VEA d4 glove test

[hi tower]

About a month ago I bought a v40 d4 auto from a local large ish car dealer. I love the car, it drives and performs faultlessly.
I decided I would change the transmission fluid as there was no mention of it being changed in the service history. When I got under the car it was immediately obvious there was a significant oil leak down the back of the engine. The oil had blown along the floorpan and the plastic belly pan was full of congealed oil. Some oil has also got past the oil cap and is sat in the wells in the valve cover around the injectors.

I began researching this and other forums and became aware of the rubber glove test. I tried this and the glove stood up as soon as the engine was started. When I remove the pipe from the inlet ducting to the pcv valve a steady strong stream of blow by is emitted but there is no vacuum at the stub on the inlet ducting. So I deduce that the pcv valve is working ok but there is no vacuum at idle to draw the blow by gases away? I’ve also heard no one mention that the cap can be removed from the pcv valve to check the condition of the diaphragm inside and these can be ordered separately from several online sources. Mine was intact.

I was wondering if anyone has performed the rubber glove test on their vea engine and found vacuum at the oil filler? Is the crankcase supposed run under pressure? Anyone I’ve read about who has taken their car back to Volvo has been told the pressure is normal.

I’m just trying to get myself armed with the facts before the car goes back to the dealer on Tuesday.

[5cilinder]

Even with healthy diesels there is a little bit of over pressure especially at cold startup when the tolerances are not optimally seated yet.
With gasoline engines there is vacuum due to the closed throttle and pvc behind it , so the inlet vacuum keeps the crankcase underpressured even do there is blowby.
So in your case the question is the pressure excessive? as a sidenote your engine is prone to cokedup pistonrings due to too small drain holes of the oil ring and if that is the case there could be more blowby then desired

[SnineT]

There are two things that can make this look like something it isn't and worth checking first.

1 - Spillage from oil changes and top up's from the fill hole.

2 - Rocker cover gasket is leaking.

If she is blowing though you should be able to smell it in the engine bay after a good drive, it will naturally smell a bit but if it's good enough to get high on your concerns could be justified.

[hi tower]

Originally Posted by SnineT

There are two things that can make this look like something it isn't and worth checking first.

1 - Spillage from oil changes and top up's from the fill hole.

2 - Rocker cover gasket is leaking.

If she is blowing though you should be able to smell it in the engine bay after a good drive, it will naturally smell a bit but if it's good enough to get high on your concerns could be justified.

I presumed the oil on top of the valve cover was from spillages when filling or topping up until a mechanic pointed out it wasn’t clear new oil but dirty black oil from inside the engine.

There is also a lot of oil around a plastic junction in the inlet ducting at the back of the engine at the lowest point. Not sure if this has dripped onto the outside of the ducting or is seeping out from inside.

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by SnineT

There are two things that can make this look like something it isn't and worth checking first.

1 - Spillage from oil changes and top up's from the fill hole.

2 - Rocker cover gasket is leaking.

If she is blowing though you should be able to smell it in the engine bay after a good drive, it will naturally smell a bit but if it's good enough to get high on your concerns could be justified.

Glad you're getting it sorted and my #2 suggestion was correct then, you have a good dealer there as someone I know with the same issue was advised by his to "just keep an eye on it" aka "oh just go away will you!" it seems a weak point on these engines.

[Geozyg]

I have a 2016 late D4.
In theory it’s got the later piston rings and hasn’t done enough miles to wear valve seals.
Oil is not being used quickly so I guess all is well with piston rings.
However it is leaking oil out of various seals and on checking it has crankcase positive pressure. Did the glove test over the filler and def inflated.
I then removed the hose from the valve cover to the inlet manifold pipe and did the test again. The glove was inflated much faster and continued to grow with quite some pressure building up. This was not really a surprise as there was nowhere for it to go except into the glove.
As the 1st oil filler test had the glove inflating more slowly and never really blew up like a balloon, there must have been some pressure relief to the inlet manifold pipe. But not enough vacuum be to negative in the crankcase.
As posted earlier, the inlet manifold pipe has very little vacuum in it.

So where does this leave me? Lots of small oil leaks due to pressure, but not sure how to improve matters. It just seems the VEA 4 cyl diesel doesn’t have enough crankcase ventilation. Rubbish design!

[Geozyg]

I need to make a nappy for the car to put under the engine to catch the oil. Do a nappy change along with the service!

[hi tower]

Originally Posted by 5cilinder

Even with healthy diesels there is a little bit of over pressure especially at cold startup when the tolerances are not optimally seated yet.
With gasoline engines there is vacuum due to the closed throttle and pvc behind it , so the inlet vacuum keeps the crankcase underpressured even do there is blowby.
So in your case the question is the pressure excessive? as a sidenote your engine is prone to cokedup pistonrings due to too small drain holes of the oil ring and if that is the case there could be more blowby then desired

The pressure at idle is enough to make the glove stand up but not inflate like a balloon. I wonder how much pressure there is at 2000rpm.

I am aware of the coked piston ring issue and the re design of the pistons and rings mid 2016 on petrol models. Don’t know if this applies to diesel models also. My car was registered in sept 2016.

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by hi tower

The pressure at idle is enough to make the glove stand up but not inflate like a balloon. I wonder how much pressure there is at 2000rpm.

I am aware of the coked piston ring issue and the re design of the pistons and rings mid 2016 on petrol models. Don’t know if this applies to diesel models also. My car was registered in sept 2016.

I'm pretty sure he's correct and it will blow the glove up without there being anything wrong with the engine.

If it's what I thought then that would line up with the rocket gasket leaking lot's of them do this btw, it's also quite reasonable to suspect it's coming out of somewhere else I was just trying to avoid you handing over money to someone else for something you can do yourself.

First mission is to clean the area and then check it over a few hundred miles to see where it's really coming from, hth.

[hi tower]

Originally Posted by SnineT

I'm pretty sure he's correct and it will blow the glove up without there being anything wrong with the engine.

If it's what I thought then that would line up with the rocket gasket leaking lot's of them do this btw, it's also quite reasonable to suspect it's coming out of somewhere else I was just trying to avoid you handing over money to someone else for something you can do yourself.

First mission is to clean the area and then check it over a few hundred miles to see where it's really coming from, hth.

The car is still under the dealers 3 month warranty so hopefully that should cover the cost of any repairs. I read that replacing the rocker cover gasket is an £800 job at the dealers because of all the other gubbins that needs to be removed to get to it.

I had my friendly motor mechanic get it on the ramps and have a look. He cleaned everything down with brake cleaner and tried to spot where the oil was coming from. He said he couldn’t really see up the back without starting to remove ducting etc. His advice was to take it back to the dealer.