Hello and sorry in advance for the long read. I have a 1994 Volvo 960 Wagon. The engine and transmission are all original with 325,145 miles on them. Before the last winter i noticed oil on the side of the engine burnt on and looked to be piling up. Never had any problems so kept driving it. Winter came i parked it and drove my suburban. I recently got the money and started to mess with it. I scrubbed the oil all off the engine and drove it a few days the oil light came on on my way home one night. I looked at the engine and it had oil on the side once again. I called my Volvo mechanic and asked if the area where the sparkplugs was had oil pooling in it. It did, he wouldnt go on without looking at the car for $150. Does anyone know why this is important or what would cause this? I thought it was the valve cover since that looks like where it is coming from but the oil is everywhere. Both sides of the engine top of the engine everywhere. Any help is appreciated.


One other thing. For inspection i need a muffler and they can get expensive. With the miles on the car should i take it to a garage and have them look at what needs fixed first or go and get the muffler and get it inspected and on the road then worry about the oil problem? It has always ran fine i just have been putting oil in as it spits it out and ran it just fine. Again any help is appreciated and sorry about so much to read i just need help bad. I don't have a lot of money and need to budget accordingly.

 

I'll bet there is oil in the spark plug holes too, sounds like the valve cover, which by the way also holds the cams in place and does not use a gasket for sealing.

It will be expensive to do this work because the timing belt has to come off, the mating surface have to be perfectly cleaned and then a special glue/sealant has to be used, new o rings at the bottom of the spark plug holes, new cam seals at both ends. It is rather labor intensive.

Has the engine ever had the head off? Could someone not have sealed the head top with the correct sealant?

DanR '94 964 358,000 miles (124,000 on the new engine)

 

Dan, is it possible that his flame trap is clogged causing oil to blow out elsewhere?

 

Good point, always best to start with the easiest possible solutions, another easy one, is the oil filler gasket.

DanR

 

Where exactly is the flame trap and how do I clean it out and unclog it? I've heard of the being the culprit a lot but don't know what to do. And thanks for the responses.