I have a 95 850 turbo. it leaks oil and burns it. The back of my car is always black (its a white car) from the oil burning and to make it worse it leaks as well. i think the leak is right below where the headers bolt up but not sure.There's alot of oil under there. I tried to spray it all down with brake cleaner to clean it up a little but it didnt help much.Is this a head gasket or valve cover gasket leak?

 

there's an o-ring that's bad about leaking on the bottom of the oil return tube, runs from the turbo to the oil pan, directly above the oil drain plug. it's not too hard to change if you have a little experience. but if you're getting black soot at the back of the car above the exhause tip, you need to have your O2 sensors checked out.

 

Hi,

Sorry about the problem.

Black soot is probably due to rich Air/Fuel mixture, which may be caused by neglected tune up or possible (minor) problem in the electronic control unit for engine control. Have the codes checked out; your car is '95 so you can do this yourself manually; no tool/tester is required.

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/a2.html

If the head gasket is shot, the smoke should be bluish, instead of black/dark gray. so I assume the head gasket is ok.

As to the leak, it is hard to tell where exactly it is coming from , without a pic. Is the oil filler cap leaking? Try cleaning the engine with engine degreaser (a few $ at Walmart), let it soak for a few minutes and spray water with hand sprayer; do not use hose to flood the engine compartment, and do this when the engine is cold. Some scrubbing with brush may be necessary. Once the engine is clean, you can locate the leak. The valve cover on 850 is actually a "camshaft cover", unlike conventional valve cover and it requires utmost attention upon removal, as there are some thin sections and you can break the cover as it is constructed of aluminum.

As to the turbo oil return line, check this out:

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/turborepairline.php

If you're handy with tools and have goos sense of safety, you can fix many problems on 850, I'll leave you with a good on-line parts vendor which some of us here use:

http://www.fcpgroton.com/volvo.htm#850

I hope this helps.


JPN

 

Cleam engine really good and see where it is leaking from. (But not with soap and water) Use brake cleaner

 

I had already removed the valve cover when i posted this thread. That was a pain in the a** bcs i didnt know that the cams were under tension. I am going to put that back together then run car to see where oil leak might be. it wasnt the oil return line so i did clean everything pretty good with brake cleaner. i hope i can find the leak.

 

Will wait for your updates.


JPN