Volvo Oil leak discovered by Accident

There are always oil leaks on higher mileage cars. How bad they can get depends on how long they're ignored. Take this Volvo for example; it started to loose power, and then the CEL/MIL appeared! CHECK ENGINE (scary, generates apprehension of BIG REPAIR BILLS! eek!)


Engine began to run on possibly three cylinders. Code P0300 for multiple/random misfires appeared. Time to park the car or, jump into that frightening world of diagnostics. You know the one, you fear it because you don't understand what it's REALLY all about. 

There are books that explain theory and practical application of automotive diagnostics, but they seem to be written in a long forgotten language, right? - Not really. Watch and read the diagnostics that follow.

**Drove car into shop (actually pushed is much closer).
**Removed turbo to inter-cooler pipe to access valve cover/ignition area.

 (just the beginning...)

(Cause of code P0300 )

**Found all coil packs and harness in their own "oil bath" under that center plastic cover. 

       **Removed all coil-packs to access spark plugs. 
**All but two of the five cylinder head plug wells were or had been full of oil. 

(the cause isn't always that difficult to locate)

**Only one spark plug is stilled threaded into the cylinder head. 
(thank goodness for those coil packs although they're not intended for that..!) 

**# 4 plug has been blown out and threaded hole in cylinder head is damage too. A portion of that spark plug is also missing and is most likely been through the top of the engine or worse. 

                                (bummer........ gotta make a few phone calls now)
**# 3 plug well is still full of oil so I must correct myself, there are possibly two cylinders without plug hole thread damage.

There are two ways oil can collect in plug hole wells; 
1. Gasket material sealing failure between cylinder head cam cover to the cylinder head. (rare)
2. Oil leaking slowly out of the filler cap and collecting in the lowest point. That's where the plugs are. (common)


Diagnosis: Needed an oil cap because at the mileage this Volvo with TURBO shows they're usually in need of some simple maintenance to open up passage ways & allow this sucker to run! 

BUT, this problem has become one that is more in depth than one would really have expected.

MORAL: Call an independent repair facility such as ours. We will establish routine 5K service/inspections. You get reminders to have a 5K done. Then things like this just won't seem to happen to good people like the ones that own this car.  JP

What is a HEPA FILTER really for?

Isn't it amazing how the replacement of a single filter can have so many good side effects. This is a special filter as its only purpose is to clean incoming cabin air. Removing dust, pollen, and sometimes little critters; I think it has a very special purpose!

Ever had a strange odor appear from out of nowhere after turning on the heat/defrost/AC in your vehicle?

Better yet; have you had the thrill of seeing a mouse looking back at you from under the dash as you were driving down the road? Both the smell and those tiny little eyes are really special experiences, but still scarier than hell when they occur. Wouldn't you agree?

Look at the castle some mice were in the middle of building...

The photo above is from just behind the glovebox.

Fresh air is drawn down into your cars' cabin fan!

New and good for another 15,000 miles!

There is nothing like knowing you are driving around in a rolling "mouse motel".

We check these filters quite often here at Johns Lake Joy ToY.

Leak, Leak - Where is that leak?

It was just another typical Friday afternoon in June-uary. It's nearly the end of the day and my gut says the exhaust leak on this 92 Maxima is not the headpipe gasket.

Talked to the customer, told him I want to remove the complete head pipe and look for cracks. You see I used my smoke machine to source out any and all exhaust leaks. What didn't make sense though was the way the smoke curled out below the flange on the head pipe. One would assume it was the manifold or gasket, but my gut feelings said to look deeper.

I removed the pipe, ground off the welds on heatshield and look at what I found. Apparently one of the welds popped off and this WAS the exhaust leak.

These pipes are made out of "want to be" stainless steel. So, come Monday I will run a test pass on a nonimportant area of the head pipe with a mig welder. After that it gets reassembled, resealed and goes down the road. This should make Mike the customer happy!

Here's a picture;

2012's first Snow in Carnation Washington

Well the weather predictions were correct, just wish someone in the media would explain to the new people here what wet snow is really like...

Not Just Another ToY SNOW....http://youtu.be/Pl5X_l2HsGw was fun putting together. Note that editing is not one of my better talents; playing in the snow mixed with dry humor, these are..

It’s a Landcruiser kind of day

This Landcruiser, a 1987 FJ60 is getting the best quality lift components available. 4 inch suspension with a lot of articulation travel. Old Man EMU kits rock, no doubt! A shackle reverse kit is being installed as well. And since the SR kit involves removing the stock bumper, time for a one-off fabrication. Pictures and more on the these ToYs a little later.

Lets have a look as we start and finish a 4" suspension lift on this 87 FJ60 •

Need Music? Turn up the radio...

(Produced in 16:9 widescreen)

MY AUTO CARE MY TRUCK CARE

I opened John's Auto Repair in June 1984 , and John's Lake Joy ToY in October 2003. One thing is a constant; parts have life spans. When you read this you should learn this mantra by repeating;

CHANGING SPARK PLUGS WILL SAVE MONEY GAS GAUGES HAVE A PURPOSE MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT DOESN'T MEAN CHECK THE ENGINE WHAT IDIOT WHAT LIGHT (repeat again).

Repeat constantly to yourself when you pay a HUGE car repair bill.

Hey, it's no secret many automotive engineers like to ride bicycles. It helps to keep them in shape! They do spend so much time in front of a computer screen SITTING, THINKING and SITTING. I even bet that these same automotive engineers DON'T drive a car like yours. Didn't mean to crush that secure feeling you had about those automotive engineers.

Now that I shared, let's open our minds and have a look at our owners manual, more often. Such a wonderful book, and so packed full of knowledge. Think of it in this way; you pay tens of thousands of dollars for this book, this manual and they include a car to go with it!

Once again I'm a bit mystified by the interpretation/acceptance of the CEL OR SERVICE ENGINE SOON light. If it's staying on, you can rest assured there is a problem. I'm seeing more failed catalytic convertors because there wasn't any periodic or routine maintenance performed.