This car now has almost 199,000 miles. I bought it a couple of years ago from the original owner, and got the impression that the car's care might not have been the best, but really don't know. When I first got it, I had to replace the right engine mount and remove shims from the AC compressor to get that working again. A little later, had to replace the fuel pressure regulator. That's all, so far.


1) The engine has always looked clean and dry until just now when I opened the hood: Oil coming out just a little around the valve gear cover, and lots all down the right side of the engine and underneath. By the way, don't know if the timing belt has ever been replaced. Would have just done it already but time and money is a problem. Likely causes for this sudden oil leak?


2) Sometimes, the AC fan is blowing loudly but little air coming out the dash vents where it is set to... think I can feel it coming out down below somewhere. Likely cause for this? Part of the electronic controls or just a loose vacuum hose, if that's what directs the airflow? How difficult to get to?


3) When the car has been parked in hot weather (about 90 deg. and over) and I start it, after about 5 or 10 seconds there is suddenly a loud, low pitched "pop" that seems to come from the rear (?). The type of sound it is makes me think of a metal tank that suddenly buckles a bit inward or outward due to a change in pressure outside or inside the tank. Could this be happening to the gas tank when gas starts being drawn or returned upon starting??? This just started this Summer.


4) Just curious, is anyone else's headliner falling down? Other cars I've happened to run across look fine but the adhesive has let go on this one and the headliner is hanging down everywhere. The thin foam layer between the panel and the fabric is a crumbling mess.


5) Regarding the 4 trim pieces that slide down over the bottom edge of each door window opening... they also have the rubber strip that wipes/seals against the window glass: The black coating on these is all cracked and coming off. They are over $70 each at the Dealership to replace. Any cheaper alternatives? I'm thinking about scraping/sandblasting them and just painting...


6) Occasionally, the transmission makes a hard (jerk) downshift when slowing to a stop. All I've done is add to the fluid about a year ago... don't know what the previous owner did, if anything. I guess one obvious answer is I need to flush and refill or have someone do that.


Thanks for any help, guys.


Mark


EDIT: I've been reading here about the VVT gear/pulley having a small plunger of some sort in it with a o-ring seal that leaks, besides the camshaft seal itself leaking. All the references to these I've seen are relating to earlier cars than mine. Are these same oil leak issues present in the 2005 engine?

 

You are definitely at a crossroads with this one.

1) Hard to tell on the leak without seeing the car, but the timing belt is an ASAP item if you know nothing about it. If that breaks you wont have to worry about any of the other items.

2) Probably a diverter motor/servo. When it fails to send the air where you want it to go the diverter door isn't getting moved.

3) Experiment with removing the gas cap before you start the car and see if it still happens. With the cap removed the scenario you describe couldn't happen.

4) You don't say where you live, but frequent 90 and above temps means south? Headliner issues are a really common problem for all makes in those climates. Auto trim shops will replace these surprisingly cheap. A couple hundred bucks or less in most cases.

5) Scrape and paint

6) With no trans service history, what does the fluid look like? If it is dark brown to black don't shock the system with a flush, though personally I don't ever recommend a flush. Too much danger of breaking too much crud loose and jamming up shift valves, etc. Do a single drain and fill with the appropriate fluid. Should be 3-4 qts. Partial fresh fluid will slowly clean things up. The hard downshift is typically due to a shift valve sticking and hesitating slightly when directed to shift then it hits harsh.

Not familiar with the VVT issue. Maybe someone else will chime in.

 

No VVT issues with the newer 2.4L and 2.5L engines. Only the 2000-2004 1.9L turbo motors.

 

My wife owns a 2005 S40 and the headliner is falling down also. We have 188,000 0n this one and it has cost us a ton of money to get it there. We have had many issues with this car the worst being the amount of oil it consumes-not leaks. Volvo rebuild the top half of the motor at 40,000 for the same reason. It came back about 50,000 miles later. Four S40's on the shop at the same time for the same reason.

 

I would guess oil being pushed out as either the cam seals or a clogged PCV system. The PCV is most likely. Still, a 200k mile engine will leak. Somewhere.

 

Go to Joanne Fabric's or something similar. They have some twist pins meant for fabric/bed shams and you just twist them in.

Best thing, works great even if your once foam is crumbling. After having adhesive not keep it up, I added these to mine, 3 across front of sunroof.

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