V70R engine out - jobs to do "while you're in there"

[britten_mark]

Hello

My father in law has had a bad oil leak on his 99 R AWD for years, it's right at the back of the engine almost out of sight, someone diagnosed a crank oil seal? Anyhow been told the engine should come out, plenty of £££s.

If the diagnosis is correct and he goes down this road, is there any other job that is worth doing at the same time, some other hard-to-get-at part that would be best replaced on a 14 year old 60K car?

[M-R-P]

PCV system, Clean the inlet manifold, replace all the engine mounts, inspect (and upgrade?) the turbo.

If it's the rear main seal (crank) then the gearbox and flywheel will have to come off - maybe a good opportunity to change the clutch and DMF?

[RiPsTa33]

Not seen you for a while Mark, why don't you bring it down the garage and i'll tell you exactly where the leak is.

99 R AWD only came in auto

[Dangerous Dave]

Itsounds like theturbo return pipe seal is leaking. This pipe runs from the bottom of the turbo to the back of the block and has a seal on the end which eventually wears and leaks (blowing oil up the back of the engine, then drips back down everywhere). Unfortunately on the AWDs the angle sits in the way and it is nigh impossible to get to to replace (it can be done but takes a while).

The rear crank seal is at the gearbox end so would be at the side of the engine, not down the back.

To be honest if it has only got 60k on it then I would not expect many parts need replacing, sounds like it has had an easy life.

Whilst the engine was out you could get the rear crank seal done, angle gear seals and replace oil, replace the angle gear connecting sleeve and generaly anything that is inaccessible down the back where access is tight (think I've listed most of them)

Hope this helps

[Wobbly Dave]

degrease the sub-frame - repaint it even?

[britten_mark]

Not seen you for a while Mark, why don't you bring it down the garage and i'll tell you exactly where the leak is.


Now then Chris, I was around your way one evening a few weeks back and called by, but the gates were shut and there was a load of people around, so figured you were busy. I'll see if he fancies a ride out for a 2nd diagnosis.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm not great with engines but even to me the diagnosis (from a dealer without inspection) of the crank seal didn't sound right on an east/west engine (!), like you say more likely the turbo feed.

I know how jobs like this can snowball, just want to get him ready for it. So... the items for consideration are;

Bottom mounts
PCV
Rear crank seal
Angle gear seals
Angle gear oil change
Angle gear connecting sleeve (getting a bit technical for me here...)
Corrosion on the subframe

He loves his car, it will probably be his last, so he's not averse to TLC.

BTW we have no idea if the 4wd has ever had any work, can you remind me what actually fails with the angle gear, what comes off to change it, and what price a new/recon part? It's a while since I owned an R...

[Dangerous Dave]

Common failures on the AWD system (not a definitive list):
*The connecting sleeve splines wear and eventually slip on the output/input shafts or the shafts themselves can get worn (though the connecting sleeve should go first as it is designed to)
*Angle gear can break down due to lack of oil or tyre wear differences putting strain on the gears, oil loss due to seal wear
*Propshaft cv joints can dry up (usually the front more than the rear due to the proximity to the engine/exhaust downpipe) causing internal wear (can cause some clunking when at low speed or pulling off)
*Propshaft centre bearing can suffer excessive wear/failure

Some of the less common faults are on the rear transmission components but most of the problems I've heard of are to do with the front end

Don't know if the subframe will be corroded (especially if it is coated in oil :) ) but a cleanup and protect won't hurt it.

Bear in mind some of the parts aren't cheap, the connecting sleeve is around £90, seals will be around £20 (think both these items will come as a kit from Volvo) and the oil will probably cost a fair bit per litre (from Volvo)

HTH

[britten_mark]

Cheers

I don't think it's seen too many winters, some of the underneath components still have stickers on them, plus plenty of oil splashing about ;)