1990 Volvo 240 DL.

I've had this thing for 2 years now, and beyond the normal 3-month oil changes, it has been obscenely light on oil consumption. I think I've "topped off" my oil 3 or 4 times since I've owned it, a half-quart each time; so unlike my previous 2000-era VWs that consumed oil like a deranged wino.
Then about a month ago, my wife drew my attention to a growing black spot in our driveway. I put a piece of cardboard under the car for the night, and in the morning it came out badly stained, and one of the stains appears to be coolant. I immediately checked the Flame Trap, as the Internet tells me to. No clogs, and not bad condition. I checked the oil, and it seems to be down about 1/4 quart, and I just topped it off two weeks ago. I now sense a creeping dread as head gasket work is not something I really want to be doing, and money is a bit tight lately, but let's bite the bullet and see what we've got shall we?

Passenger side of the engine, looks like this is where the leak is coming from, as all the other oil smears look old and dirty; this is fresh and slick.


A little deeper...


Is this the infamous "front cam seal" leak I've heard tell of? Would that explain the coolant leak as well?
Strange thing, the coolant spot is farther back than the oil spot. Is this something a shop should do? Or can a rube (like yours truly) with some wrenches and a local parts store tackle this?

 

I would say front cam seal for sure. Don't know about coolant leak until you clean the engine down and then look for the coolant leak. How is your water temp. Also re you losing much coolant from the coolant tank. Cam seal is a DIY job but you will need extra parts when you do it. I would also replace timing belt and idler and cam cover gasket. Look at your water pump while you're in there. Then there is replace the other belts as well.

 

could be the cam seal. i would first clean everything off really well and then see where the leak is
coming from.

 

looks like the cam seal to me, but also /could/ be the valve cover gasket.

I would clean it up with some foaming gunk engine cleaner, and a garden hose, then put a vial of fluorescent oil dye in the engine, and run it a few miles, park it in the dark (garage, or outside at night away from lights) and use a UV flashlight on it.... the origin of the leak should be pretty obvious.

 

Every time I top off the coolant tank (not very often), it seems to settle down to halfway between MIN and MAX in the first two weeks and stay there for months after. I've only had to top it off about 3 times since I got the car. That reminds me, I have to either replace or bypass the temperature compensator board, because the temp needle just sits on the bottom. I've checked the coolant after driving home from work a few times, and nothing seems off. In my last VW (2002 Passat), the water pump broke and the coolant tank was near to bursting from the heat/pressure.
I've got an order for a timing belt kit with all the seals and whatnot sitting in my IPD shopping cart, as I've seen similar advice around the interwebs to replace the timing belt while I'm in there replacing seals. I've already replaced the other belts due to a squealing issue last year, and inspected the timing belt at the same time. It was fine, but I could probably use the peace of mind from knowing EXACTLY when it was replaced.

Good call using the foaming engine cleaner, I considered pressure-washing with a detergent adaptor, but lots of advice around the internet says pressure-washing is bad voodoo. I'll at least take a peek under the valve cover this weekend and see what I can find. A proper seals 'n timing belt job will have to wait until next payday.

Another question; do I NEED that special pulley lock tool that IPD (and others) sell, to get the pulley off when changing the timing belt? How then, if not? I'd rather save the 40 bucks if I don't have to spend it, but it does look like a nice little gadget for the job...

 

I can't comment on that coolant behavior, but I can say that you will -need- that tool, I don't see it being remotely possible to remove the crank pulley otherwise. I'm glad I ordered mine, but it was destroyed after it's first use while I was changing the timing belt in my 940. The crank pulley bolt was extremely tight. The one I got from FCP Euro -the CTP tool I can't recommend.

 

A piece of rope in number one cylinder will prevent the engine from turning while cracking loose the crankshaft bolt.

Also, I've used a Craftsman battery powered impact gun on that bolt. There is JUST enough room to loosen the bolt. Not enough room to REMOVE it with the impact but enough to loosen and then remove with a socket and ratchet.

YMMV.

All that being said...I do have the tool from ipd and it's worked without being destroyed when used.

 

I purchased the tool from IPD, and have used it five or six times with no fatigue on the tool. It still works as good as the day I bought it.

 

Thanks for the confirmation. It's not everyday I have the money to spend on a specialty tool, but it sounds like it's well-spent. Sometime this weekend I'll probably take a crack at doing this, but I've gotten side-railed by a busted stud on the exhaust header, so who knows..

 

If you're tight on funds, use the rope trick as Dytha99 mentioned in an earlier post. I have used it many times to remove the nut on the crank pulley. Google "rope trick engine" and you will find all the information you need to on how to do it.

 

Thanks for the tip, but I already bought the tool

As bullet-proof as this Volvo has been, I think the next car we get will be a Volvo too. I'll keep the tool handy...

 

Today or tomorrow I'm going to go at it hammer & tongs, but while I was under the car dealing with a busted exhaust flange stud, I took notice of where things were leaking. I found two things:

This is a nipple of some sort that doesn't have an associated hose. Is it supposed to?


Also, there was coolant and oil very slowly (one small drip every 10 minutes or so) dripping from this zip-tied montage of tubing and rubber cover:

 

firs tpicture looks like the coolant drain on the exhaust side of the block..

2nd pic looks like the transmission fluid cooler lines, looks like an amateur repair.

 

OK, so that's just a drain? Should it be plugged or something?
EDIT: OK, I found it in my Bentley book; it's one of those "tighten to seal, loosen to drain" type thingies with a convenient hose barb for ease of draining. I wonder if that's where my coolant is leaking from? I'll have to check on Wednesday, I have medical obligations tomorrow and Tuesday.

That sounds rather un-good. One of the hoses is split, but it looks like a cut rather than a blow-out. How should it be repaired? New lines altogether?

 

If you have coolant coming from your transmission cooler lines rather than ATF, then you probably have a leak within your radiator allowing coolant and transmission fluid to mix. Check your transmission fluid to make sure there isn't discoloration or any coolant residue.

 

Ugh, that sounds expensive...

BTW, I cracked it open last night, and there is oil EVERYWHERE. I knew it was bad, but not THIS bad. I'm shocked there wasn't oil on the timing belt. The timing mark thingie was unrecognizable, covered with 1/8" of oil and dirt, the inside of the fan shroud has a thick layer of oil, and there was a puddle of oil inside the water pump pulley bell.
I wiped off the pulleys with some engine degreaser and some shop rags, but the two alternator belts are both fouled with oil, can these be washed off (soap and water, no solvents) and put back in service? Or are they toast? I still have the old ones as backup per Bentley book wisdom just in case.

 

accessory belts are cheap, get new ones.

de-grease those pulleys before putting it back in service.

 

Will do.

I got the main pulley bolt off with the help of my IPD tool, but now the pulley won't come off. I've tried "gently tapping with a hammer" as suggested by the Bentley manual, but to no avail. Besides, there's no room to give it a good whack on either side. I tried with a gear puller I had buried in an old tool box, but that only budged it a smidge (not enough to start it wiggling off), and I worry about warping the pulley flanges.. I tried with a small pry bar (glorified nail puller, really...), but that's not doing anything. Any suggestions?

 

Never mind, I got it off. Took a little encouragement from top and bottom, which was aggravating to say the least. Pry bar nudge from the top, get under the car and nudge from underneath, try to wiggle with hands, no wiggle, repeat ad nauseum...

Now I need to take off the cam pulleys. IPD's suggestion to use the old belt to hold the pulley to take the bolt off is not working. Any other brilliant ideas? I'm wasting 90% of my time on this dealing with stuck bolts and crap, and it HAS to be done by Monday morning; this is my daily driver, so I'm freaking out just a little bit.

Aaaaaaaaand now it's raining. Not happy...

 

I've read (I believe) that the ipd tool can be used on the camshaft gear as well as the crankshaft.

If so I guess it would be a simple matter of using it "upside down".

Could be wrong about it all though...but wouldn't hurt it see if you could get it in a position that will hold the camshaft.