This '02 V70 XC is draining my bank account on repair bills. I'll try to give the shorthand version.
New turbo installed along with the associated hoses which connect to the turbo, and it works fine and doesn't leak oil anymore. Two oil leaks solved, one from the old turbo itself and one from a hose that goes around the back (driver's) side of the engine further up near the head. Oh by the way, before any of these oil leaks I had the breather system replaced which was really clogged up. Also from my first oil change right after I bought the car in late December I have had the oil changed twice, once with Amsoil 5W30 at the indy shop and once with 5W30 Mobil 1 synthetic. When the shop had the intake off to find the latest oil leak, they called me and showed me that the head gasket is bad, has been oozing out crusty dried up antifreeze and maybe oil but I can't remember. But fortunately the antifreeze and oil are not mixed. I have a head gasket set arriving today, to be installed tomorrow, and I guess the head might be slightly warped, who knows but in any event I'm prepared for the possibility that the head might need to be shaved a bit and hopefully not replaced.
Here's the remaining oil leak part:
One oil leak remaining as far as I can tell and this is the one that makes me nervous. I bought a pair of ramps on Saturday, removed the splash cover, crawled underneath and dried up the oil I could see. I saw a drop of oil on the body of the turbo which faces the firewall but it wasn't at a seam and it looked like it got on there from somewhere else. I saw a bit of oil leaking down at the very bottom underneath the transition from the engine to the transmission, but I can't tell if it could be coming from higher up or maybe from the rear main seal. I started the car after drying off the existing oil, ran it for awhile and watched from all angles where I could get my eyeballs in there to look.
There is no sign of any oil leaking from the oil cooler, the turbo return hose either at the turbo or at the crankcase, nor anywhere else on the middle to upper part of the engine, at least where I can see. I can see oil running down from the area above the transmission but I can't see on top of that area to try to confirm my worst fears, whether or not it might be the rear main seal. I've read on here that a rear main seal leak is not a common thing.
I guess the only thing I'm trying to ask is something like, is there some seal further up, i.e. higher than the rear main seal, where an oil leak can originate from, excluding the turbo which I can see and I can't see oil leaking from any of its connections? Can the head gasket cause an oil leak on the driver's side of the engine?
I guess I'm just hoping that it might not be the rear main seal, on top of all of the other expenditures so far and one looming tomorrow.
One more thing, what is the cap or seal on the back of the engine in the attached photo? This thing has been cock-eyed since I bought this car. It doesn't leak or anything but it sure doesn't look right. I can't see it listed as part of the head gasket kit or any other "seal" on a couple of the vendors' web sites.
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