Having an automobile is necessary, we most of the time need it to get to our job and for the majority of our daily trips. This essential portion of our annual budget commonly causes us complications, being aware about oil leaking on your car is one of them… In fact, an oil leak is not usually inoffensive and can quickly lead to the breakage of your engine if you don’t recognize it. If you are aware about oil leaking on your Volvo XC90, you have come to the right place, we will first support you to find the source of the oil leak and, secondly, we will help you to remedy it, if possible.

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Identifying the origin of the oil leaking on your Volvo XC90

If you discover fluid leaking from under your Volvo XC90, the first right move is to verify all of your levels (power steering, engine oil, brake fluid, coolant) to discover if any of them can fairly quickly be recognized as the source of the leak. To limit the risks, it is absolutely important to verify your levels every 2 weeks to prevent any risk of engine breakage.
In our case we will only be focused on case you notice oil leaking from your Volvo XC90, as far as engine oil is concerned, the liquid will be quite viscous and in shades of brown to black and if it is gearbox oil, it will be rather in amber tones and will have a strong unpleasant smell.
It’s not always easy to find the source of the oil that leaks on a Volvo XC90 because of the space in the engine block, however here are the guidelines to stick to to find the origin of the oil:

  • Uncover the point where the oil falls, the area from which it leaks onto the ground…
  • Track down the path of the dripping oil to its basis, if the blot is too important, don’t think twice to clean the engine block and drive to be able to find it without difficulty.
  • That can assist you, here is a list of the auto parts that in most cases cause oil to leak from a car: the drain plug and its seal; one of your crankcase gaskets; the oil pressure switch; the oil filter; the transmission drain plug; the transmission sealing rings.

Whenever possible, fix the part that created the oil to leak on your Volvo XC90.

Now that you’ve identified the source of the oil leaking, it’s time to get down to business. Of course, for a while, you’ll be able to add more oil to top up the level, based on its intensity, but remember that this is not a durable solution and that the leak could get worse at any moment. We are going to show you the repairs that we think you can attempt alone with some expertise, tools and according to the accessibility that you are going to have on your engine. Whatever the case, you should know that after repairing an oil leak on a Volvo XC90, you will have to change your engine or gearbox oil.

Oil leakage from the drain plug and its seal on Volvo XC90

In this circumstance, the procedure is quite easy, you just have to lift your Volvo XC90, when possible perfectly horizontal, remove your drain plug, drain your engine oil, change your drain gasket, tighten the plug to the right torque and verify the hot engine to make sure the leak has been fixed.

Oil leaking over from the oil filter of my Volvo XC90

In case that your oil leak comes from your oil filter, you will simply need to change it. To do this, take a filter wrench, remove the old filter, making sure that the gasket does not stick to the engine, fit the new filter and tighten it moderately. Same check, hot check if oil is leaking from your Volvo XC90.

Oil leaking from the pressure switch of my Volvo XC90

To finish , if it is your pressure switch that is the reason of your leak on your Volvo XC90, you can, determined by its accessibility, reach it and change it easily. To get this done, place a drain tray under the part, disconnect the electrical wire, remove the part, quickly reposition the replacement pressure switch, clean the assembly and do a hot test to ensure that you no longer have any oil leaking from your Volvo XC90.

For any other type of leak, we recommend you to go to your auto technician because the repair requires too much expertise and tools to be executed serenely alone.

If you need more guides on the Volvo XC90, go to our Volvo XC90 category.