oil leak - 1990 volvo 740 gle 16 valve

If you were using regular oil before you did the head gasket etc. and now you are using synthetic, I would suspect that is the problem. Switching back won't help. There is an article on the Volvo Brickboard about replacing the lower engine seals, but I can't get the Brickboard to respond at the moment.

I have used synthetic oil in the past and it was just fine. What are the front engine seals? I had the typical seals replaced with the timing belt. Are those the front engine seals? The main thing that I'm trying to find out is if my mechanic caused the leaks. I do not want to blame him for something that he did not do. Although there where no oil leaks before the top end rebuild.

While we're waiting for someone better informed than me to pitch in: I said lower engine seals, not front. You don't say why you needed to replace the head gasket. A not uncommon cause of oil leaks, and blown head gaskets, is failure to replace the flame trap regularly, because it gunks up. The oil might be coming from the oil pan gasket, being the next weakest point after the head gasket, but the fundamental problem might be crankcase overpressure caused by the gunked up flame trap.

There have been lots of posts to this ng about replacing the flame trap. If this is the problem, the failure isn't the fault of the mechanic who replaced the head gasket unless he (she) is the one who also does the regular maintenance, and should have known to replace it about every

25,000k.

I'm not sure what distributor that engine uses, but if they pulled the distributor, maybe the o-rings need replacing. I know mine (B230F

8-valve) leaks oil and I have a replacement set on order now for when I do my valve-shims next week.

Andrew McKenna wrote:

Forgot to add -- it's an easy check. Just feel all around and under the distributor when the engine is cool. It's the device that all of your spark plug wires connect to. If it's mounted on the rear of the engine, it will have oil seals.

If you can get under the car with a flashlight, try and chase the leak to the source.

Andrew McKenna wrote:

I replaced the flame trap already about a month ago. When I did it, the flam trap was not clogged. In addition, all of the hoses leading from it were fine. Furthermore, the brass nipple was also clear.

If you want to know the situation regarding my blown head gasket read my earlier post entitled "my mechanic ruined my car." I just got the car back a few days ago. Note that that post was dated around the 27 of May. For a summary, there was oil in my coolant, and coolant in my oil, and my car would shake like mad when I started it up. Presumably, this was caused by water leaking into the engine.

In addition, I don't think the oil is comming from the oil pan. In fact, there is more oil dripping off of the square pan. I don't know what that is called. There are a lot of drips coming of of the passengers side of that pan. It seems that if anything is leaking in that general area it will seem like it coming from the oil pan.

I would also like to add that the engine was not leaking when I replaced the flame trap. I was doing it because I have done a lot of research and that was something that was recommended.

Typically the 16v motors leak from the balance shaft housings or seals. The square pan you keep mentioning is the transmission oil pan. The cross shaft seal on the right hand side gets cooked by the head pipe and leaks after time.

Bob