big oil leak while engaging reverse gear

[dahicori]

Sorry, something went wrong with the text.
I wanted it to go with the pictures.

I put back about 2 and a half liters and the stick shows approx half capacity filled. I went zany with the stick, sorry for that!

I cleaned the motor, the above pics shows the new leaks. There is one around the cover gasket, but i changed the valve cover gasket before. Maybe camshaft seal?

On the second pic, we can see oil coming from somthing around the water pump I guess..?

I have to double check everything. The dripping does not happen while the motor remains idle...

something else : I noticed some oil in the intake, not a lot, more like dusty residue ...



oil pan remained clean, we did not jack it up.

[RedArrow]

Originally Posted by dahicori

I put back about 2 and a half liters and the stick shows approx half capacity filled.

I cleaned the motor, the above pics shows the new leaks.

On the second pic, we can see oil coming from something around the water pump I guess..?

I have to double check everything. The dripping does not happen while the motor remains idle...

I have to say, and I`m sorry for saying it: that engine is absolutely not cleaned yet )) and unfortunately it is very hard to guess anything from the pictures you are showing. Maybe you could take better pictures and from other angles?


Please note:

All of this will sound very basic to you but believe me it is worth mentioning bc it is important:

The dipstick has the marks which are MINIMUM and MAXIMUM, yes.

but

it is not the minimum amount and the maximum amount in terms of capacity. It`s rather THE minimum level* you must maintain
AND THE maximum level that you should not exceed, as suggested by the factory.

The difference between the two marks is exactly 1 liter worth of motor oil!

IF/when the dipstick shows `maximum oil level` , that means you have plenty of motor oil inside the system, at full `suggested capacity` which is EXACT 7liters (=7.4 US Quarts) and that`s the perfect amount of oil to have in these engines (all of this is measured on a confirmed COLD engine and car parked on LEVEL ground)

and

the minimum mark on the dipstick refers to a current oil volume of 7-1=6 liters. There is no harm done if you run the engine with the engine oil levels down to not lower than that minimum mark.

((There is also no engine harm if if you ran the engine a little bit overfilled, by about 0.5-0.75 liter worth of oil on top of the maximum mark on dipstick.
Some cars with low compression and very cold climate may benefit from that, especially if there`s lots of coldstarts on a regular basis.))


Oil in the intake is not a sign of something very bad unless it is a huge amount of oil and constantly filling the intake up as you see oil `going missing` at a higher rate through driving a few hundreds of miles only.


If you needed to add 2.5 liters of engine oil to reach half way up on the dipstick, that is telling me that you were 1.5 liters BELOW the minimum level. Follow me... if you are at half way on dipstick, that means you have 7-0.5liters=6.5 liters in the motor *now*. That means you ONLY had 4 liters in the motor before you filled it with some 2.5 liters. Right? That`s a lot of oil to be `missing`.

Now, before you drive it again, you MUST figure out right away, what caused this low level and how and where it is happening.

Do not drive this car for a single mile before you solve this issue.


QUESTION:
When was the timing belt job?
I`m asking bc you should be able to figure out this:

- how long it took for the oil level to go down this low.
(measured in time and measured in miles driven)

That would give an accurate guess about how serious the leak is.
Maybe you took note of the odometer miles before or after you did the front belt?


Anyway. If you totally clean the engine, you will finally be able to spot the leak and start fixing the issue.

[ngoma]

Originally Posted by RedArrow

((There is also no engine harm if if you ran the engine a little bit overfilled, by about 0.5-0.75 liter worth of oil on top of the maximum mark on dipstick. Some cars with low compression and very cold climate may benefit from that, especially if there`s lots of coldstarts on a regular basis.))

Not sure I agree with this but I am open to learning new things every day. What is your reasoning that overfilling the crankcase helps low compression or cold starting conditions?

I will agree that overfilling the crankcase can sometimes help build oil pressure sooner on cold start, usually where the oil pressure buildup gets delayed when a worn oil pressure relief valve allows overnight oil drainback from the oil pickup tube. Thicker oil viscosity has been known to help this situation also.

[dahicori]

Hello everyone. I stayed away for a while. I'm back to my hometown and my lovely blue wagon.

First off I'm sorry I completly forgot to answer you back, RedArrow. I ran the car 1000 miles between the time I did the job on the TB.
It took one month for the oil to go that down.
So I put the car on jack stands, warmed up the motor , made it run on several gears.

I changed the head gasket.
It was new, but old. When the ex-owner gave it to me, one could see some rust colour on the eyelets. I could not have the round rim stick to the head right away when I put it.

Here is a photo.


Another important thing. I forgot to ask my friend who take the pic to give it to me afterwards, but some oil came BEFORE the leak you can see on the above pic , it was dripping on the pan and it came from the clutch bell (it has nothing to do with the matter; but I nearly lost a finger while tracking the leak on this spot, i felt the flywheel "pat" my finger )

I will post the pic from this other leak later in the morning.

[dahicori]

Here is the pic of the first leak spotted .



I called my volvo mechanic today, he is back to work! He told me it must be from a bad cork (yes, cork!) gasket which is located beneath the metal framework . I cant find the reference of that gasket on the web...if you have any idea, let me know.

Edit : I found the cork gasket.

Now about the above photo: I think it could be the pan gasket?!

[RedArrow]

I would never fail to check and check recheck then check and check oil levels for that long, especially after such a major repair (timing belt or a seal etc)

Well, still, 2.5liters (almost 3 quarts) is a huge amount of oil.

But this oil didn`t get lost (or eaten up), at least not overnight.

I would keep an eye out all the time and watch the oil level strictly on a regular basis with every 50miles driven. If you do have an existing leak then that`s the way to go. Or, fixing the source of the problem, if there is any.

I would suggest fully completely clean the entire engine as step #1 and try maintaining the cleanliness of the engine, at all times.

this can be your best friend to be able to spot it (in time) when something goes wrong.

[RedArrow]

Originally Posted by dahicori

Here is the pic of the first leak spotted .



I called my volvo mechanic today, he is back to work! He told me it must be from a bad cork (yes, cork!) gasket which is located beneath the metal framework . I cant find the reference of that gasket on the web...if you have any idea, let me know.

Edit : I found the cork gasket.

Now about the above photo: I think it could be the pan gasket?!

I think if your mechanic said `cork` then he was referring to a cork-type old-school low-quality valve cover gasket (which is shit BTW. even when brand new! do not ever use those, I would suggest to not. Buy the correct type, a 1-piece RUBBER valve cover gasket)

I kind of doubt that the oil pan gasket was responsible for your low oil level levels. You had a very low level. If all of that oil left through an oil pan gasket then you would see the entire lower end covered, including the undercarriage towards the rear of the car, and it would look shiny, oily and black and would be a fresh looking, active, constant leak.


I would look and confirm a few small details:
-motor oil filter is not loose and seals right ( you can gently tighten it a little more)
-tighten valve cover in the correct sequence you can find in the greenbook, not overthightening it is important but you can tighten it a little more to achieve a better seal)
-inspect the oil pressure/level sender plug and the area around it
-wash the engine and keep it super clean so you could* see IF it was the front or rear seal (rarely leaking but not impossible to have)
-monitor the oil pan gasket once the engine is clean, in case you think it leaks
-clean, inspect and recheck daily the area around and under the vacuum pump (sometimes leaks)
-try to see, on a very clean engine, IF IF the source of the leak is from where the block meets the cylinder head (highly doubt it but on a clean engine you easily monitor everything!) Again, I would call a thorough engine wash priority number #1, also a daily check of oil level, before and after every single drive (COLD&cooled ENGINE)

Without these, you can`t be sure of anything. And, why would you even think of something more complicated before finding the actual reasons why the oil was `missing` (low oil level)

PS. changing the oil pan gasket is very easy on an engine stand but definitely it is a nightmare when done in-car, because
-you wanna make sure you do it right, the pan is held in place by a series of very different bolts that are easy to mismatch and mix up (can cause damage)
-both mating surfaces of the block and the pan need to be very clean before you can add the gasket and that is a messy task bc of rules of gravity (oil keeps `coming` down once engine is opened)
-access is very limited and this gasket redo is not a quick job

So bc of all of those above, I would postpone replacing this gasket.
We cant stress it enough that having a perfectly clean engine now is your best way to diagnose. Easiest, cheapest and probably the most effective method. I don`t know if you have a real issue or not, nobody can really know. If the oil level goes low again then I wouldn`t drive the car at all until the source of leak is verified, or until the cause of the missing oil is found. We really want to hear the good news that it was just a little leak story, send us updates.

When the car drove plenty miles, if you opened the oil filler cap on a running engine, what do you experience? Is there an excessive blowby? What about pulling the dipstick out a little bit when the very warm engine is running?

[ngoma]

Originally Posted by dahicori

Now about the above photo: I think it could be the pan gasket?!

Rear main seal?

[v8volvo]

Originally Posted by dahicori

Here is the pic of the first leak spotted .



I called my volvo mechanic today, he is back to work! He told me it must be from a bad cork (yes, cork!) gasket which is located beneath the metal framework . I cant find the reference of that gasket on the web...if you have any idea, let me know.

Edit : I found the cork gasket.

Now about the above photo: I think it could be the pan gasket?!

I think that could all be from the one leak at the valve cover gasket. Leaking in through the top of the bellhousing and out the bottom. I would start with fixing that and getting everything washed off and cleaned up well, then see where things go from there.

Be sure to use the rubber one-piece type, not another cork one for that valve cover gasket! And also make sure all the studs are screwed all the way into the head so that their shoulders are sitting flush on the surface. If they are partially unscrewed it will prevent the gasket from clamping down and sealing up.

[ngoma]

OK now I see it, the small river running down from the corner of the VC. I missed it at first, must have been fixated on the MB oil cap.

Here I have enhanced your photo to show:
Lafyucb.jpg

Agree, new rubber VC gasket, get everything cleaned up, check for additional leaks.