Leaking Rear Seal

  • Thread starter Thread starter squirrely
  • Start date Start date
S

squirrely

At around 85K my non-turbo S70 1998 rear seal began to leak.

Volvo dealer maintained including oil changes. Switched a while ago to Mobil
1.

Should I be disappointed in service, or is this a cost of ownership for
these vehicles. Had the mechanic check the flame trap. Appeared to be pretty
old, plastic brittle, but compressed air went through it, blowing some
carbon grit though.

Cheers,
 
squirrely said:
At around 85K my non-turbo S70 1998 rear seal began to leak.

Volvo dealer maintained including oil changes. Switched a while ago to Mobil
1.

Should I be disappointed in service, or is this a cost of ownership for
these vehicles. Had the mechanic check the flame trap. Appeared to be pretty
old, plastic brittle, but compressed air went through it, blowing some
carbon grit though.

Cheers,
Click to expand...
There are several views on "this" topic........ when switching from
"regular" oils to "synthetics" on older (read several miles), leaks
develop!!!
I would imagine your leak developed as a result of going to synthetic
oil. Apparently, the synthetic oil due to detergent properties "cleans"
out the engine, that wouldn't have happened staying with regular oil.
P.S. I don't need the flames folks!!!!!! As stated in the beginning,
there are several "VIEWS"
Herman, '83 282 5.0 H.O. formerly 242 Turbo intercooled.
 
So the theory would be that synthetic cleans out grit between seal and metal
wall, then leaks?

Just strikes me as odd that rear seal leaks seem so prevelant in Volvo vs
other vehicles. Do a google search, and you end up getting messages from
this newsgroup primarily.

Gotta let this one go I think, but it bothers me.
 
I would imagine your leak developed as a result of going to synthetic
oil. Apparently, the synthetic oil due to detergent properties "cleans"
out the engine, that wouldn't have happened staying with regular oil.
Click to expand...

Nevermind that all of the white block motors are prone to rear main seal
leaks. Nevermind that the seal itself has undergone a few revisions to
attempt to fix this problem.

If the synthetic oil were really the culprit, I'd expect that some of the
other seals would spring leaks.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo
 
So the theory would be that synthetic cleans out grit between seal and metal
wall, then leaks?

Just strikes me as odd that rear seal leaks seem so prevelant in Volvo vs
other vehicles. Do a google search, and you end up getting messages from
this newsgroup primarily.
...
Click to expand...

Happened to me too, at 230.000 km or so.
And that's perhaps the real reason: high mileage.
Because lots of people simply won't let go of their beloved volvo !

Just a thoought.

Kirth
854T5
 
Thanks for the comments.

What might be interesting would be constructing a spreadsheet on this
problem.
Example:
Engine Turbo/NonTurbo Mineral/Synthetic? Synthetic Mileage Start
Rear Seal Leak date etc.

See if a real pattern exists

I think that my problem may have been related to crankcase pressure due to
improper flametrap PCV maintenance. Was getting some oil blow out from oil
cap too I think.

Cheers
 
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