Sages,

Here's the Story, some are familiar with it:

1998 V70, Approximately 178,000 on it as of today.

- Replaced the head in March 2013, had roughly 145,000 on it then. Immediately upon starting it up for the first time I heard some loud tapping noise that immediately went away as soon as I stopped the engine and then started it back up again. Thoughts on this???

- Almost immediately started consuming about 3 - 4 Quarts of oil per 5k change. There appears to be some sort of leak where the head meets the block on the read of the engine next to the firewall on the passengers side.

- Through multiple misfires before on all 5 cylinders, fix was Crank Alignment sensor, definitely Crank Position Sensor. Have to check BB to verify my old post.

- Then is started, and continues till today to throw, in this order, P302 (cylinder 2) P305 (cylinder 5), and then P300 multiple misfires.

Took it in 2 weeks ago for Marylands Emissions test, I mean Emissions Tax, and it failed with the above codes as I knew it would.

I performed a compression test today and here are the results:

Starting Left (passenger side) to right (drivers side)
cylinder 1: 245 PSI
cylinder 2: 245 PSI
cylinder 3: 80 PSI
cylinder 4: 185 PSI
cylinder 5: 210 PSI

Performed the test again on cylinder 3 and 4 with a teaspoon of oil in the cylinder, and here are the results:

cylinder 3: 80 PSI
cylinder 4: 80 PSI

I have till July 22nd to fix said issue and get it retested at no charge.

I have to find the oil leak for sure and that is going to entail removing the head to do that. I'm afraid that I'm going to find bent values as well in 3 & 4. If I do, is this something that I can fix myself or should I just get another head and take my chances???

Thoughts and advice on this matter are greatly needed and desired.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Check this with another post for those who will know - you may need to run the car for a number of trips before the computer will perform properly in an emissions test.

You are correct!

I need two "driving events" to get the messages to all say "ready" before I can take it in to be inspected.

But wait there's more!

Last night while warming up engine so that I could change the oil and clean all the grease and oil off the engine from the head gasket leak I noticed that I was dripping antifreeze from somewhere behind the timing belt cover. UGH!

I proceeded to change the oil, warmed the engine up till the fan came on once and then performed a second compression test. This time the results were:

#1 - 200,
#2 - 200,
#3 - 200,
#4 - 200,
#5 - 170.

On #5 I then placed a tablespoon of motor oil into the cylinder and then preformed the test again. I got a nice 200 PSI, just like the rest, so I believe all the work I did and this time performed correctly has finally paid off.

So back to the anti-freeze leak. So after the test, I put the spark plugs back in and warm the car up once more. I also sprayed all the antifreeze that had been running down the timing belt side of the car off and where ever else it had been gathering. I squeegeed out as much water from the garage floor as I could and then blew compressed air on the rest of the car trying to get rid of as much water as possible so that I could check the leak in the morning, which I did.

So this morning everything is nice and dry. I squeezed the one hose several times and got nothing trickling out, which was not the case yesterday. My plan now is to start the car up again tonight and see if it still leaks. I need to solve this issue before moving on. What was supposed to be a simple head swap is now starting to turn into a nightmare!!! I'll post more tonight once I know more, but for now I need to earn some bacon.

Later,

Matt

Remove the timing belt cover, you can run the engine without it. That way you can verify if the pump is leaking or some hose has a problem. Remember, the antifreeze pressure is highest on a hot engine.

Check the water pump seals. If the pump leaks and the Tbelt is relatively new, just push the hydraulic tensioner back and 'pin' it in place to get enough slack to remove the belt from the pump without removing the belt from the cams or elsewhere.

The pump is a terrible place to get proper tension on all of its bolts, but slow and steady works.

If it is time for a new belt, then replace the rollers also.

The 170psi on cyl #5 is marginal, something to keep an eye on. Bringing up the pressure with oil could mean that a ring is stuck or there is some other problem that is keeping oil from getting up there to do its job. B.B. is a believer in Marvel mystery oil, and, pouring a tablespoon in #5 and letting it set overnight has been known to unstick rings and get some of the crud out of the piston crown.
--
My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

Klaus,

So it appears that I have a small leak, presumably at the water pump. All hoses and other assemblies are dry.

I plan to take a look at the water pump bolts tonight.

Here is what I've noticed as of last night. The drip at this point if very small if not minimal. When the engine is cold and I grab and squeeze the upper radiator hose a few time I will see a very small amount of anti-freeze form at the lower left section of the water pump (looking from inside timing cover) and then a few drips will drip down. Now when I warm the car up and the highest pressure is obtained I get nothing out of the water pump, so I'm assuming it seals itself once it expands.

What I also believe is happening is if I do not squeeze the upper radiator hose I believe that it will not leak, but I still need to prove this, but might become a mute point once I tighten the bolts.

Thanks for your time. Will post later once I've done more work.

Later,

Matt

Started the Head swap last night. I'm a bolt and a coupling away from pulling the timing belt and then removing valve cover and head before I'll post pictures as to what is going on here.

Tonight it should come off and then tomorrow I'm gonna put it all back together.

Pictures forth coming of the head.

For now, this inquiry is on the back burning.

plan to inquire more of it in late May or early June. I'll keep you all up to speed with posts once I dig into it.

I'll even throw in some pictures of the head once it is off.

Thanks for all your input thus far.

Going 30K miles with a leaking head gasket is not a good thing. Your compression on #1 and #2 are much too high. #3 is pathetic. they should be all around 200psi and within 10% of each other.

I wonder if the head was bolted down correctly. The left bolts too hard, squeezing the gasket and the right OK, causing a leak at the middle. By now, the head is warped.

EDIT: The initial tapping sound after the new head was installed could have been the lifters not having oil and waiting for oil pressure. Or it could have been out of time and the valves were bent, but then you would have been running on 4 cylinders.
When checking compression, the engine must be warm.


I would look for a decent(?) donor car and start swapping the nice parts of your car into a 1999 or 2000. A reconditioned head is not cheap.

--
My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic

Klaus,

So I finished the head job (Part 2) today and all went well. This time upon initial startup NO tapping, just smooth running.

Engine got quieter the longer it ran.

I let it warm until the fan came on then I shut it off and ran a compression test on all five cylinders.

Here are the results:

#1 - 190
#2 - 180
#3 - 200
#4 - 180
#5 - 170.

Much better than last time I believe. Thoughts??

Tomorrow I will change the oil, run one more compression test on it and then de-grease the engine so if it develops another oil leak at least I'll know that its new and where it is.

Later in the week new engine mounts and rear Volvo brake pads will be going in. It'll drive like a new car once I'm done! Can't wait.

Later,

Matt

Klaus,

Well I finally pulled the head tonight and I believe the issue with the compression is a combination of two things:

1. Failed head gasket on both exhaust side corners on the side that sits on the block side (I've taken a picture of this to show. Will post once the job is done),
2. Potentially bolting down the bolts to tight on the outside vs. the inside as you mentioned in your post.

With this head install I've also purchased a Volvo head gasket as the last one was an after market. Hopefully this will make a difference once I'm done.

Once done I'm still going to have to do all the engine mounts as I've determined that they are shot, especially the one on the passengers side. Really Shot.

Will post pictures once the job is complete. Also plan to retest the compression once done and see where I now am. Should be done sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Talk to you later,

Matt

Hi Matt,

Your saga reminds me of an ugly story years ago when I had the head done
on a Datsun 510. The machinist left chips in the head that screwed up
everything. I was hoping that I'd forget all about that nasty experience.

Your readings are weird where #4 got worse with oil. Verify that the
compression gauge is OK.
You could try soaking bad cylinders with Mystery oil for a day or two.
(If it's an oil burner soak all the cylinders)
and repeat the compression test, in case there's a problem with the rings.
You could get lucky if it's some stuck rings.
(That would be better than doing the head over)

You need to try the Mystery Oil and start rubbing the Rosary Beads as fast as you
can!

Good luck, Bill