2002 V70 XC AWD - Oil Leak - Front Driver Side

[rb97]

Hi all,
Long time reader, first time poster, here.

I'm hopeful that somebody here can help me figure out the part that my oil leak is coming from and how to fix it, if it's not something simple like a gasket.

The leak is small, only a couple drops on the driveway every 3-5 hours, but I need to get it fixed because it's making a mess of the spot where I park my wagon.

It's located at the front of my V70, just behind the front bumper, near the radiator—actually pretty close to being just above the fog light.

I attached directly to this post a photo that hopefully has everything in it that would be needed to identify the part.
In addition to that, you can click this link and view a bunch more photos I took, also marked up to show location and such, all in high-resolution.

Thank you so much for the help, I really appreciate it!

[howardc64]

The ~2" diameter black pipe above the leak is your intercooler pipe (goes from intercooler to ETM/intake manifold). There is a clamp between the pipe and intercooler, hard to see in pictures but maybe wet, might take that off and clean it up and retighten.

How many miles on the car? Is the car using oil? When was PCV system last done?

I've seen Audi/VW turbos accumulate 1/2 quart of oil at the lowest point around the intercooler when PCV oil trap system isn't functioning correctly. Instead of draining oil back into the engine, it circulates into the turbo intake, collects and sits at the lowest point around the intercooler. A friend's audi even ingested this oil puddle under load as the air path narrowed. Haven't seen or heard of anything this bad on these Volvos though.

ATF cooler exit port is a few inches above the intercooler pipe. Has a green clip on it and can see if from top of engine. Check if that is leak source. If so, leak would be ATF instead of engine oil.

[rb97]

The car has about 155,000 miles on it, and I have been needing to add oil here and there (but I drive about 90 miles per day due to a long commute). I'm not sure when the PCV system was last done because I'm the third owner, but I will dig through the maintenance records that I was given and see if I can find that information there.

I'll also do what you said and try to clean the clamp up (along with that whole area), and check the ATF cooler port as well.

Thank you Howard!

[howardc64]

I'm not sure when the PCV system was last done because I'm the third owner, but I will dig through the maintenance records that I was given and see if I can find that information there.

You can also do a quick simple but partial test on the PCV system. Take off oil filler cap, wrap latex glove over it (secure it with rubber band if necessary) start engine and idle, see if glove inflates or shrinks. If inflate, need to get PCV serviced. Again, this is just a quick simple partial test, more complete test is more complicated.