1985 Volvo 240 DL Oil leak

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Jamie - 10 Feb 2007 17:55 GMT

This is another post for the 1985 240 DL Wagon I am looking to buy.
Please excuse any errors, I am fighting bronchitis at the moment.

230,000 miles. Owner is back, I reviewed a stack of paperwork. Good
maintenance history - seems to have had almost everything needing
replaced done.

Engine starts easily, runs strong but is choking a bit. I am sure a
tune up is in order.

I'd like some help on 2 major issues I see for me to buy the car:

1- Healthy oil leak at the right (passenger) front bottom of engine.
Dripping at about 1 drop every 2-3 seconds. The leak 'appears' to be
coming from a gasket of a red pan bolted to the bottom of the engine.
I cannot tell with certainty if this is it, or if it comes from higher
up. Would this seem to be something fairly common? What is the
estimate to repair? Here the labor rate is about $40-60 per hour.
$250 does a rear main seal, or front seals.

2- White smoke from exhaust. The car has been sitting. The smoke did
thin out, and got less over time.

3- Flame trap was replaced many years ago, but know it's over due. Not
sure how much effect this would have.

In sum, I am satisfied with the body, the tranny was rebuilt 25,000
miles ago. Engine feels strong, good acceleration, smooth shifting.
Blower motor is fine. Lighting is fine all around.

I am thinking $650. Any comments about that oil leak and some
estimates for how hard it is to access that pan?

Thanks,

Jamie

Here are the pics, I think this link should work.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jamiebabineaux/album/576460762388542718

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James Sweet - 10 Feb 2007 18:19 GMT

> This is another post for the 1985 240 DL Wagon I am looking to buy.
> Please excuse any errors, I am fighting bronchitis at the moment.
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
>
> http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jamiebabineaux/album/576460762388542718

Oil pan leaks are not terribly common, but not unheard of either. It may
just be a matter of tightening up the bolts, don't go too tight though
or you'll deform the pan and make it leak worse. If it needs a new
gasket, that's within the DIY range, you will have to remove the fan
shroud, and unbolt the engine mounts from the crossmember but then you
should be able to jack the engine up enough to get the pan off without
pulling the engine.

White smoke is probably just water vapor collected in the muffler, I
wouldn't worry about it unless it smells sweet.

Flame trap should be the first thing you do, just open it and clean it out.

$650 sounds like a bargain for a nice straight 245.

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Jamie - 10 Feb 2007 18:33 GMT

Thanks James for the quick follow up. I just completed the stack of
paperwork for this car. It appears that between 1994-1999 they
replaced everything under the sun on this car, including, but not
limited to:

Tailgate wiring harness
Water Pump
Tranny at 205K with used one
Flame trap (until 1999, replaced regularly)
***Oil Pan Bolts tightened in 2004 to stop leak (just found that
receipt)***
Brakes
Ball Joints
Muffler
Ignition switch
Fuel Pump Relay
Front seals
Rear Main Seal
Valve cover gasket
Wiper motors
exhaust
kickdown cable
radiator tank
auxillary fan
Air Mass Meter
Replace TPS switch and adjust throttle body
Tranny seals
AC hoses.

Those were the major things replaced. I think the money stopped going
into the car around 2000-2001.

I am glad, I guess, that they had all this done, but I would not have
like to be the owner paying DEALERS what I am seeing they paid to do
this.
OUCH!

I haven't found main wiring harness in the records yet, but so far the
car seems asymptomatic and I might can replace that.

JAmie

> > This is another post for the 1985 240 DL Wagon I am looking to buy.
> > Please excuse any errors, I am fighting bronchitis at the moment.
[quoted text clipped - 51 lines]
>
> $650 sounds like a bargain for a nice straight 245.

Reply to this Message

James Sweet - 11 Feb 2007 01:30 GMT

> Thanks James for the quick follow up. I just completed the stack of
> paperwork for this car. It appears that between 1994-1999 they
[quoted text clipped - 70 lines]
>>>I am thinking $650. Any comments about that oil leak and some
>>>estimates for how hard it is to access that pan?

Wow, that sounds like the Saab 900 my ex had, the previous owners had
gotten sick of dumping money into it, at which point it didn't really
need anything because it had all already been done.

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Jamie - 11 Feb 2007 04:22 GMT

James, don't you have a different tax form to fill out when you own a
SAAB? If it's "built from Jets", you and miss Pelosi might be doing
taxes together...LOL

Just kidding, I remember you told me about how it feels like a cockpit
in a SAAB, and I think that is awesome. I want a car like a cockpit
one day. Maybe I can make the 240 wagon like the cockpit of a 777 -
lights and switches across the roof, clear back to the rear door?

;-)

> > Thanks James for the quick follow up. I just completed the stack of
> > paperwork for this car. It appears that between 1994-1999 they
[quoted text clipped - 74 lines]
> gotten sick of dumping money into it, at which point it didn't really
> need anything because it had all already been done.

Reply to this Message

James Sweet - 11 Feb 2007 07:04 GMT

> James, don't you have a different tax form to fill out when you own a
> SAAB? If it's "built from Jets", you and miss Pelosi might be doing
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> ;-)

I almost bought a Saab 900 Turbo a couple weeks ago. Metallic mint green
3 door hatch, 5 speed, pretty good condition and I could have had it for
$600 but alas I decided it just wasn't a good idea for me to buy yet
another car right now as well as it was a 4 hour drive from me but still
now I find myself kinda wishing I'd bought it, that was a hell of a deal
for a really cool car, but then there's a few 900s on craigslist almost
every time I've looked. If only I had a 10 car garage and time/money to
give them all the attention they deserve.

If you ever get the chance to take one for a spin, do it, but make sure
it's a pre-GM 900 (-'93) with a manual, anything else just isn't right.
I'm not sure which I like better, Volvo or Saab, but the two classic
Swedes definitely have vastly different personalities and each is good
in its own way.

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Ralph Griffith - 11 Feb 2007 00:17 GMT

A few years back, my grandson thought he had an oil leak... many things
checked, tightened, etc.. I finally climbed under his 240 and removed the
oil cooler line which ran to transmission.. on the inside area the line had
'worn' abraded, or whatever where it had been touching and rubbing the oil
pan for many years... fixed that and leak was gone... good luck

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The novelist George Eliot once said that "it is never too late to become
what you might have been."

>> This is another post for the 1985 240 DL Wagon I am looking to buy.
>> Please excuse any errors, I am fighting bronchitis at the moment.
[quoted text clipped - 52 lines]
>
> $650 sounds like a bargain for a nice straight 245.

Reply to this Message

James Sweet - 11 Feb 2007 01:31 GMT

> A few years back, my grandson thought he had an oil leak... many things
> checked, tightened, etc.. I finally climbed under his 240 and removed the
> oil cooler line which ran to transmission.. on the inside area the line had
> 'worn' abraded, or whatever where it had been touching and rubbing the oil
> pan for many years... fixed that and leak was gone... good luck

The tranny cooler lines on slushbox equipped 240s often crack where they
bolt to the frame under the car, tranny fluid is bright red though so
easy to identify. Not sure how it would rub on the oil pan.

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Jamie - 11 Feb 2007 04:20 GMT

I was going to offer the lady $650 for the car, but offered $700
because we work at the same university and both like the Gypsy Kings -
go figure. She gladly accepted, and was enthused because the car will
get a second life.

So, I bought the car, but haven't picked it up yet.

Here's my last guess on the leak before I jack up the car and see it
with my own eyes:
(Isn't it just fun to try and solve the mystery and then later see how
close you were?)

1- I found the latest receipt was from 2004 where it read, "leak
inspected, oil pan bolts tightened, leak stopped."
I am thinking that perhaps the seal was going out and that last
adjustment just bought a little time. That or the bolts are loose
again.

2- Symptom - When I started the car it did not leak immediately. I
looked and looked and saw nothing. Not until I drove 6 or 8 blocks,
parked the car idling, did I see it start to spill and gurgle out of
that front corner passenger side of the oil pan area. This maybe tells
me when I started the car, the oil was sucked from the pan into the
engine and not dripping. As it later returned to the pan, it maybe
began to spill out of a bad seal.

These are my best guesses. It would be nice if this were the
culprit.

I'm excited - got my 740 and a real brick! AYYYEEEEE!!!!!

Once I get the bleeding stopped - this car is going to get a set of e-
Codes like my 740. That is hands down one of the BEST things I think
I did on that car. eCodes are REALLY incredible.

> A few years back, my grandson thought he had an oil leak... many things
> checked, tightened, etc.. I finally climbed under his 240 and removed the
[quoted text clipped - 61 lines]
>
> > $650 sounds like a bargain for a nice straight 245.

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