I was doing some maintenance on my '96 855 N/A this afternoon. While cleaning out the flame trap I found water and a very heavy layer of rust colored crud. I cleaned out the holes with a drill bit and scraped out the breather tube. With mineral spirits I was able to get must of the gunk cleaned out but the rust color remained.
Has anyone else encountered this and if so, what is it? How can I avoid this in the future?
I've been using Sea Foam in the gas and just changed the oil and added Valve medic to try to slowly clean out the brown build up visible through the oil cap.
This car has 209,000 and runs like a dream.
Thanks

The "rust" stuff is probably just a product of the water you mentioned mixing with the funky brown/black gunk that builds up in the flame trap. I've seen the same stuff. Gunk in the flame trap is inevitable, just needs to be cleaned periodically. I try to do it a couple times a year to avoid blockages and to try to promote maximum power/efficiency. I've cleaned a few flame traps, but FYI, they can be had from your local Foreign Car Parts for about 50 cents.

The water may be due to condensation. It's best to make sure that the engine (oil too, not just coolant) gets good and warm every time you drive it. That will preclude condensation from forming.

What do you think of Sea Foam and Valve Medic?

-Will
--
850 / Mini

Will,
Thanks for the reply. We have recently been having our first cold snap so think the engine seldom gets really warmed up.
So far Sea Foam has done well for me. I just did the Valve cleaning treatment as described on VolvoSpeed. There are some many small 'repairs' I need to do with this car that I'm trying to hold out long enough that I can do it in one shot.
Valve Medic really came through for us in the past. A few years ago we bought a Subaru with 25K on it and quickly discovered that the previous owner hadn't been limited by the obligation of oil changes. We replaced 3 sets of lifters before the warranty ran out. We did 2000 mile oil changes with Valve Medic for two years before the engine was cleaned out. I'm hoping that the varnish buildup will clear out with regular use of Valve Medic.
Thanks again for the reassurance.
Thom

Volvo inform us to throw away the flame trap now as it can cause more problems than it is worth.
--
Tek