Hi all! This is my first post on this board, but I've been reading frequently over the last few months since I bought my first Volvo. The first thing I should say to you all is: thank you! The other day, I was driving around and suddenly had a large amount of white smoke coming out from under the hood, so I pulled over and took a peek: oil was spewing out of the filler cap and was all over the block. I'm just now beginning to learn about cars, so ordinarily I would have been freaked out about something like this. However, I was able to get back in the car, pull up this site on my phone, and saw that it was likely the flame trap being clogged. Without being able to get some info like that, I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to check that there was some oil left and drive it home (about a mile or two). So, you guys saved me some trouble for sure.

That said, I do have a couple of questions. I've been troubleshooting and getting minor changes for a while now, so I hope you don't mind my presenting the issue in bullet-point form; just figure it'll be faster:

- needed a car quick, got a 1994 940 wagon, non-turbo, 210k miles, for $900
- did some of the routine maintenance stuff (new battery, air filter, plugs, wires, oil change)
- began to notice a low idle, especially with the a/c turned on, so I cleaned out the throttle body and IAC valve.
- idle was improved a bit, but still not perfect. Fine when running, but it doesn't like to sit still. It's worse (close to stalling out) when the A/C is on.
- as mentioned above, was driving around the other day when i saw ton of white smoke under the hood. observed that oil was spewing out from under the filler cap and getting all over the block and exhaust manifold.
- ordered a new flame trap, filler cap gasket and dipstick o-ring
- while installing the flame trap, i noticed that the small nipple (that normally has a hose running to the intake) on the old one had broken off totally, and wasn't connected to the intake at all. In fact, the hose coming out of the intake had just had a screw jammed in the end of it and was tucked back under the manifold. Anyone know what's up with this?
- changing the flame trap helped the idle a LOT, plus the car seems to accelerate and shift way more smoothly now. however, it still seems to be leaking; the leak seems to be coming from the front edge (the side near the timing belt) of the exhaust manifold. The car holds oil pretty well now, but leaks from there whenever driving, and still smokes a lot.
- while examining the exhaust manifold, I noticed that there's an area right above where the manifold bolts on the block, where there are three holes for bolts in the block, and a flush area where it seems like something could be mounted, but there's nothing there. What could this be?

If anyone is still reading at this point, here are my main questions:

1. I'm guessing that my leaks are the result of gaskets / seals being blown due to the old flametrap being clogged. So, I recently ordered a timing belt (just needed to do this anyway), the three oil seals near that, new exhaust manifold gaskets, and a new oil pan gasket. I'm gonna be installing them all soon, but would like to know if there's anything else I need or should replace in order to keep my oil in my engine where it belongs. I'm thinking valve cover gasket, but anything else?

2. What are the three holes for bolts / mounting area near the exhaust manifold on the block? After noticing this, I looked at my engine ID tag on the timing belt cover, and was shocked to see that it says B230FT, the turbo model! Is that what the mounting area is for? If so, I dunno how to explain this, because my car definitely didn't come stock turbo (it has the Regina ignition and FI). Maybe the block was replaced at some point with the turbo block? Is there some way to confirm how this came to be / whether or not the engine has ever been replaced?

3. Any other advice / tips / tactics I should know for improving the overall compression / sealing on my engine? I want to get this car into good working order so it'll hopefully last me for a long time to come.

Thanks in advance for your help everyone!

EDIT: A bit more info - like I said, I have the Regina-style distributor that's over nearer the driver's side, but I'm seeing that there's a silver cylinder bolted to the back of my valve cover area in the exact same position as where the Bosch distributor is located on these cars. It's not a full distributor, but about the same size, just an enclosed silver cylinder. Any insights??

 

hm... i think you have a bosch car... that had the cover replaced with a turbo cover. the distributor is the same, coils are different on reg. v bosch. best way to tell is by the vin number. 881 is na, 871 is turbo. u also have to clean the oil separator under the flame trap to make sure there is no blockage.