I ran into an odd thing today. I have changed my own oil for over twenty years on a variety of cars. Today I looked in the drip pan and saw a thick skin of golden brown foam on the oil. My wife doesn't do a lot of driving with the car. There are a lot of quick five minute trips so the engine never gets really hot. I was wondering if this could just be moisture from her driving habits or a real problem. This is the first time I have seen this hape, so I am a bit curious.

 

Was the car run for a very short time before you drained the oil?

 

I ran her for a minute or two to het her on the ramps.

 

Satch, you have condensation in the oil due to short drives and the oil never, ever, ever coming up to temperature. This will occur in the fall and the spring when the temperatures and humidity begin to rise and fall. Not a good thing. You should drain and refill and drive to bring the oil temp up.............forget about the water temp.........that simply means that your heater can operate. The oil temperature take conciderably longer. In the future, I would drive your Volvo once a week for a conciderable distance to bring up the temperature. I am assuming that you have the slime on the dip stick and probably the oil cap?? Now, with all that stated, I did not look to see where you reside and I am ASSUMING that it is in the northern climate............
Reg

 

It could also be a weak oil pan o-ring and it is airating the oil on short drives/starts.

 

Ah, but TECH, you luxuriate in the very warm climate of Florida and what Satchmo describes is so common in the northern states. With that said, I'll probably hear that the o-rings were bad and that will shoot me down! But truly, the milky oil and gunk is so prevelant here in the frozen tundra in both the fall and the spring. By the way, I have some work in Florida this April but I will be in Tallahassee rather than your warm south.
Reg.

 

Yah Yah Yah, Also if he didn't have a Volvo filter the oil would have been Airated from pumping the oil pressure up as well.
It is getting hot here already. In the Mid 80's today.

 

Are the o rings internal or more like a gasket?

 

Between the oil pan and the block.

 

I have a friend with a lift so I can drop the pan. Is this something I can do or is there something I need to know. I won't screw with it yet. I will wait until the next oil change to see what happens. Can I order the o rings? Thanks a bunch. We are going to try driving her car a bit more and see if that helps first.

 

Try that first.
The typical sign of the o-rings being bad is the lifters tap on start up and for a WHILE after startup/Lower oil pressure. But not enough to kick the light on.

You should be able to order from somewhere.You would also have to get the chemical sealer as well.
https://volvoforums.com/m_6169/tm.htm
Here is a link to a post I made on how to replace them.

 

Thanks to all. It is cold, warm, damp then rainy here in Cheeseland. I took her car out for a long drive yesterday and instructed her to drive a bit more. My car gets 80 miles a day on it so we will use her car on the weekends a bit more to drive more miles. I don't have any noise coming from the engine at all, so I guess that's a good sign. I will post my findings on the next oil change. Thanks boys.

 

Satch, I hope I am correct.............I would hate to think that TECH would 'win' this one...................
Keep the engine hot and the moisture and condensation gremlins wil leave.
Reg

 

[align=left]I am experiencing the same problem (foamy oil) with a 98 S70 with 260K on it. Our climate is similar to that noted below (wet, warm, then cold, on and off for the last 2 months). However this S70 gets lots of highway miles back and forth to work each day. I read in another article that the foaming may be caused by coolant in the oil. All I can say is I hope not. Any ideas on where to look? The sound of the engine is the same as it always has been. Purr's like a kitten and this is the first time I have seen a foamy build up on the dip stick.
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If it is just on the dipstick and the oil doesn't look like a shake then I wouldn't worry about it to much.