It's a Volvo 940 turbo wagon. Is this what a rear main leak looks like? Or is this acceptable?





​​​​​​

 

How much oil are you adding?

Have you checked the transmission fluid level?

With a really bad rear seal the oil will end up splattered on the exhaust, the converter and back. Any oil/black spots on the converter/front muffler/differential? (gas tank, back of trunk, etc.)

You can stop all those leaks - it can get expensive and if you pull the trans - you will want to replace the clutch/surface the flywheel while there (there's a slave cylinder visible)

I always kept a piece of scrap carpet under my red block cars where they were parked (at home) - they were always leaking. And the cost of a quart of oil every 6 months did not justify and time/cost of solving a very slow leak.

 

The picture I see does not show a "leak" but a "seepage, not bad. Eventually, well...
Many Volvo red blocks' oil leaks disappear once the flame trap/oil separator system is cleared reducing the pressure that blows the oil out of various seals.
Transmission leaks have nothing to do with rear main leaks, the rear main is in the back of the motor.
Red blocks rarely leak, the rear main lasts about 200k miles. I guess it's a personal choice to live with an oily carpet or take care of a rear main every 15 years or so.

 

Thx for the reply. This is not my car just yet so I can't reinspect. I'm doing the paperwork tomorrow if everything goes to plan. I just wanted to have some input on whether or not this looked like a big leak already..
But honestly the car has such an extensive and well detailed history of maintenance, always at the dealership, which includes an engine rebuild (in 2019) and at least 2 clutch replacements over its 24 years of age. I'm just a little bit worried because when I inspected it, it seemed to have some pressure built on the coolant reservoir, but I'm a noob so maybe that was a "normal" amount of pressure. But the guy provided receipt for a 3k engine repair in 2019, which included head repair (600€), all gaskets, piston rings, etc.

 

I inspected the car to the best of my abilities and the pcv system seemed to be clogged. Also the coolant tank seemed under pressure. But man, the paperwork on this car is beautiful. I got an excell sheet of detailed maintenance since the car was 5yo. Car was a bit out of my budget but I reached a deal. Tomorrow we will be signing the paperwork, if the guy doesn't just change his mind. You never know.

 

How many kms on the car?
How many kms since the rebuilt?
How long ago was the engine rebuild?
Red blocks rarely need rebuilds before 300k MILES, like 500k kms. unless something unusual happened, like major overheat, running out of oil, etc. An engine rebuild is pretty involved, that's why it's so expensive, and takes a lot of skill.
The pressure that affects oil leaks is in the crankcase, not the cooling system. The cooling system should be under pressure once the motor is hot.

 

The car has 496.000km. One owner. Rebuilt in 2019, 24k km ago. Along with the rebuilt was a radiator, pump, termostat and some other stuff that makes me think the engine overheated.

 

That's a lot of kms, 300k miles! As much as I trust old Volvos and give weight to the one owner factor, I'd be careful! How's the interior, all the trim? These cars' drivetrains are the last thing you should worry about, parts are cheap and labor uncomplicated but trim, interior, and body panels are NLA. I have seen cars with high miles that were immaculate--it's all about the owner, after all, but still, if only for the sake of salability, 500k kms is a lot!

 

 

I know. It scares me too. But i can count the scratches on the car with one hand. The paint is SO shinny! No bumps or dents other than a few on the bumpers. Garage car! Interior wise, it is missing a little bit of plastic on the turner handle, the wheel is peeling off a bit and that's it. The leather on the doors is starting to wrap a bit on top, but that's me really just looking for defects where there are none. Ah, and radio is not original.

BIggest know problem is the AC. It works fine until you drive the car around for a while, then stops working. When you stop and let it idle for some time it comes back up. I know it can be a costly repair but i figured if it is not an running or safety issue, that's not gonna prevent me from buying the car.

​​​​​Other than that, i got a huge excell sheet with the cars maintenance history. I know when suspension was done, clutch, catalytic converter replaced, pieces of trim replaced, everything. The guy lives just by the dealership and bought the car there and went there, religiously, every year before anual inspection. The car failed 2 inspections its entire life, and they were for license plate light, and turning signals.
They are from another town, 600km away. The guy (son of the owner) said they do the trip back and forth very regularly. I know by paperwork that the car did 100000 miles on the first 5 years. 33k km a year. That has to be a lot of highway miles. Also the records show the car did do major maintenance every 100k km. Oil always changed on time, etc.

 

I'm aware it affects salability but the record and receipts I hope will kinda make up for it. They make it very easy to prove the cars history. Also I'm not buying the car to make a profit. If in 2 years i have to sell it, I'm happy to make the 2k back or slightly less. I think given the condition of the car, interior and panels/trim alone might be worth at least close to that.

 

Well, as long as you are happy with it. What yr, model, engine, is it? Buying a hobby car like this is an emotional issue, and the price is not outrageous, but I doubt he has a lot of candidates.

Weird A/C, and I'd have a good A/C in Spain. No idea what's up with it, something getting hot may be? Post some more pictures, of the interior, engine compartment, etc. BTW, paint is shiny because it's a repaint (the rear badges are in the wrong place).

 

Ok. Nice to know. I didn't see a repaint job on the sheet. Maybe it was done soemwhere else. But maybe only the rear was repainted and not the whole car!?!?
I just paid for the car. Gonna get it tomorrow or the day after, depending on how long it takes for the money to get to his bank. Don't have more pictures now. Will post when get it.
There was a weird leak bellow the car that people here and on brickboard told me it was most likely condensate from the ac and I was a bit worried. Just talked to the owner and he said it only happens during the summer, so it must really be ac related. As far as I can gather from symptoms, the issue with the ac seems to be either the compressor clutch or vaccum related. Don't know if it is losing gas or not. But it did ran rather cold for a while until it stopped somewhere along the testdrive.

It's a 1997 940 Classic wagon. Engine is the B230FK. Exactly like the other car I was about to buy, but wagon, 1 year older, less 5 owners and double the kms. He had at least one guy from abroad but the deal fell through. Considering this was the only one available on the local market and considering the condition, despite the high mileage, I believe he would be able to sell it easily, but he only advertised on scout24, not a single local website.

 

The A/C issue could be the vacuum valve that controls the vents. If that's the case it's very cheap and easy fix.

 

Judging by the maintenance sheet. It does seem that the car and both front and rear repainted on 2 separate ocasions. Front seemd particularly bad as involved replacing the whole front, including radiator and hood, back in 2004.

 

Honestly, and I want to check this again when I buy the car, it kinda seemed like only the top vents stopped pumping fresh air and the feet was still getting ac. But again, I'm not sure. All i know is that the owner was told, at the dealership, that the car needed a part that had to come from sweeden and it was kinda expensive and he pointed at the dryer!? He made it seem that he didn't bother to replace the part because he bought another car and just didn't need this one any longer.

Oh and btw, its a manual, M90.