Gushing oil leak front or intake cam
 

X/C 70 2002 189000 miles
I've had new replacement of the seals ,timing belt ,water pump,tensioner and PCV breather box etal . Leak has increased from drip to gush on front cam seal. No other leaks. Mechanic replaced front twice, one oem once with dealer supplied. Engine runs smooth , I'm wondering if a speedi sleeve might save the day . ANY ONE ever try them and do you possibly know shaft diameter? I am going to work with different mechanic ,think perhaps the first scored the shaft. He wanted to put a different engine in. Felt that might be less work.

Sounds to me like your crankcase system is totally plugged up and forcing oil out the seal. I wrote an article on this problem recently.

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...service-96198/

New PCV Breather System
 

That was originally my thought also so we went all the way through the whole system cleaned it out only thing I didn't do was drop the oil pan. We did blow air into the system and it did come back out through the fill. Everything else though it's new all hoses breather box and cleared all the holes. So I still think it's my mechanic when taking out the front seal which was not the leaking one scored the metal causing a new problem. Hoping to see the different mechanic set new seal and probably try the speedi sleeve. Otherwise I'll have to replace the whole cam. Or trade it off which is just a shame

+1 with Tony's assessment. Did you try the rubber glove test to see if there's still positive crank pressure coming back up to the oil fill cap? If your mechanic didn't "rod out" the ports when replacing the PCV parts, you may be still be clogged up inside the block and maybe the fix will be to remove the PCV pipes (again- sigh...) to fully clean the block ports.

I watched as he did the PCV , handed tools etc.. And he did clear out the ports with a rod. a vacuum did pull on rubber glove at the oil fill cap. At this point will be checking out the intake cam seal.

If there is damage to the camshaft itself, you should be able to see that. For oil to gush out, really, it would take more than just a rub mark, though.

wondering if maybe the wrong size seal was used. what's the engine model code?

To me that is the only sensible explanation.

two choices front cam seal
 

I went to a different supplier and was sold a smaller cam seal than first two times. The difference is like six mm. The smaller seal indicates without vvt. All the others tat iI was sold indicate w/vvt. The cam in need is the front intake, it does not have the extra sensor on the front although it is tapped on the block for the sensor bolts that hold on the rear exhaust cam sensor (See attached picture).
Have the mechanics been adding the incorrect seal to the front 6 mm is a huge gap.Engine is B244T3 ending vin49992
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/volvofo...f610a2eab5.jpg

There are actually four different seals for the camshafts on these cars and it is confusing.

One seal is for the rear camshaft where you also have a sensor at the back of the camshaft, or on the older style, a distributor. They are visibly smaller and fit inside the housing about 1/2 inch.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...431493&jsn=347

One seal is more of a cap and it fits the rear of the camshaft where you do not have any type of sensor hanging off the head, basically it is a plug.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Volvo-9...item338591e2f6

One seal is for the front of the camshaft WITHOUT a VVT hub.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...sn=345&jsn=345


One seal is for the front of the camshaft WITH a VVT hub.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...431493&jsn=344

How do I determine whether my vehicle requires a vvt cam seal on the front cam or a non vvt cam seal?

Well, in your own photo, it's evident that the rear cam has VVT and the front cam doesn't, because you can see the actuator there and where one isn't mounted also.

Thanks For the clarification
 

Well then I believe that it's been the wrong seal has been stalled two times now. Thanks again is there any benefit to one brand versus another. Either way we'll move forward on this I think I'll probably drop oil pan and check-out any other clogging that might be there. You guys are the best I'll let you know the results.

I'm not really picky about oil seals. Let's not forget that the OE seal didn't last a lifetime.

The selection that I showed on Rock Auto are what I have used without any problems.

My advice is to use grease on the seals to install them and prelube the lip. Don't have any grease on the outside of the seal since it only attracts dirt. Greasing the edge that fits inside the cylinder head makes installation a lot easier.

I put my seals in against the back stops in the head.

Success on the front cam-intake seal NO Leaks
 

Three supply houses , three certified mechanics time and money.Whew! After making the locking tool and removing the gear discovered I could put a flat head screw driver between seal and cam shaft. I would have expected the mechanics to see and realize that two suppliers and the dealer had sent the incorrect seal. Thanks to you folks I was able to get the correct seal.
Still not being a mechanic though I have a new sound.. a "shwoop swhoop swhoop" that seems to come from the lower back of Engine. Goes away after accelerating but returns every now and then. I at first yhought it was mechanical like scouring brake pads but it isn't consistent and has a slightly different sucking sound.
I plan on dropping oil pan cleaning and checking incoming ports and screen if there is one. Could this be related to turbo? Or clogged breather system ,even though I had all hoses and box replaced?
Thanks again for all the input from you folks. Will

If the service advisor wanted to charge me if I got bugs on the loaner (ridiculous) in the event that I needed to drive it back to New Orleans while waiting for my car to be serviced, then chances are she called me before the cleaning service was performed. I do not see any difference in my PCV functioning. All she wanted to do is overcharge me for everything. Can someone please tell me if they think my PCV system has ever really even been serviced? (in 2013 40k miles ago, as well as last week as per the head mechanic's recommendations).

Whoever your mechanics are, they are incompetent boobs. Can't tell a seal which fits from one which does not? Total morons. Tell them I said so.