About Roger Patricio Expertise Can answer all Volvo car questions. European and Canada spec cars are different but I can try to help you.
Experience I am a Certified Volvo Tech at in Independent Volvo Repair shop. I grew up around Volvos and decided I wanted to do it professionally. I worked at the dealer for about a year then I went to work at an Independent shop which I have been with for 10 years.
Question Hi Roger,
I have a terrible oil leak in my 94 850 (5 cyl). I thought it was coming from the rear main, but yesterday I finally located the true source. It's pouring out (about one drop every five seconds, at idle) at the point where the distributor goes into the head. It was just hard to spot, but I borrowed a friend's UV dye tester - big help. Anyway, my question is - how hard of a repair is this? I'm a pretty good backyard mechanic, I've rebuilt several engines, done some hot-rodding in my day, even rebuilt an automatic trans or two. But I have no experience with a shoebox, and only a little experience with European cars in general. When I have worked on European cars, I've found them to be very frustrating. Is this leak usually repairable by replacing seals, or is it likely there's something more sinister lurking in there, like a crack in the housing or something? I've heard the cam cover is just an RTV seal, but I assume there's a rubber seal of some sort associated with the distro shaft/housing. Do I need to pull the cam cover to get to the seal? Also, I'm having a hard time finding a good service manual for this thing (that I don't have to mortgage my house to get). Any suggestions? Is there anything available online for free/cheap?
Thanks,
Keith
Answer Keith, relax. These are really simple. Take the dist cap off and rotor. Now remove the plate. The seal is behind it. Note the position when you take the plate off. If you put it on wrong, it wont fire. Pop the seal out and put a new one in. Problem solved. Roger
