Hello all,

I recently bought a 2003 S40 1.9t, and upon closer inspection I found that the plunger on the VVT gear is leaking. Oil everywhere, timing belt is well lubed . The seals look OK, but at 116k miles, and since I have to pull the VVT gear anyway I am just going to replace all 4 of the camshaft seals. I have a new VVT gear and a Gates TB kit on the way.

I need help identifying the correct seals though. Many online part sites have contradicting info on this car. Here are the Volvo PN's that my research has turned up:

Front Cam Seal, intake side = 9440651
Front cam Seal, exhaust side = 9458309
Rear cam seal, intake and exhaust = 9443310

A few sites told me that that both of the front cam seals are the same. That is what is throwing me off. And I want to make sure I have everything I need before tearing my car apart.

Can someone please verify that the above seals are correct?

Thanks,

Jeremy

 

I posted this above too:





No help on the part numbers.

 

The seals have a diffrent inner diamiter. I just replaced them on my v40. I might have got carried away but I replaced the crank seal and the head gasket. But engine is still leaking so I think its the vvt gear or little O-ring on gear. Well any rate the cylinders look good for 140k miles. Leak is very slow so its hard to find but its coming from under the vvt cam location.

 

Here is how I verified that is was my VVT leaking.

Remove both the upper and front TB covers. Then turn the engine over until you can see the little plunger. You should see a little oil sitting in the depression of the plunger. Clean that oil out with a paper towel or a q-tip. Then run the engine for a minute. Check to see if the oil in the depression came back. If so clean it out again, then unplug your VVT solenoid that is right behind the VVT gear. Run the engine again for a minute. If there is no oil in the depression after that I think its reasonably sure its that plunger that's leaking.

That was the case on mine, and I was really bummed when I found out. I've read that it is a nightmare getting the VVT gear back on with perfect timing/alignment. But the dealer wants 1200+, and the local volvo shop wants 950+... I cannot afford that, so I will just have to make it happen . Worst case, I can't get the timing right and have to have it towed to a shop to get it right. That will still end up being cheaper that letting someone else do the whole job.

Hudini,

Thanks for the pics. I saw them on your other post. I wish I could just replace that little o-ring, but apparently Volvo does not sell it. And the follow ups to every post I've read where people found an o-ring that fit had their leak return within a few months. So I bit down and forked out 169.95 on eBay for a new VVT Gear. Add 120 for a timing belt kit and I'm tapped out for a while.

 

I got the camshaft seal part numbers sorted out. I called up a dealership and asked the parts dept to look it up for me. Why didn't I think of doing that sooner?

The volvo part numbers in my first post were correct.

Thanks all!

 

Livens,
I made a cam gear brake out of wood. The cams require a tool to be able to set the timing belt. They are springy! If you can do the timing on a v40, you can do the timing on any car.

 

That's pretty cool, and I could probably whip one up with scrap I have laying around.

It would not work for cam seals though, as I have to remove the gears to get to them. For this job I have to make a cam lock that locks the cams from the rear side of the engine, and withstand the ~90 ftl/lb torque that the VVT gear requires. I may end up just buying a cheap one off of ebay ($120 cheap!). But first I am going to try to make one.

 

I'm going to take a closer look at that o-ring and do that oil test at the end of the week. Going to see if my volvo guy can get the o-ring in for me, I want to get the right part so I don't have to do it twice and don't want to pay for a new vvt gear because I'm sure there pricey.

 

Please oh please, if he can find a source for that o-ring can you post details of where to buy here? I will return my VVT gear in a heartbeat if I know I can simply fix it.

BTW I ordered my VVT off of eBay for $170, free shipping. Local dealership wanted $255 for the exact same thing.

 

Jeremy, thanks for that information, it's very important for those who needs to change the seals. Fernando from Brazil