Car is a 98 V70 T5. When I pulled the spark plug cover to change the plugs, there was 1/2 quart of motor oil pooled aound the plug insulators and the surrounding depressions in the valve cover. The black abs vent tube located near the oil filler car appears to be leaking.
First of all, what is this? I know it's not the PCV valve, which Volvo calls the "flame trap." I need to get to the flame trap however, anyone have a general idea of where it's located? How easy it is to clean/ change out?
Thanks for the help with the multi-faceted question!

 

Also the oil cap seal being bad will cause the same oil pooling. That hose is part of the Vent system. The turbo cars do not have a flame trap. I would buy the vent box kit from FCPgroton.com and change it all out.

 

I'll look into the cap seal. I hadn't thought of that. I assumed that since the abs hose was part of the vent system, a pcv valve might be plugged up...where is the PCV on these cars?

I'll look into the cap seal. One more thing, after 140k miles, some mechanic up here in Vegas convinced my mother to pay through the nose to swith to 5-40 sythetic after using nothing but 10-30 conventional motor oil. Could this be causing/ contributing to the issue?
Tech- Can I come to you with questions about my 94' Cobra Mustang too? =) There's a bit of difference between the T5 and the small block Ford. =) Thanks again!

 

From the world of Harley and elsewhere, yes. It can seep through old seals more so than conventional oils do. Because of this, my 1974 Honda CL360 uses conventional oil -- the only air cooled engine I own which has ever used it beyond initial break in. Don't have Volvo-specific information on this, however; and Volvo seals may not suffer that malady like HD ones are known to.

But a half quart is a lot of oil just to seep past seals. Is your oil cap an O ring type of seal? That went bad on a Honda CRV at 165K and caused the CEL to fire up, scaring my daughter who at least had enough sense to call me. Cheap fix. I note the O ring on my 06 V70 is a service item at maybe 120 K or so. 'Don't know about your vintage. I'd follow Tech's advice and try that first.

 

Check the seal.
I have had cars that have gone back and forth with oil and not cause leaks. So IMO it is either the cap seal or clogged vent box.

P.S. I am not up to date much on the newer Mustangs. I have messed with the ones like mine up to 93.

 

This may sound funny but I think it is true. I had my mechanic pull my cover off to change my spark plugs and there was a pool of oil everywhere. Well the bottom line for me was that everytime someone poured the oil in during an oil change they would miss the hole and it goes straight under the cover and will just sit there. He cleaned all the oil out and have checked several times over the past few months and nothing is leaking from my engine. Along with the black hose on mine was fine.

 

hah. I feel bad laughing; at least it wasn't anything serious....

Thanks for the replies, you guys are all great. I replaced the cap, and although I couldnt see the deterioration, the seal must have lost some integrity, becuase the problem has "left the building."

Now on to the MAF sensor and the ABS sensor going bad simultaniously...

 

My 98 V70XC AWD definitely had this problem too and it was the oil cap seal. Not only had it filled the spark plug cavity, it had ran down the front of the engine (right side) under the timing belt cover and saturated the motor mount under the crankshaft pulley. Needless to say, the mount was broken because the oil had weakend the rubber to the point it was so soft the weight of the engine pushed it to the frame. You could hear engine bouncing on the frame when you went over bumps. Good idea to check that mount too if your oil has been up on the top for a while.

I am also going to change the oil cap seal every other oil change now too.

 

Hi, I have recently purchased a 2000.05 V70 2.3 T5 SE and have a problem with an oil leak in the same area. I have changed the oil filler cap and cleaned up, but the leak from wherever still persists! If it’s not the oil filler cap then what could it be??? Many thanks in advance!!

Also - Hello to everyone as this is my first ever post! Looks like a great helpful community and I look forward to contributing in the future!

Regards

Paul.

 

Your vent system might be clogged causing the leak from either the oil cap or the hose under the cover.

 

Hello,

I have a same exact problem today when I tried to change plugs on my s80 2000 turbo. Oil everywhere under the cover, going into spark plugs. I got a new oil cap seal but somehow feel that it may not be enough. What if I double up oild seal with new seal in the oil cap? I feel there is too much gap.

 

I doubt that adding an extra seal will change anything. I ended up replacing my complete vent system on my turbo model 98 V70XC. I posted earily in this thread that the oit cap seal was it but later discovered that it didn't solve the problem. My vent system wasn't all that clogged either and I still got oil on top after doing all that. I have another thread with pics showing what I finally found on mine and what I did to temporarily slow it down quite a bit. I will get the links and add them to this reply. Bottom line, to fix my oil leaking under the spark plug cover permanently will require spliting the cam cover and resealing the two halves. I will go get the links now.

Ok back now, here is a link to a thread here, https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-xc70-17/oil-under-spark-plug-cover-42774/ and in that is another link to Mathews Volvo site were there is a bigger thread on this same issue. That link is http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=30678 This thread is 3 pages long and on the third page you will see what I did to stop the oil. The plastic cap on the plug I made had to be changed to a copper cap because the plastic one couldn' take the heat of the engine. Anyway, good luck, hope you get yours fix.