Hi all, I was just looking under the TB cover because I wanted to clean the exhaust cam solenoid (I've had a long standing p0014 code and wanted to eliminate this as a possible cause). Anyway it's a pretty new belt I put on before the fall (yes I know that might be the cause of the p0014, except I had this code before the change too). So I noticed a small amount of oil on the inner edge of the belt. Not on the face though. Also I see some oil on the inner face of the cam gears. Could this be normal or am I losing my seals? I don't remember anything like this when I changed the belt. It's not dripping off but when I wipe it with my finger it's a smear. I have to go back out in a bit to replace the solenoid and I'll try to take a pic.

Thanks,
Y.

If the soleniod isn't leaking oil, then the oil can only come from the cam seal.

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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

Thanks KlausC,

So that's pretty bad, right? I should be looking at this seriously perhaps to have the seals done? The small amount of oil on the belt is going to deteriorate the belt too right?

Oil in the timing belt area is never a good sign. A trace of oil on the belt edge is not too bad, oil on the teeth is bad. The belt will not 'slip', but it could degrade much faster than normal.

Replacing the forward cam seals is not an 'easy' task. Search around, there are a few examples.

Hope that the oil came from the solenoid and not the seals.
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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

I'll have to check if oil was on the toothed side of the belt. One thing now occurs to me- when I did the belt I never managed to get it perfectly centered over the gears. There's no overhang at all but it's flush with the inner face of the gears. Maybe the small amount of oil that might be coming out of the cam seal get's flung off the gears normally wouldn't contact the belt. Since I didn't get it into the center, it's getting some now? I thought I read somewhere that a tiny amount of oil coming out was normal. I wish I had looked for oil leaking out of the VVT valve/solenoid area before taking it off to clean. So I don't know if it was that. I'm going to take the cover off again soon and see how much oil is on the cover. That should be a good indication of how much leaking there is if it's the cam seal I would think. Then I'll clean it all best I can and check again later to see if more is coming out. In the meantime I'll ask around for cost of doing the seals. I don't think I'm in the mood to attempt this job- doing the TB in a parking lot sucks enough as it is.. Thanks KlausC.

No engine oil should ever get past a cam seal, never. You might want to check the crankcase pressure, easily done on a slightly warm engine with a latex glove over the oil filler port. Positive pressure will fill the glove, and pressure might contribute to seals being blown out.

Good luck,

Klaus
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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

Hi, so I just tried the oil fill hole with a plastic bag. I tried about a dozen times all the way from cold to fully warmed up and it continues to pull air (negative). I did do the PCV system myself with the last couple years so I'm glad that's still apparently working!

Wondering your opinion on high mileage oils. I'm at about 190,000 km. I've been using Mobil1 for several years and that's what's in there right now.

Good on the negative pressure! That's what I like to hear. It is also good that you are using synthetic oil, keeps the dirt down and is better for the moving parts. You haven't hit "high" mileage yet :>)

If you are using 0W or 5W/30, I suggest switching to 10W30.

Take off the TB cover and clean everything nicely. Look again in a week, or this weekend if the weather gets nice and note any oil. If you cannot find anything, look again in a few weeks.

Hopefully the 'spill' was due to the VVT solenoid.

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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

Okay with the longer than usual bad weather, I decided to get a mechanic to have a look. He cleaned the area and we will have to see in a bit for sure, but he feels that both the vvt cam hubs themselves are the culprits and also the rear main seal he noted was leaking. I did mention that I tried the bag over oil filler hole and that the bag sucked in. He said there was more certain means to find out if my crankcase has proper negative pressure. This has got me pretty bummed out as he thinks this is going to run close to $3000 (Canadian). I'm looking into a second quote. On a side note, what about this AT 205 reseal stuff?

http://www.amazon.ca/ATP-AT-205-Re-Seal-Stops-Bottle/dp/B000NVW1LM

Thanks.

NO to the stop leak junk and NO to your mechanic. An RMS seal would make nice spots under the engine/tranny area on a daily basis.
Just get a 2nd and 3rd opinion.

Even a dealer would be cheaper.
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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

Okay thanks again KlausC,

I have an appointment this week with a different mechanic. Hopefully he will have better news for me. And I won't use the reseal stuff.

Y