A small pool of oil laying around in the inlet manifold

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:37 pm

Hi,

Well this is my next problem. If I remove the throttle and look inside the manifold I see a small pool of oil gathering at the bottom. If I dry it up and turn the engine on, it's back after about 15 mins, which means that something is pumping up oil. Question is, what? I've replaced the oil dispenser from the crankhouse ventilation so it can't be that. I'm all out of ideas.

Thanks in advance!

MartinP

Paul240480 · Post by **Paul240480** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:47 pm

Just a wild guess, but have you checked that the crank ventilation hoses are not blocked?

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:12 pm

You mean the hoses after or before the oil dispenser? I only know of two after it. Care to pinpoint which ones you mean?

Paul240480 · Post by **Paul240480** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:15 pm

As I said it was a 'wild guess'. I based it upon my experiences of my B200E engine. Suffered an oil leak through the rocker cover gasket which dripped onto the exhaust manifold (Pongy to be polite).

The cause was blocked pipes from PCV (on that engine - all pipes were blocked solid)

Putting two & two together (and maybe making five), thought you may be suffering similar.

On my B18FT, I've not yet had the same, so all though I would care to point out the exact ones I, as yet cannot.

It seems to my 'novice mind' that the oil cannot get to where it's supposed to go so is pooling around your inlet manifold..........

Good luck.

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:28 pm

It seems to my 'novice mind' that the oil cannot get to where it's supposed to go so is pooling around your inlet manifold..........

But I don't understand where it's coming from. Could a blown rocker cover gasket cause my problems perhaps? How do you check your rocker cover gasket to see if it's blown?

Paul240480 · Post by **Paul240480** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:49 am

I'm pretty sure you'd see a 'trail' or 'path' from a section of the rocker gasket. Or it may present as just a 'wet section' along the join without actually running down the side.

Not easy to see all the way round I think so may require a bit of 'neck-craning'

. If you have any sort of leak around the gasket it is a sign of excess pressure inside, which will in turn force the oil out 'somewhere'.

On my other car as well as leaking through the rocker gasket, it was pooling on the venturii plate directly underneath the throttle. I never did work out how it got there, but since clearing the pcv pipes on that model it has stayed clean & nothing has come through the new gasket either.

I know I'm basing my thoughts on similar symptoms from another model, but am hoping they are of some help.

Good Luck.

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:37 pm

Ok, the gasket is blown so I'll replace that however I find it funny that you mention "it was pooling on the venturii plate directly underneath the throttle" as I have the exact same problem.
Now follow my lead here just to make sure I'm right. The crank house ventilation flows into the oil dispenser which in turn splits up into two hoses, one bypassing the throttle and one going right before it. I've replaced and cleaned both of them and the oil dispenser is brand new so unless I'm terribly wrong about something happening BEFORE the oil dispenser, as much as I hate to admit it, there's nothing wrong with the crank house ventilation. This removes the only logical explanation for the oil pool, in my opinion.

Paul240480 · Post by **Paul240480** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:05 pm

Hi again, it would appear that your knowledge of how the PCV system works way exceeds mine I'm afraid. But yes I do agree that if your system has clean pipes & a new dispenser that effectively removes the explanation.

Have you got the 'Paynes' manual? if not I am happy to scan in anything that I find may be relevant & post it? ( not that the 480 'Paynes' is much good!

Cheers.

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:07 pm

Thanks for the offer Paul, but I got the Haynes which unfortunately doesn't cover this particular subject too well. I guess I'm gonna have to keep digging. Hopefully, something will come up eventually.

All the best,

MartinP

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:29 pm

So what engine is it ?

This is the typical problem when people asking questions. I can't see what model 480 you have so can not give much of an answer.

If it's a turbo then 400's suffer with sludge/oil laying inside the air intake system and around the throttle body is common.

I would guess it's oil passing the turbo slowly.

buddax · Post by **buddax** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:24 pm

A bit of oil/sludge in the pressure side of the turbo is pretty common on turbo engines, unless there is much oil you shouldn't be too worried. But it could be a worn down turbo... check the turbo if you have hunch that it might be going.

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:02 pm

My bad, my bad guys

. It's a B18E engine and it's -87 ES. Is it still normal then?

heavend · Post by **heavend** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:57 am

Just want to clarify where the oil is - was it inside the inlet manifold, and only visible when you took the throttle body off? Or was it on the outside of the engine? I've got four 480s of the same vintage/engine. They all leaked from the oil filler cap, and the oil usually pooled around no1 spark plug, but could also run along the edge of the gasket and dribble down where it liked.

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 1:57 pm

It was right after the throttle body, inside the manifold.

heavend · Post by **heavend** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:26 am

I've seen that on the car that I've had idling issues with. I had the throttle body off for checking and cleaning. I didn't give it a second thought at the time, because I don't think it's causing any problems. Is the oil causing a problem with your car?
I'm not saying at this point what is causing your problem, but I think the most likely path is via the crankcase ventilation valve thing (which you say you've cleaned/replaced).
Are you over filling the engine with oil? And what is the oil pressure like - does it increase/decrease with engine speed? There may be no problem at all or a problem with excess crackcase or oil pressure.

MartinP · Post by **MartinP** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:32 am

I wouldn't say that it's causing any problems either, because the engine runs fine. I'm not overfilling it and the oil pressure is around 5 bar and varies with speed.

Mr Greedy · Post by **Mr Greedy** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:23 pm

I have taken my engine out the the car (B18U) and I noticed oil dribbling down from what I thought was the head gasket. I have ordered a new gasket set from Parts For Volvos, as whilst the engine is out for a new clutch and rear seal, there is no better time to do the headwork. But when I took the exhaust inlet and outlet combo off the head, it was clear that the oil dribble is coming from inside the air inlet ports. The inlet has a good smearing of oil in it, and the butterfly opening is showing oil staining.

Could all of the above symptoms be caused by worn valve stem oil seals?
You wouldn't see it in the exhaust outlet as it gets burnt.

The leak doesn't have to be major, just persistent I am guessing?

heavend · Post by **heavend** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:42 am

I thought it was the valve seals initially, and I suppose it could still be. I ruled them out when I figured that oil from a leaky inlet valve seal would have to go uphill and against the airflow to get to the butterfly. The inlet manifold is really long and curves over the top of the camshaft. Suppose it is possible - because oil being there is proof of something?!

Iroll480 · Post by **Iroll480** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:26 am

Oil in the throttle body is coming from the carter ventilation. There's a hose coming from the oil seperator to the throttle body to burn off oil gasses from the carter to prevent them entering the atmosphere. If there's too much oil entering the throttle body (oil seperator dirty or too much carter pressure) this can result in a pool of oil laying in the throttle body housing. Small pool of oil is normal, too much is a sign something is not OK with said carter ventilation/oil seperator.

Mr Greedy · Post by **Mr Greedy** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:17 pm

I have stripped the head and the valve stem oil seals look mashed.

I will replace them this week and let you know the outcome....

.....if the engine works after I have been tampering

Volvo 480 Club Europe

A small pool of oil laying around in the inlet manifold

A small pool of oil laying around in the inlet manifold

oil and the manifold

oil in the inlet manifold

Oil leak