New to the forum and first time owner of a Volvo. Just picked up a 1995 850 Turbo wagon for $800. That price of course came with a lot of mechanical issues. I got so much valuable information about these cars pre-purchase from this forum so I thought I'd post my question. The car has unknown mileage because the speedo gear broke. Odometer is stuck at 123k mi.

The PCV system is blocked. Using the latex glove on the oil cap trick, there is definitely positive pressure instead of vacuum. There is no smoke from the dip stick though. Looking inside the oil filler cap and at oil on the dipstick, it looks pretty clean. I'm planning on replacing the PCV system and will get a better idea of whether or not to pull the oil pan.

The car drips oil on the right side of the engine. After washing that side of the engine with the timing belt cover off, the cams and tensioners were covered in oil after a 15 minute test drive. The majority of the oil seems to be toward the rear of the engine, over the CV boot. Based on what I've researched, I'm thinking it's the front cam seals. What other seals should I take a closer look at on that side? With the unknown mileage and the owner stating they don't know when the timing belt was changed, I plan on replacing the belts, pulleys and water pump. That said, let me know what other components I should inspect while I have all that disassembled.

Now the spark plugs had serious oil sludge on top of them. There was also some oil under the spark plug cover on the head. Are there any problem areas I should inspect for the source of the oil?

Also here are the results from my compression test. I think I saw somewhere that factory spec on the turbo is 160-180 psi? The wet test leads me to believe that the piston rings are worn. What's has me a bit confused though is that exhaust doesn't smoke. Plugged PCV and potentially bad rings. Shouldn't I see some symptoms? My other question is how bad are the dry test compression readings? Is this maintenance I can defer or do I need to take care of it asap?

Cyl Dry Wet
1 130 180
2 145 170
3 145 165
4 140 170
5 120 145

Also, does anyone see potential head gasket leak with these results? The reason I ask is because the coolant overflow bottle has a dark brown stains inside. But the coolant itself is clear (or greenish rather). I tried to gauge if the coolant level rises after driving, but it's over filled as is (1/4 in above max line), so I will drain some coolant and try again.

 

I would do pcv system 1st... the extra pressure could be causing leaks and is known to cause oil near the spark plugs.

After the pcv system replacement, degrease the engine (top and bottom) and check for leaks again after 500 miles or so. If you're still not sure, most shops can do a degrease and dye test for $30 or so, letting you know where the leaks are.

 

While doing the timing belt and rollers, replace the timing belt tensioner too, and also the serpentine belt and rollers. Oil leak sounds like cam seals, go with those first. Oil near plugs could be the PCV system, but also a common cause is the oil filler cap seal, cheap and easy to replace. I would replace the coolant bottle itself, as they get old and brown with age. Make sure you have a green colored cap and not a gray one as the gray ones were prone to cracking and pressure leaks. Compression looks pretty good both wet and dry.

 

On the 95s you can pull the true mileage (assuming you have the original cluster) via the diagnostics port. Check for Robert DIYs youtube on the procedure. Check under the spark plug cover too - clogged PCVs will push oil onto the top deck. There are two different kits for the PCVs - check your engine number on the timing belt cover - if you are after 330414 you get to use the newer (and cheaper) kit for the oil trap and hoses. Take a peek in the oil fill - do you see any sludge or just staining? There's a good Youtube vid on the procedure to lift off the intake manifold from FCPEURO. Some people suggest a seafoam treatment prior to doing the PCV to loosen sludge - others simply say to manually clean out the ports when the hoses are off. On the timing belt, I just did this exact job on my 95 850T. If you are going to do DIY, get a tool for the serpentine tensioner (I bought the IPD tool ~$40, I was able to get the serpentine belt off in a jiffy). I did the big kit from FCP which included a water pump and cam seals since I spotted both an oil and water leak. Also did the serpentine idlers - expect about 4-6 hours including seals and idlers. (I think book hours is like 3.5 - more if you do the serpentine idlers). There are also rear cam seals (by the distributor/air box side) which can go so take a look there as well. Totally agree on Dead_Eric's advice to do the PCV first or at least concurrent. Last thing you want is to have a new seal blown out by bad PCV. After the new idlers and tensioners I was quite pleased by how quiet the engine is now.

 

I will just mention I had a couple of cars that walked out a rear cam seal, and in those cases, the seal was okay, it just fell out. I tapped one back in and drove the car 3 years since. This was the car that wouldn't run because the oil squirted into the distributor and caught fire, melting the rotor (which is $15).


The turbos (that I have had) do not have any connection from the PCV system to manifold vacuum, so please do not have high expectations on that glove test after you get it cleaned out and replaced. Lots of good info on that task already available and discussed.

 

Thanks for all the advice! I've ordered the PCV kit and Timing Belt kit from IPD.