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White Block oil leak behind starter

hikerguy

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2012
Location
Benton PA
Ok so I just bought a 1998 v90 with ~140,000m on it. Since I got it last month I've been chasing down a mix of problems but the list is dwindling.

When I picked it up it lost 4 qt. til I got it home ~100 miles. The guy before me said he just put a rear main seal in it because when he bought it the ex owner said it needed it. Once I got it home i found the rear exhaust cam seal missing completely. I blamed that on a shady mechanic trying to get RMS money, but who knows.

I also took the word of a former owner without investigating further and pulled it apart to change PCV. Not needed at all, clean as a whistle. While I had it apart i did notice that the rear starter bolt was not it the hole. I did nothing about this figuring it was replaced with a cheap reman at sometime in its last 20 years.

Car is still leaking oil. It is 100% coming from somewhere behind the starter, but i can't remember ever dealing with an oil issue here on any of mine in the past.

If anyone has a good clear picture of whats behind there, or has any helpful info on this please let me know. This is by far the nicest v90/960 I've owned and it will be the wife's daily.
 
Sight hole for torque converter is oil free. Unless I'm missing something, which is possible but I doubt it on this
 
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Found the problem.... the moron before me that changed the rms must have had trouble with the starter. The oil leak is coming from the where crankcase comes together. It looks like someone used a prybar and separated the gasket where the trans and case halves come together.

Anyone have an easy fix? I really don't want to explain to the wife that I'm going to have to pull the motor...
 
The bottom of the engine is sealed with liquid gasket. If that's what's cracked open I can't think of any fix that doesn't involve pulling the engine apart and re-applying.
 
The bottom of the engine is sealed with liquid gasket. If that's what's cracked open I can't think of any fix that doesn't involve pulling the engine apart and re-applying.
That's right.
But the halves are so tightly bolted together that I don't think with just a prybar you'd be able to separate them at all. You'd have to beat a sharp prybar with a (sledge)hammer directly in to the seam. Even then it would just crack a corner. But nothing is stronger than a strong moron?
 
Crusher time...

Just joking. Since it's on the cooler side of the motor I'm going to try brake cleaner and flexseal, and see if I can make it til mid June.

To anyone who split one of these open. Are there any (pressure) oil passages near the starter area of the block? It seems like it's more than a splash leak.

I've got a t6 xc90 with a blown trans. Would it be worth swapping?
 
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