I am dealing with a slow oil leak near the intakes rear cam seal on a ‘96 850R, my issue is when I pulled the seal I found a rough cut hole in the lower cam cover behind the seal. Can someone verify for me that the hole is suppose to be there? Is it an oil drain hole?

I would just assume it is suppose to be there but it is such a rough opening, like someone stabbed it with a screwdriver while trying to get a seal out. That and I have oil leaking from what appeared to be a good condition seal. Thanks for any verification.

 

shouldnt be there...time to find a new head.

 

Are you talking about the cam seal under the cam shaft sensor? Near the upper torque mount? I have a few pictures of those areas on my cam seal replacement instructions in the DIY sticky.

 

I did not find the cam seal replacement instructions you spoke of. I just read through the whole cylinder head replacement tutorial though, very informative but the only pictures for the seals had them installed already.

I am actually talking about the camshaft end seal behind the distributor. I pulled out the seal and found the hole behind it. “ibified” seems to think it should NOT be there, can anyone second that before I figure out my next step?

 

That is the rear intake cam shaft seal. Here are my instructions, maybe the last pic at step 19 will work.
Cam Seal Replacement, rear, 1998 Volvo S70 GLT - Volvo 850 Cam Seal Replacement

If not, let me know and I'll e-mail you some more pics.

 

I just looked through my photos and I noticed a good size hole in my front intake cam shaft area. If it's behind the seal, it should NOT be a problem. Just put a new seal in there and it will keep the oil behind it.

That area seems to be a slosh area, no real pressure behind there unless you have a plugged PCV system.

 

So the hole/crack along the very bottom in this picture, if my picture worked, is suppose to be there then? Guess it makes sense behind the seal, that is what a seal is for right. It just looks like they took a flat screwdriver and gave it a whack to make the hole though.

 

That actually looks like the cam is damaged. I thought it was a hole on the head. That may cause the cam to vibrate or wobble in the head and cause you more problems down the road. I would start looking for a cam or set of cams if I were you. You may have time but I would be a little agressive with it. Others may have a different suggestion for you.

 

Sorry, I misunderstood and thought you meant that the chunk was out of the head. Now that I see what you are saying, I agree with rspi.

And if you're gonna get new cams, get cams from an N/A. You'll REALLY like what that does for the car if you time them right.