Hello, i'm new to the forum, this is my sister's car. Im a BMW fanboy and love VWs.

My sisters car (2001 s40 1.9T) was hesitating and stuttering especially up hills so i figured it was bad plugs. Take the plastic cover off to change plugs and the entire valve cover is drenched and coated with oil. It was in the plug wells too, in one, the plug was completely submerged in oil. Cleaned it all up, put in fresh plugs and it runs fine again.




My question is, where could this oil be coming from? PCV? any help is appreciated :thumbup:

Thanks!

 

Possibly from the oil filler cap. The gasket gets old and stops sealing. Just replaced the gasket on my 2000 V40. Volvo P/N 1275379.

 

Thanks for the help and quick reply!! Will look into it and update.

 

So it ran fine for a bit with new plugs, put on new oil cap gasket, but it's running like sh*t now again. Could the coil packs and ignition wires be ruined from the oil soaking on them for however long it was? Could this be the issue? what else should I be looking for?
TIA

 

You should use NGK if you didn't already, the cheap GP series runs best in these engines.

Pull dipstick with the engine at operating temp -- look for smoke.

My guess about the oil in the holes is someone poured the oil in the filler neck and missed and spilled.

 

Did use the NGKs when I replaced them. What would smoke out of the dipstick mean?

 

clogged PCV system.

 

removed plastic cover over the coil packs and ignition wires and it was full of oil again, but not in the plug wells this time. Turned the car on to let it warm up to look for smoke from the dipstick tube (there was none) but i was getting sprayed with oil, little pelts on my face and arm and a nice spray gradually building up, being thrown by the cam belt. what is oil doing by the cam belt and why is it spraying it everywhere?! i looked under the plastic cover and noticed a large amount of oil on the part that covers the cam belt and not really anywhere else. This must be where all the oil on the valve cover is coming from. What this issue and how do i fix it?! she cant afford a new car nor can i loan her one of mine, she cant drive a manual.



Spray Pattern

 

Looks like a camshaft seal or crank main seal then. How many miles on the car? Might as well do the timing belt if you're going to be replacing seals. Probably wouldn't hurt to service the PCV system too.

 

I think I may know your answer here. Just happened to me on my 2000 S40 with 185K miles on it. It is the VVT pully (the exhaust cam pulley, near the firewall). I also saw oil everywhere (in the same places you were seeing) and could not figure the culprit. I replaced the seals on both pulleys, the main oil seal at the crank, the belts, the PCV system, ect. Did all work myself, and it took alot of time. Then found that it was the VVT pulley (exhaust cam). It leaked through the worn seals in the pully itself (not the cam seal between the engine and the pully as you would expect), and as the car ran the leak from the pully wheel itself was flung around inside the belt cover area and got all over everything. The problem was that you could not see the leak while the engine was off (did not leak), and when the engine was running you could not see the leak either as the motion of the belts and pulleys just throws the leaking oil around. Bought the new VVT pulley (about $150) and all was resolved. NO MORE LEAK. I am fairly sure that is your problem. Look at your VVT CLOSELY, and use a magnifying glass and light on it and you may see the leak (coming from one or more of the bolts that hold the pulley together). The bolts have a different type of head on them. I did actually see the leak area after I removed the pulley and inspected it closely. Good luck with it, and post back your solution!

 

Thanks! i really appreciate it! The car has i think about 115k, not entirely certain, if anything, a bit more. Is this pulley replacement fairly straight forward? I am pretty good with a wrench, just redid the whole head of my BMW so i wouldnt be too phased by this. It is removing the belt, swapping the pulley and reinstalling the belt again? or is it much more complex than that? would the cam spin out of timing if not belted? maybe a DIY link or something...

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...y-39343/page2/

this was rather helpful, more info would be great, especially from you counseller828, you did this fix after this thread...

 

It is easy if you buy the Volvo cam holder tool (expensive tho). It is doable without the tool if you mark things carefully and make your own cam holder tool for the exhaust cam. I made one out of scrap steel. Here is one type. There are others:
VOLVO CAMSHAFT ALIGNMENT GAUGE

My CVVT gear leaked like yours and eventually caused a slipped timing belt with 8 bent exhaust valves. I marked my CVVT gear and removed it but found out later that I needed to make/buy a cam holder tool. It took me 4 tries but I finally got the CVVT aligned and secure.

I would stop driving the car until it's fixed simply because of my experience. It leaked oil on the ground for about 2 weeks before it started making a rattling sound. Then a couple days later the timing belt slipped.

Here is a thread about a head gasket on an 850. About half way down there is a pic of the cams showing how the cuts on the ends line up with the parting line on the cam cover to head. This is how you align the cam and hold it in place with the cam tool. The CVVT is on the exhaust cam so you really only have to worry about that cam moving when you align the CVVT gear and tighten the bolt to something like 80 lb/ft.
http://www.tracystruesoaps.com/tutorials/850hg/p8.html

Here is the culprit. See the little plunger? That's where mine leaked.

 

Hello Again. I concur with Hudini above. Good photo Hudini. The leak shown there is exactly what I had, and I bet it is the same problem for you. I have seen and read Hudini's posts before and respect his/her ideas. It is a starightforward repair, but borrow the cam holding tool from someone. It is expensive to buy. You can "eye" it if you want and if the cam rotates a bit after you remove the belt, just make sure you have marked everything well so you can reset it. But the cam tool is really best. I am in Baltimore, and I borrowed the cam tool from a local shop that I had bought some parts from. Get friendly with a local volvo shop parts guy and give him your credit card to hold and charge in case you do not return the tool. That is what I did. Borrowed it for 2-3 days total, and all was fine. Once you get the tool it is as simple as attaching the tool to the back of the cams (to set them), then remove the belt, then the bad cam pully. Then put the new pulley on (new pully is just a bolt-on, no need to set the pully in any particular orientation), then put the belt back on, then good-to-go. Of course, have to make sure that the crank at the bottom of the engine remains in place as well after you remove the belt, so that everything stays "in time". Check the belt as well, as oil will rot rubber. Check the belt for cracks. Since you are already removing the belt for the pulley repair, consider replacing it while you are there due to the oil that has been touching and the age of the belt (if it is more than 25K old. If younger than 25K, just clean it and reuse it if the inspection of it shows no problems.