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760 Distributor Oil Leak (With Engine Bay Rave)

brickborg

Active member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Location
Nomi, MN
After getting the 760 (1985 Turbo, LH 2.2) back on the road, started to notice some burning oil smell. Tossed some leak detection dye in the motor, and this was the result:

oilleaksmall.jpg


It seems to be coming from the top of the motor, and primarily dripping in this location on the passenger/exhaust side. Can't see anything dripping when the car is running, but you can see the decent size of the puddle it makes (the glowing green beyond the transmission line is from two days of driving).

Is there anything beyond the valve cover or distributor that could be leaking oil from that area onto the back passenger side of the motor?
 
Likely rear cam seal or valve cover seal.

Use a mechanic's mirror and observe beneath the distributor area to confirm.
 
The distributor shaft seal is a common source of a leak. There will be oil inside the distributor cap if it's leaking. Volvo doesn't sell the seal but IPD sells a kit with the shaft seal. To get to the seal you need to drive the pin out of the drive flange without breaking it, remove the shaft and then pry off the metal plate covering the seal. The plate has fine teeth around the outside edge that are pressed into the aluminum housing and it's not intended to be reused but you should.

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/6768/114650-volvo-distributor-seal-o-ring-kit-700-900-mtc-vr305-969330

There can also be a leak from the cam bearing cap. B230's need sealer on both the front and rear caps.

CamCapSealer.jpg
 
Disconnect the 3 pin hall effect sensor plug on the distributor and check for oil there as well. Another sign of a leaky distributor seal. If there is enough oil there, it will cause the engine to not start.
 
The distributor shaft seal is a common source of a leak. There will be oil inside the distributor cap if it's leaking. Volvo doesn't sell the seal but IPD sells a kit with the shaft seal. To get to the seal you need to drive the pin out of the drive flange without breaking it, remove the shaft and then pry off the metal plate covering the seal. The plate has fine teeth around the outside edge that are pressed into the aluminum housing and it's not intended to be reused but you should.

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/6768/114650-volvo-distributor-seal-o-ring-kit-700-900-mtc-vr305-969330

There can also be a leak from the cam bearing cap. B230's need sealer on both the front and rear caps.

CamCapSealer.jpg

Kind of what I was thinking as well- I have the kit with the new seals for the distributor. Didn't know about the rear cam bearing cap needing sealant.

If that turns out to be the leak, can I just unbolt that one cap and re-seal, or would I need to do it BMW style with a camshaft jig, remove all the caps, then reinstall and torque them down from the center to avoid snapping/binding cams?
 
Don't know if it is still available. But there used to be a fixture you can use with your vise to help hold the distributor while driving out the pin. Here is a good wrietup on doing the seal replacement on your dsitributor with good pictures of the holding tool. https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/faq/VolvoB230ShaftSeal/DistributorShaftSeal.html

I made a replica of that tool out of flat stock, took a couple minutes and made it a snap to drive out the little pin and put it back together. Had this happen years ago and as hiperfauto describes the smoking gun was oil inside the dizzy cap. No big deal to fix it but definitely helps to have this tool, otherwise it would be a battle to do it without causing damage.
 
Coincidentally before seeing this thread, I replaced the shaft seal and o-rings of the distributor my 940 today as it was also leaking from the back of the head. I got a seal kit from Skandix, which is probably the same as the one from IPD.

I made the tool as linked above, but a little simpler. Made the job of driving the pin out much easier, although a lot of swearing and breaking a punch was involved. It sits really tight in there.

I found out upon disassembling that the shaft seal was broken and also the little black gasket was also broken. There was quite a bit of oil in the distributor.
 

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