pushed out blance shaft seal

hi guys I have a 1987 n/a volvo 240 it pushed out a cam seal so I assumed it had something to do with my pcv system, so I pulled out the breather box and the flame trap. the flame trap has a little gunk but it isn't plugged in it and the oil seprator looks clean from what I can see from the outside, I sprayed it with brake cleaner just to see how much would come out and some of it would get stuck in it, but if I shook it It would come out. so I guess I'm wondering if my pcv system really caused the seal to pop out.

Same thing happened in my kid's 91 244 with the I-shaft. As always it has a clean flame trap and the oil separator blows clear. I put a new I-shaft seal in, checked for blowby pressure at the oil cap, and scratched my head. That was January '17, 21K miles ago. [emoji for shrug]

I haven't done a pressure test but I have a catch can and I'm going to replace the pcv system with but I thought I would try to fix what I have now so I can have a car to drive until parts arrive.

It happens sometimes. Seals don't last forever. I had the cam seal pop out, didn't make too much of a mess. But the intermediate shaft seal popped out recently and oiled down the front of the engine, all the belts, underside of the hood...big mess. I only noticed it because of the slight burning oil smell and the drop in voltage because the alternator belts lost traction from all the oil. 239,000 miles, probably the original seal in my '92.

I had installed an Ering cam seal. It kept pushing out. I reinstalled the original Volvo seal and it's been staying put. It's the outside diameter of the seal that is an issue. If you can push the seal into the head with your thumbs it's too loose.

No balance shafts on an 8v.

lummert said:

I had installed an Ering cam seal. It kept pushing out. I reinstalled the original Volvo seal and it's been staying put. It's the outside diameter of the seal that is an issue. If you can push the seal into the head with your thumbs it's too loose.

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+1. Seals wear out. If your breather box is easy-breathing and the flame trap is clean, it was likely just an old seal. Replace with Volvo OE. Though I recently got really lucky with an aftermarket not leaking on a friends car..YMMV

I got the volvo seals, the ones that were on it before were orange, I don't know what they were. as far as the pcv system goes I remember a few months before the I shaft seal popped out my dip stick popped out, maybe somehow the I have an intermittent blockage?

Markos Simopoulos said:

I got the volvo seals, the ones that were on it before were orange, I don't know what they were. as far as the pcv system goes I remember a few months before the I shaft seal popped out my dip stick popped out, maybe somehow the I have an intermittent blockage?

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Maybe excessive blow-by? Vacuum line hooked up to the flametrap? Any holes in other hoses?