Need some help with part ID... (yeah, I already feel stupid at this point)

I *did* find where the vacuum surge sound was coming from (I think!) the photo with the pliers shows a missing hose clamp, and that hose was not firmly seated on whatever the part is that it hooks to (see? need help with ID...)

Here are 3 pictures, hope this works...
[EDIT] NO I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING STUPID WITH THE PLIERS - they are just resting there for pointing while I took the pic with my phone, didn't damage the rubber [/EDIT]


cleaned out a bunch of oil out of that big guy, not sure why there's oil in my intake (see: stupid)

Below, this was covered with (fresh?) oil, dirty as hell - wiped it down, found some metal



Lastly, the oil seems to be coming out of the (marked) hole in the following image. I can see the throttle body needs to be cleaned, and I'll do that asap while the weather is nice... how do I know if my flame trap is bad?



Thanks so much, anyone who responds - I'm assuming I shouldn't run the car without hooking this all back up? (to the parts store?)

 

Also, this is the first car I've owned with a vertical throttle plate, I'm used to horizontal bodies, and when I opened it manually (and cleaned it a bit with a rag and some petrol based solvent) I noticed what looked like oil in the bottom of whatever chamber that is. Again, this could very well be part of normal function, but I'd rather look stupid than look like a guy without a car

 

The oil is coming from the flame trap I bet. It is in the black piece that the white plastic hose and elbow are attached to. You need to seperate the 2 black pieces and check the part inside. You twist then slide them apart.

 

Out of the flame trap and into the intake when idling? and into the combustion chamber under load? that could explain my 12-13 mpg and the odor...

How will I know if it's bad? And why is oil going through that silver piece from the hole in the intake with the red arrow (excuse my terminology!!!)

Anything else I should check before reporting back?

 

Once you seperate the 2 plastic pieces check the insert it has a bunch of little holes in it. Also make sure the plastic nipples and hoses are clear.
There must have been so much going into the intake it got sucked into the idle motor.

The vent box might also be clogged.

 

from the filter (just got a new purolator ) through the MAF up to that recirculation looking widget is dry (mostly) - it's the main intake flex hose and the hose that comes off into that widget, the widget itself, and down that pipe below it - I think that might be where the oil is coming up - throttle plate was filthy, but not wet . . .

If the oil was coming in from the flame trap, wouldn't it drip down through the throttle body and foul it up? it seems that it's coming *up* somehow into the hoses. I've very recently noticed a surging sound coming off the accelerator (and another noise I don't know how to describe - a gnashing/gurgling/swishing/hissing but not a hiss, swish, or gurgle.....) that I assume is a giant vacuum hole or failure somewhere - this is what prompted me to dissemble the intake to begin with.

I do think the noises are related, but I can't reproduce the alien sound on demand, so I don't think I can capture it to upload it

 

I decided to make an assumption here - that pipe that I didn't know what it was, goes to the idle motor, letting air into the engine while the throttle plate is closed, so that "widget" is the IAC - and I just realized how dumb I look...

the oil down there must have gone in through the throttle plate, but how did it come back up?? from the flame trap to the iac (inside the main intake boot) is clean, so it must have come up, and not drained back down the tube, right? How is this physically possible?

. . . . there is oil in my iac . . . . .

 

I am going to guess that there is excessive blow by, and because of that, there maybe times when there more blow by than can be used up by the normal intake of air. That would cause the air to circulate thru the idle valve.

How many miles on the engine, can you do a compression check?

DanR '94 964 356,000 miles (122,000 on the new engine)

 

Just broke 160k miles.

And I do have oil coming out of my dipstick. . . replace pcv?

 

VADIS is useless - where is my PCV valve?

 

160,000 miles is nothing, barely broken in. The PVC is really the flame trap, which is connects to the air intake near the idle motor valve., At the end of the 3/4 inch hose that connects to the air intake, there is a plastic piece that has a bayonet type fitting. A function flame trap has holes that are clear of any baked oil. If your engine's oil vent system is not correct, it can cause high oil use, and a sloppy, messy intake system.

Yes, it is normal to have oil at the bottom of the air intake. Mine might have 2-3 tablespoons at the bottom.
One thing to check, and it is a real pain to get access, is the oil separator, which might be easier to see from under the car. Some times those oil hoses get hard and the separator itself can crack from the stress of having vibrating stiff hoses leading to it.

DanR

 

I'm not really losing oil though (not measurably) it's just all in my iac and my idle is, not rough, but uneven - tach *twitches* (steady at ~750 or whatever, and then twitches to 500 and back once or twice a minute)

This is a new thing, and also I'm getting some squelching noises from under the belt cover, that I assume is the timing belt, but I wonder if really my intake manifold gasket is torn or somesuch... that sounds like something I don't want to have to touch on this engine from the looks of it...

If I did have a torn gasket, that would create a massive vacuum leak, no? would I have other symptoms?

 

Squelching noises from under the timing belt cover may mean that your idler or tensioner roller is going bad and about to lock up. Does the sound go away after the car warms up? Mine did, and when I pulled the t-belt off the idler was locked up and about to trash my t-belt. I could barely twist it with both hands. So, I had a timing belt replacement at 60k then again at 87k, where I replaced everything under the cover.

 

The noise is intermittent and happens when it feels like it - how hard is it to change the belt?

If the belt breaks, my car is trash - if a pulley locks, it rips the belt? I thought the idler pulley was on the serpentine belt!

There is so much noise under my hood these days, I'm going to seafoam through the brake booster vacuum, change the oil, then seafoam it again. And get a stock dipstick - the generic replacement I got doesn't seal well, and it smokes.

Day or two when the weather gets nicer here in the mid atlantic :-/

 

It may be nothing, however if you don't know when the tensioner roller/idler was last replaced it may be something you need to consider.

If the t-belt breaks it will damage the motor. If anything in the timing blet path locks up it will trash the belt and motor. The timing belt path has an idler.

There should be a link to my timing belt instructions on the sticky.

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...artment-37827/

 

afaik the t-belt has never been changed :-( and a shop will want 500-1000 for it o.0 guess I'll put a day on my calendar -_-'

btw, rspi, is that maxima in your sig new? I don't remember seeing it before! Good deal ;-)

I might as well change the belt, since I'm going through all this trouble anyway - I've already spent twice the value of the car in the past year on maintenance, I don't want to throw that money away!!!

 

I hope you are kidding about the timming belt having never been changed. Mine was changed twice before it hit 90k. It's not a bad job but I would look close at the water pump to make sure it's not leaking. If you see just a little anti-freeze replace it as well. If not, leave it.

What do you think the value of the car is? Unless it's dogged out, somewhat clean, it should be worth $3,000+. I had people all over mine and sold it for $4,500. I don't use KBB or Edmunds to check value, I normally use www.NADAGuides.com . Another thing I recently realized is that a lot of people mark down their sales RECORDS to avoid paying used car sales taxes and it lowers the blue book on older cars like ours. That really sucks. Another thing that pulls the true value down is people gifting cars and knocking the value down to $1. That pulls the book values down as well.

 

No idea - I'm not kidding about not knowing, so I'm doing half the job today (easter, so I can't get all the tools I need :-) and doing the other half this week.

I finally got the cover off, and noticed a handfull of ball bearings at the bottom of the shroud (I'm assuming they came out of a pulley??????) SO I'm quite grateful that you guilted me into doing it asap!!

The water pump looks fine (bone dry anyway) and the accessory belt is missing ribs here and there too I hope this fixes a bit on my car! Next I'm doing a deep pore cleanse (seafoam torture) until the exhaust blowout is cleaner than fresh air, and probably a trans flush after that. Maybe my car *will* be worth some money at that point! (As is, I wouldn't buy it for more than $800 )

Just can't figure out how to release the tensioner! It's got that damn square (robinson?) hole on the front, and there's no room for any tool that I have to get in there anyway (yeah, I removed the fan)

SIDE NOTE: When working on the intake, I once started the car w/o plugging in the MAF and now I have a CEL - does it reset itself, or do I actually have a problem going on now?

 

I don't believe the CEL will reset itself. You will have to go somewhere to have it reset or just get a code reader and reset it yourself.

If you seen ball bearings in the belt area one of those rollers must have lost them. It's amazing you didn't throw your timing belt.

As for the tensioner roller assembly bolt, yes that is a bear to get out but it is possible. Look at my instructions and review item 20. It talks about the t-bit to use. I actually could not get mine out because I did not have the good bit at the time. So I pulled the nut off of the roller and just replaced the roller. The problem with that meathod is, it's impossible to torqe the roller bolt back on. I got it as tight as I could and put sealant on the threads to make sure the nut doesn't back off (eeek). I also check it ever 5k.

 

sticker said t-belt was changed around 7*k miles - so it's due.

The bearings were all out of the idler pulley (when I removed the tensioner, it just about fell out without touching the belt), and the belt was starting to fray - the tensioner snapped when I was opening it, the dampener is leaked all over, and I needed a new accessory belt anyway.

Will upload pictures soon - gonna need a magnet for this nonsense!!

btw - should the cam gears turn by hand? I can't quite do it (clarification: I can't move them at all)

The car WAS running when I rolled it onto the ramps!