I will try to answer the questions from replies in here.

I have owned this vehicle about one year. It was purchased from the parents of a good friend, sight unseen, with about 67k on the clock. I thought I was getting a deal.

I expected that a mid-year 96 would have a 96 engine in it, not a 95, which is what the casting number belongs to. It does not look like the engine is a replacement.

I would have to sell the car to somebody else to sell for parts, as opposed to parting it out myself. I don't have the skill, time or room to do it justice. Too bad, since it has new Brembo rotors, new radiator, new rack, new evap coil, new Yokohama Avids, etc.

I have looked at FAQ. The one thing I have not checked that I can do is the seal on the filler cap. I wlll take a look at this after I let it run for a while. There was a little oil in both of the depressions on either side of the filler tube tonight.

I took it to a second independent Volvo mech. shop today. We flipped up the fuel rail cover and noted some silicone (like I use in my house) smeared on at the base of the filler tube and around the head of one of the bolts. If you look at the bolt just to the right of the filler tube, and then down about one inch, there is clearly a crack on the valve cover. The mechanic (former Volvo-certified Master Mechanic) thought that maybe somebody cross-threaded the bolt and caused the crack. Prior service records do indicate that there was a valve cover gasket replacement done, and maybe somebody did it wrong and used silicone to cover up their mistake. The concern is that there may be a corresponding crack in the upper portion of the two-part head. He has patched the valve cover crack up with epoxy and advised a 'wait and see' approach. It's out dripping oil on the driveway now.

Whatever it is that is causing this, it's reasonably serious. I've driven it no more than 100 miles since the last oil change and it's down a quarter of a quart.

I flipped up the fuel rail cover tonight to take a look and with a flashlight can clearly see oil pooled in places on the driver's side of the engine. Right behind the exhaust manifold. Gotta like that. Of course, now I can't get the cover to go back down. Is there some secret to getting that thing to flip back down?

As I said in my first post, I drive a Volvo, as opposed to knowing anything about them. I love the car, and when I bought it I thought it was much nicer than anything I would ever be able to afford again. Unfortunately, repairs have more than doubled my investment in a year.