I've had pcv/oil leak problems with my '93 850 and my experience thus far has been extremely frustrating. I am still in the process of researching what's going on.

As I write, my car is at the Volvo dealer. I brought it in to diagnose oil leaking, all of a sudden, from several points: oil coming from timing belt cover area (cam seal?), rear main/oil pan gasket, and the oil filler cap.

I suspected crankcase pressure build-up. So I inspected the flame trap, which had been serviced 20k mi previous. The vacuum tube to the flame trap was crusty, cracking and completely clogged. I replaced it immediately. The flame trap itself was not clogged, but oil was seaping from the flame trap housing into the air intake/throttle body.

On initial inspection by the dealer, I was told that the leaking seals need to be replaced at a cost of $1100+. I asked if there were any recalls on my car. They said no! I pressed and still no, ...period! I called another dealer for a second opinion and they also said there were no recalls or service bulletins for my car. I called yet another dealer and finally found a mechanic that had done numerous recalls on the pcv for my model, so I called volvo customer service directly 1-800-458-1552, and sure enough there is a service "campaign" which I'm told is the same thing as a recall on the pcv hose for my car (service campaign 69 A and B, and there is a service manager bulletin 27-13).

Now, since I mentioned what I found out, my dealer is installing the recalled parts. If that doesn't fix the oil leaks, I'm told the seals will also need replacing?!?.

Does anyone out there know anything about this? Would the recalled parts have prematurely clogged or caused the vacuum tube to the flame trap to clog causing crankcase pressure and blown seals? Should my dealer have caught this at general inspection 4K miles ago?? Does overfilling with oil cause any pcv problems, because the oil was changed (by the above mentioned dealer) and overfilled (above the max on the dipstick) right before all this happened.

Any input is grealy appreciated. And, I hope my experiences help other volvoers out there.

Mark Sloo
Minneapolis, MN
'93 850 GLT, '65 122s, '65 122s