Today, I finally made time to get my car up on the ramps, change the oil, and clean up all the crap slung around the bottom of the engine compartment.

I've had a bit of an oil leak since I got the car. I thought initially the culprit was a plugged PCV system. I redid the PCV with a kit from FCP, cleaned up the driveway, and didn't notice much of anything for a few days. Then, it returned.

I know I'm losing some oil somewhere. It is in my driveway, and I think I might be burning some. I have to add a quart every 1000-1200 miles. I was running 10w40 dino oil, I switched back to Mobil 1 full synthetic 10w30 high mileage with a Mann W917.

The car, a 97 855R, has 106,xxx on the odometer, and is probably 10-20k shy because the odometer gears were bad for awhile, as was the ABS controller. Both are now repaired.

I took some pics with my cell phone while I was under the car. They aren't the greatest, but I'm limited with the amount of light I have as well as the clearance.






Larger photos are available here, if you think they would help:

myhomegameroom.com Gallery :: Volvo Underneath

Any thoughts? I'll get under it again in a few days and see if/where the oil returns first.

 

Judging by the pictures, and without seeing the car in person, and having had a few oil leaks that looked JUST like that before on a couple of different occations, you could have one, or several of the following:

Front & rear camshaft seals and/or front crankshaft seal leak
Rear main seal leak
Oil cooler hose leaks
Turbo oil return seal leak (top and/or bottom)

Was the PCV clogged when you serviced it? If so, there is the possibility one (or more) of your camshaft seals popped out.

 

Must be old pictures because that is a Fram filter, yuk!

You'll have to dry it off, take a real short drive, put it on the ramps, and get under it, with it running. It's hard to see where something has leaked from after the wind blows it around for a while.

These motors have some plates on the back side of them that leak as well.

 

I took the pictures before I changed the oil and cleaned it up

My Father used Fram filters exclusively. I've never been a fan. When I bought the car, I ordered a 10 pack of Mann filters from FCP. First one went on today.

I cleaned it down real well today after changing the oil. I may take it over to my mechanic buddy and see if he will put it on his lift so I can get a better look.

This thing still needs a lot of TLC. I've given it quite a bit since I acquired it, but there's still plenty to go. That's OK, though, I plan to keep it for quite awhile.

I believe the PCV was clogged. I had tons of oil around the bottom of the dipstick tube, and under the spark plug cover. I cleaned all of that up, and as of today, didn't have more oil in those areas. A rear cam seal doesn't look too bad to change. The rest of those, well, I don't know if they are things I can fix myself. As I mentioned, I have an excellent mechanic who works quite reasonably, so if I need some help, I've got it.

Crossing my fingers it's not the rear main seal, that one looks kinda expensive!

 

Finally got a good look underneath it today.

Does not appear to be the RMS, yay!

Mechanic thinks it's coming from 'somewhere higher up' on the engine. Keep in mind, this is just a mechanic glancing, not actually trying to diagnose the issue.

I know cam seals sometimes need replaced.

I've heard the oil cooler lines can leak, too.

So to check the cam seals, I just remove the rotor and cap and look behind them? I need to do the rotor and cap anyways, so it would make sense to do them at the same time.

Where would I check the oil lines? Where do they attach on the engine? They are clean and dry at the radiator tank.

 

i currently have a leaky oil cooler line that i havent been able to afford to replace yet. underside of mine looks exactly like yours, but i am not saying that is a definite diagnosis. from what i understand, the line can be rebuilt so i may pull one from a yard and have it rebuilt instead of buying an entire new one

 

The problem with oil leaks is that the wind blows the oil/liquid all around. If you pull the cap, and that seal is leaking, you will see it quick. If you pull the cam sensor, and that seal is leaking, you'll see oil in there.

Leaks also occur at the turbo inlet, some panels on the back of the motor, and oil cooler lines (front cam seals leak on the front end of the motor).

 

I had the oil cooler line leaks, and the whole front side of the engine was just nasty. It seeps out, apparently. But, if you're getting 10,000 miles to the gallon, and I was, it's hard to get all that excited.

 

Where do the oil cooler lines attach to the engine?

 

Take of the front passenger wheel, pull back the fender trim, you'll see two metal lines that go from the engine to the front of the car, into the radiator area.

I had the worst luck replacing these lines so expect a bag of nonsense when replacing.

Good luck.