oil leak - 1990 volvo 740 gle 16 valve

My car is leaking oil under the engine. It is dripping from where the
oil pan is and where the square pan is that has a bolt in the middle of
it, which is near the oil pan. I don't think it is leaking from the oil
pan bolt because it has a new brass gasket on it. It looks like it is
leaking down the pan itself. It seems like it might be coming from the
passangers side because there is more drips on that side. Although this
could be caused by this side being lower then the other.It seems like
maby it is comming from above. (Sorry, I don't know much about cars).
It is not leaking a lot of oil, although oil stain is noticable after
sitting 8 hours. My car was not leaking oil before I had the head
gasket and lifters replaced. In addition, I also had the timing belt
and the associated seals replaced as well. It is kind of annoying, I
mean all that work and now my engine is leaking. The question I have is
this: Do you think that the oil leak is caused by having the head job
done? Could it be caused by the increased compression from the new head
gasket and lifters? I don't want to blame my mechanic for something
that he did not do. Although if he caused the problem, I would like him
to fix it. Can you give me some ideas where the leak might be coming
from, preferable something easy to fix. Should I change my oil from
synthetic to regular. Would that help? Would regular oil clog up my new
lifters?

 

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.

 

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.

 

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