor to where?

 

near as I can picture in my head, the only thing on the other side of that sensor is the flywheel/flexplate

 

assuming thats engine oil and not ATF, the commonest sources of oil leaks are A) the valve cover, especially around the front camshaft seal, B) the front camshaft seal itself, C) the turbo oil fittings and plumbing, and D) a blown head gasket (but that more typically leaks coolant).

 

I am going to change the valve cover gasket and try and find where that mystery sensor wire goes to

 

I found that the mystery sensor connect to this diagnostic tool on top of the valve cover

 

'diagnostic tool' ? just looks like a 3-pin connector to me. and, doesn't look like /anything/ I've ever seen on a B230FT engine, either. in fact, it doesn't look like any volvo connector I've seen.

 

Interesting. It's been there a while for sure. There is just an empty threaded hole in there in the block, what would anyone plug in there?
I guess next step would be to unplug the connector at the sensor, undo the retaining nut and see what's there. At least that's what I'd do... I doubt it has any function at this point, and no way to get a leak from there. You can always put it back in there and it'd be fun to see what's on the other side.

 

only thing I can see thats back there would be the back of the flywheel/flexplate

 

I changed the valve cover gasket and the leak is the same. Could the oil be coming from the Distributor seals?

 

clean off the oil, using a foaming engine degreaser, add a vial of fluorescent oil dye to the engine, drive a few miles and inspect it in the dark with a UV light. if you don't see a trace of fresh seapage, drive it a bit more, keep inspecting until til you do.

its probably a good idea to use the UV light BEFORE you add the dye to see if there's traves of any older dyes, and also to check what color your new dye fluoresces, I've seen orange, green, red, yellow. I have an inexpensive UV LED flashlight I got off amazon or ebay for a few $, thats more than adequate.

 

Leak COULD be from the dist. seals but I'd look more at the oil filter housing, oil filter area and associated piping, the oil seems to be blowing back from there. The dist seals don't normally have such big leaks, and your leak is pretty big.

 

I have and 760 gle with b280f with an oil leak in front of the motor. It is on the passenger side an i think it is coming from the cover on the front of the cylinder head. Cleaned out the flame trap, just in case but still dripping.
Any ideas????