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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Nashville, TN
    Posts
    777

    Default Cam shaft seal failure - how common?

    The cam shaft seal blew catastrophically at 165K miles and saturated the timing belt. Seal and belt had to be replaced. Anybody else experienced this type of failure?
    2001 Volvo V70XC
    Venitian Red/Beige
    Cold Weather/Touring/Premium packages
    08/01 Build Date

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Virginia Beach
    Posts
    4,116

    Default

    Happens to white block engines with plugged PCV.

    Get your flame trap replaced before another seal is blown.
    Current Fleet:
    2016 Tundra Crewmax 4WD 1794
    2005 MB S600 (126K, Michelin AS4, HPL 0W40)
    2005 MB SL600 (55K Michelin AS4, Mobil 1 0W40)
    2004 V70R (143K, six speed M66, HPL 5W40)
    2004 XC90 (235K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-XC (295K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-T5 (225K, IPD bars, Bilsteins)
    2001 V70-T5 (125K, IPD downpipe, cat back and other mods)
    1932 Packard Sedan (straight 8, dual sidemounts, original paint and interior, Shell Rotella 15W40)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    102

    Default

    My rear cam seal on the other side of the engine also blew out and caused an oil leak problem that took quite a while to locate. It was caused by a clogged pipe for the PVC sytem. Make sure you replace all of the components of this system. I believe this kit is available at IPD Volvo.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Pretoria, South Africa
    Posts
    318

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Astro14 View Post
    Happens to white block engines with plugged PCV.
    How does one diagnose a clogged PCV?
    Pierre

    2016 V40 D4 AT
    2010 XC60 3.0T AT
    2004 Mazda Miata 1.8 - My new toy and restoration project ... Not everything you do in life has to be rational!

    Gone: 2015 V40 D3 AT, 2002 V70XC 2.4T AT, 2007 S60 2.5T Manual, 2004 S60 2.0T Manual, 1996 850 GLT Manual

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    South Lake Tahoe, CA
    Posts
    639

    Default

    I just checked mine yesterday. I removed the oil cap and put a piece of Saranwrap over the hole while the engine was running. It was obvious that I had negative pressure because the Saranwrap was pulled into the engine. Just be sure to use a large piece so it won't be sucked into the engine. Others use one of those disposable plastic gloves and stretch it over the hole and it wither inflates or deflates. The vacuum is due to a properly functioning PVC.
    Wait Griswold
    2003 XC70
    South Lake Tahoe, CA

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    01201
    Posts
    2

    Default

    hi. you're likely familiar with what a cam seal popping out looks like. this is a comment i left on a you tube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPQq3NS95TE in the video, you see the failure. this failure was of the front of engine's intake cam seal. don't know if this 'miracle' will work on seal at rear of motor, as i ain't 'been there'... the comment:
    this may sound crazy, but it worked for me. When this just happened to me 4 months ago, i was about gonna give up on a 260k volvo s70. Exactly as you see in this video was what it was.
    I had already looked [desperately, as the leak was too bad] into oil sealants you add to oil. When i finally found what he shows here in this video, i had a long shot idea. I simply pushed the cam seal back in with a stubby screwdriver, working around it from opposite sides, so as to try to get it seated evenly. [this thru the holes you see in the 'sprocket'.] I didn't push hard, just gently. Crosshatch, like wheel lug nuts.
    When i had the damn cam seal what i considered 'seated' in its recess, i bought some blue devil 'rear main sealer', and using a small paint brush [which i broke the handle off to make 'stubby'], i painted the blue devil product directly onto the cam seal itself. [this while it was snowing, in a parking lot!] I then bicycled home and came back next day, -leaving some ten hours of 'curing' time. [this ain't something 'blue devil' recommends!]
    i then followed the 'blue devil' company's directions, [i think], simply pouring the bottle of 'rear main sealer' into the engine's oil crankcase and running the engine at idle for two hours. Despite some apprehension at starting it, the seal held! After the two hours of the motor idling, i GINGERLY drove the car home, and idled it some wherever i gingerly drove it for a few days. I BABIED IT!
    within two weeks i drove it normally. Easy, but normal. A month later, i got on it here and there, -and I still do now! Too soon to say for sure, but i think it's a permanent fix!! May god show this to another who needs it to keep his 'beater' going, -volvo or no!
    some points:
    blue devil also makes 'oil stop leak', which i think is same formula, but more [fluid and money]. Think i paid $16ish for 'main sealer'. Blue devil's probably 'the best', though other brands are out there. The stuff expands gaskets and seals somehow. This stuff obviously made my 'loosey' cam seal expand enough to snug it firmly in place.
    i should note that in this video, the seal seems different than mine was. It seems like if you were to start pushing it into its recess with something, it wouldn't have had as much resistance as mine did. But i can't be sure from a video... Even if it IS looser, you could duct tape a matching cylindrical object over it, or in some way hold it in. If you can get it to stay in after painting the 'stop leak' on it and adding it to motor oil, it could still expand it to hold. But if the cam seal pushes in snugly, so much the better.
    My exhaust cam [rear] is a VVVT cam, with that kind of bell shaped pulley. It has no holes in it, as the 'sprocket' in this video does, to place a stubby screwdriver through! Thus, alas, you can't fix it this way. [at least i can't see how.] i think if my rear cam seal woulda blown, i'd a said goodbye to my baby, -cause doing this job 'right' ain't no walk in the park. And i do wrench some...
    i also was warned that the pcv system likely caused this failure, and that i had to fix it or more trouble. But i did the dipstick test and the rubber glove test, [thanks robertDIY!], and they both passed. I think the seal just got old and i drove her too hard that night. I lost 3 qts of oil in ten miles b4 i finally stopped. I should change timing belt, [soaked in oil!], but won't, -as it was just changed! Just washed her down good with brake cleaner. [should give it a second wash soon again.]
    since this doesn't seem a pcv issue, i would definitely recommend using 'high mileage' motor oil in your old car/ truck. Definitely these volvos! cheap insurance! It's similar to the blue devil stuff, but likely much less concentration. You could even add the blue devil stuff, maybe 1/3 of a bottle every other oil change. Mite be better.
    Blue devil raised my oil pressure a lot. At least 1/4! [i got a gauge.] Don't kno why. But no harm i guess, and by golly, it saved my car! It may drop down when i change oil. There have been no side effects from this blue devil oil sealer, as there can be with 'sealers', generally. I've heard of them gunking up things, esp. coolant sealers.

    it is possible that the cold weather may have [barely] helped my cam seal 'seat'. If it's summer, maybe you'd put ice [or freon?] in cam seal area... Just an idea. Who knows?
    left this same comment on a 'mirror' of this video.
    sorry 'bout the 'book' write up, -jus tryin' to save someone ready to throw in the towel!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Cumbria, UK. Maine USA.
    Posts
    513

    Default

    No reason to "throw in the towel" over cam seal replacement, not too hard to do, might take all day, just need a version of the Volvo cam locking tool.
    Current Junk: Couple of worthless rusty old clapped out Volvo bricks, XC70's 02, 04 & Countless P.O.S's, Rust buckets, Junk cars,( 50W Oily cesspool Sludge) Stolen and other assorted rubbish cars, 1928 Jed Clampett Tourer, (8 hole cast iron lump, original rust and decay, 40W Straight Bacon Grease),

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by xydki View Post
    hi. you're likely familiar with what a cam seal popping out looks like. this is a comment i left on a you tube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPQq3NS95TE in the video, you see the failure. this failure was of the front of engine's intake cam seal. don't know if this 'miracle' will work on seal at rear of motor, as i ain't 'been there'... the comment:
    this may sound crazy, but it worked for me. When this just happened to me 4 months ago, i was about gonna give up on a 260k volvo s70. Exactly as you see in this video was what it was.
    I had already looked [desperately, as the leak was too bad] into oil sealants you add to oil. When i finally found what he shows here in this video, i had a long shot idea. I simply pushed the cam seal back in with a stubby screwdriver, working around it from opposite sides, so as to try to get it seated evenly. [this thru the holes you see in the 'sprocket'.] I didn't push hard, just gently. Crosshatch, like wheel lug nuts.
    When i had the damn cam seal what i considered 'seated' in its recess, i bought some blue devil 'rear main sealer', and using a small paint brush [which i broke the handle off to make 'stubby'], i painted the blue devil product directly onto the cam seal itself. [this while it was snowing, in a parking lot!] I then bicycled home and came back next day, -leaving some ten hours of 'curing' time. [this ain't something 'blue devil' recommends!]
    i then followed the 'blue devil' company's directions, [i think], simply pouring the bottle of 'rear main sealer' into the engine's oil crankcase and running the engine at idle for two hours. Despite some apprehension at starting it, the seal held! After the two hours of the motor idling, i GINGERLY drove the car home, and idled it some wherever i gingerly drove it for a few days. I BABIED IT!
    within two weeks i drove it normally. Easy, but normal. A month later, i got on it here and there, -and I still do now! Too soon to say for sure, but i think it's a permanent fix!! May god show this to another who needs it to keep his 'beater' going, -volvo or no!
    some points:
    blue devil also makes 'oil stop leak', which i think is same formula, but more [fluid and money]. Think i paid $16ish for 'main sealer'. Blue devil's probably 'the best', though other brands are out there. The stuff expands gaskets and seals somehow. This stuff obviously made my 'loosey' cam seal expand enough to snug it firmly in place.
    i should note that in this video, the seal seems different than mine was. It seems like if you were to start pushing it into its recess with something, it wouldn't have had as much resistance as mine did. But i can't be sure from a video... Even if it IS looser, you could duct tape a matching cylindrical object over it, or in some way hold it in. If you can get it to stay in after painting the 'stop leak' on it and adding it to motor oil, it could still expand it to hold. But if the cam seal pushes in snugly, so much the better.
    My exhaust cam [rear] is a VVVT cam, with that kind of bell shaped pulley. It has no holes in it, as the 'sprocket' in this video does, to place a stubby screwdriver through! Thus, alas, you can't fix it this way. [at least i can't see how.] i think if my rear cam seal woulda blown, i'd a said goodbye to my baby, -cause doing this job 'right' ain't no walk in the park. And i do wrench some...
    i also was warned that the pcv system likely caused this failure, and that i had to fix it or more trouble. But i did the dipstick test and the rubber glove test, [thanks robertDIY!], and they both passed. I think the seal just got old and i drove her too hard that night. I lost 3 qts of oil in ten miles b4 i finally stopped. I should change timing belt, [soaked in oil!], but won't, -as it was just changed! Just washed her down good with brake cleaner. [should give it a second wash soon again.]
    since this doesn't seem a pcv issue, i would definitely recommend using 'high mileage' motor oil in your old car/ truck. Definitely these volvos! cheap insurance! It's similar to the blue devil stuff, but likely much less concentration. You could even add the blue devil stuff, maybe 1/3 of a bottle every other oil change. Mite be better.
    Blue devil raised my oil pressure a lot. At least 1/4! [i got a gauge.] Don't kno why. But no harm i guess, and by golly, it saved my car! It may drop down when i change oil. There have been no side effects from this blue devil oil sealer, as there can be with 'sealers', generally. I've heard of them gunking up things, esp. coolant sealers.

    it is possible that the cold weather may have [barely] helped my cam seal 'seat'. If it's summer, maybe you'd put ice [or freon?] in cam seal area... Just an idea. Who knows?
    left this same comment on a 'mirror' of this video.
    sorry 'bout the 'book' write up, -jus tryin' to save someone ready to throw in the towel!
    Fixing the CAM seal is simply temporarily fixing the symptom. The root cause is a plugged PCV guaranteed. If that seal doesn't pop, the pressure will simply cause another to pop. If you are really unlucky it will be the rear main seal. You MUST follow up this work with a full PCV service or you will suffer another popped seal. Also, why are we replying to a 2012 thread?

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