I got a late night call on Friday from our son who is away at college with our 88 240DL (Stan). Stan has been in the family since 1994 when I purchased him coming off of a six year lease (Volvo offered six year leases then) with 116K. His clock is currently at 226K. Stan spit out his rear main seal which wasn't apparent until the oil light started flashing on the interstate and finally came on full on the off ramp. He was shut down as he rolled into the Speedway station near the end of the off ramp. Two quarts of oil brought the level up enough to get back to the dorm.

I changed out the rear main seal on this car a little more than a year ago. The flame trap and associated plumbing was cleaned before Stan went off to school this fall. I drove the 180 miles to Bowling Green Ohio yesterday to see what I could do (at this point I didn't know what had let loose). I could easily make this into a short novel by explaining all the fine details including the opening chapter talking about working outdoors in single digit temperatures, being lucky enough to find a place where the relentless wind had blown enough to allow me to lay on the frozen tundra rather than the snow. Or how an 8 inch cement block provided just enough room to slide in under the car when the block was positioned under a front wheel; once you provide a path formed by lumber piled in ever increasing heights to drive the car up onto the block. Those details I will spare you....but will add that about half way through this experience I was able to get the car indoors.

There is a part that acts as a support on the bottom side of the engine/(automatic)transmission whose name I do not know. It is held in place by six bolts and when removed reveals the area between the flywheel flexplate and the aluminum casting that holds the seal. Sure enough there was the rear main seal looking very out of place behind the casting that was supposed to surround it. It appeared as though I might have enough room to attempt to push it back into place if I could come up with the right objects/tools.

I coated the edge of the seal with a gasket tack like material I found at AutoZone. I used a paint brush and since at this point the seal would spin with the crankshaft I could have Zach hit the starter (coil wire removed) to rotate it and allow good coverage. Then using first a long screwdriver and then various other long shafted tools including a long thin prybar that had a bend that worked to my advantage I was able to get the seal mostly where it belonged. The very top of the seal was still not in place so I was able to use a piece of 3/16" mild steel rod bent to shape to finish off the top- the rod was bent on the end to closely match the radius of the crank end and then a "handle" was formed on the other end that allowed me to apply the force to the top of the seal.

Once the seal was in place I set about trying to figure out why it had been blown out. The only thing I found was that when I removed the oil separator it was "restricted" by the same build up that you find in the flame trap and hose in high mileage cars. It was not plugged but since everything else was free and clear I assume the restriction was resulting in too much pressure. After using a drill bit to clear the two restricted openings, I used solvent and compressed air to remove the residue I could hear inside when I shook it. A very big difference in its ability to pass air was the result of this cleaning. I made a mental note to do all the other Volvos in the garage to avoid this scenario.

After everything was in place we made a high speed run down the interstate with the overdrive off to create the situation that might provide high crankcase pressure. This is known around our house as an "elephant test"- creating the worst of conditions in an effort to experience failure under controlled conditions. It stayed in place. I thought I would pass along the fact that it is possible to push the seal back into place if you should be so unlucky to have it blown out. If I had removed and cleaned out the oil seperator prior to Stan going to college this fall I would have saved six hours of driving and five hours of work under less than prime conditions. Hopefully no damage was done to the engine but it certainly couldn't have done it any good.

Randy