My first post! I'm thinking of buying a 2005 Volvo V5 T5 (turbo) tomorrow. Nearly everything has checked out pretty well (I took it to a Mechanic today who looked it over).

We noticed oil found below the oil filter. The mechanic said it probably just came from the oil filter the last time it was changed. But, I want to hear from ya'll what your thoughts could be. From your experience, is it a leak from the engine or from the oil filter area (i.e. a bad rubber seal on the filter or oil got everywhere from the last time it was changed).

Thoughts?

 

If this is set up the same as my S40, the car uses a paper cartridge filter that fits inside a plastic filter housing. There's an o-ring that should be replaced with each oil change so the mechanic is probably correct that the last change they didn't wipe clean or fit the new o-ring or properly place into its slot. If it doesn't look like there's any leaking from a main seal or the oil pan, the worst case is the filter housing is cracked and you'd need to replace.

 

The oil pan looks good as far as I could tell.

The main seal, I'm assuming, is on the left side of the engine where the timing belt is...correct?

Thanks for your reply!

 

yes there's both a front and rear main (crankshaft) seal - but the rear main is hidden in the transmission bell housing so any leaking there would show up there. the front main may need you to removing the timing belt cover - but certainly not close enough to the filter housing to cause confusion.

 

Thanks! Very helpful