When I check the oil (98 V70), a brownish, milky-like substance is covering the dipstick. This makes it difficult to get a good read on the dipstick. My tech says that this is moisture and common to all Volvos. Anyone with similar experiences? My home-remedy was to wrap a strip from a t-shirt on the dipstick and swab the dipstick well several times (being careful to not insert it deeply in the well). Seemed to remove most of the gunk.

 

Over a period of time you will see some build up like that.
As long as once you cleaned it out it is fine for now.

The oil itself look good?

 

Moisture is not a healthy thing to have in the crank case! I would drive the auto to truly heat the oil...........change it and the filter and then drive it until it is hot. The reason you have the condensation is generally because when the weather cools down and the oil is not hot because of local driving, the condensation is formed because of the cool air and the 'warm' crankcase. In short, you have to truly heat the oil to rid your engine of the excess moisture. I am presuming that you reside in a 'northern' state?
R.

 

Thanks for the reponses. The oil looks fine. The car has minor oil leaks. I'll probably replace the front cam seals and front crank seals at the next major maintenance. This car is just driven locally so it never really heats up and it has always been driven in a northern climate.

 

Since I posted my reply to you.............I noted the Indiana address. That for sure is your milky oil issue. It is bad news if you do not get that water out of the crank case! Drive the auto to heat it up and your problem will be solved!
Incidently, you should consider synthetic oil.............I use 10W-30 Castrol year around in a state north of you.
R.

 

I live in Frosty NH and I have the same exact problem with "milky" oil, especially when it is really cold out. lately I have noticed my antifreeze level going down very slowly. I know my rear main seal is leaking which is very common in the '98 V70's, so I am thinking maybe a bit of antifreeze is infiltrating my engine. I do find after the engine thoroughly heats up, the milkyness goes away in the oil.

 

Do you smell coolant with the Heat on?

 

You know, just the other day waiting in a drive-thru line, I did smell anti-freeze. I smell wasn't coming from the heat though... It smelled as if it were burning off of the engine, because the smell was more outside of the car than inside. Does this have anything to do with my rear main seal which has been leaking for some time now?

 

I highly Doubt it.

You will need to try to pressurize the system and check for leaks. The most common leaks on these cars are waterpump,Overflow Bottle, Some of the minor hoses. Also look for corrosion by the end of the hoses.