V70 T5 engine oil leak

[SteveSarre]

Hi all

I have changed the radial seals at the cam ends under the cam position sensor and under the distributor while I was at it. Volvo part number 9443310

The one under the cam position sensor was weeping oil, and had mostly blown out of position.
The one under the distributor was in position and there was no sign of a leak. There was crud behind it, which suggests to me that it hadn't been changed for a while if ever.

I am going to monitor for a few days, but I think that was the problem.

I then did another glove test (over the oil filler cap hole ) and the glove definitely gets sucked in. I dont know why I did it over the oil filler hole, rather than the dipstick.

I think this car has had a PCV problem in the past, which has been fixed, but this is the first time I have looked at the cam seals. I haven't looked at the seals at the cambelt end, but there is no sign of oil leak there, so maybe that can wait until I change the cam belt.

HTH
Steve

[SteveSarre]

Hi all,

Just to confirm, the leak is fixed.

You can see signs of a leak on the hose below the cam position sensor.

Few photos show the seal behind the cam position sensor was almost falling out and was weeping, the one behind the distributor had to be pulled out (drill a small hole in the metal surround part of the seal) and then pull it out. It wasn't leaking but I replaced it anyway


HTH
Steve

[SteveSarre]

Seal behind cam position sensor almost falling out

[sdg1970]

Thanks for the follow up and conclusion - so many don't!

I've had 3 P80 cars in the last 9 years and none had this problem, though I do recall a C70 a friend had a few years back that blew the cam seal when the pcv was giving problems. I wonder if it's usually a puffing pcv system that causes it!?? 🤷*♂️ 🤔

[acshortt5]

I've had the same experience with the cam sensor seal weeping and went largely unnoticed due to the amount of plumbing/stuff in the way. Eventually I got fed up with the small leak to set about finding it.
I didn't replace both at the same time and subsequently had the distributor seal fail (came out) about a year later which lead to a significant oil leak and was quite clear where it was coming from.... The seals had just got hardened and shrunk with age. I replaced them with Febi aftermarket seals which looked identical to the originals that came out.

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by acshortt5

I've had the same experience with the cam sensor seal weeping and went largely unnoticed due to the amount of plumbing/stuff in the way. Eventually I got fed up with the small leak to set about finding it.
I didn't replace both at the same time and subsequently had the distributor seal fail (came out) about a year later which lead to a significant oil leak and was quite clear where it was coming from.... The seals had just got hardened and shrunk with age. I replaced them with Febi aftermarket seals which looked identical to the originals that came out.

I had exactly the same thing, as I mentioned in post #6. They failed at different times, but both were just due to having pushed out of place - amazing how much oil it lets out, but a simple enough fix in the end.