Hi,

My 90 244 with approx. 260k miles has been leaking oil at the head gasket area on the exhaust side, on the intake side and at the rear of the engine-it's all over the trans bell housing and is sprayed over the header pipe.

I have to constantly check and add oil even though it only goes on short trips.

The breather box is clear along with the associated flame trap system. The rear cam plug is intact. The valve cover gasket isn't leaking, nor the oil cap seal or front engine seals.

I have researched the archives and I am thinking the head gasket has failed due to age and is seeping oil. It seems to be rare for this type of failure but not out of the question.

There is no mixing of the fluids.

Now my question is would compression test figures point toward gasket failure in this situation?-as it is not the classic all out failure of severe overheating.

I did a compression test (just to check overall condition of engine and hey, I had gotten a new tool!) a while back and the figures were high but within range of one another. At this point when I did the test the oil was on the sides of the block but not nearly as bad as it is now.

Thanks,

Travis

I had a similiar oil leak on my 1992 with 202k except the oil was only leaking under the intake manifold. I had first fixed the valve cover and cam plug leaks, replaced the breather box and cleaned the flame trap system. I verified the leak at the head gasket by adding dye to the oil and checking with a UV light. I replaced the head gasket 3 weeks ago and all has been well since.

Jim

I had a similar leak and ended up being the rear cam seal.

If it is the head gasket, doing the job on a 240/740/940 non-turbo is as straightforward as it gets in the auto head removal world. Soak the exhaust mani nuts with penetrating repeatedly for a few days and before wrenching, give each nut a solid whack with a blunt chisel. The nuts should spin right off; however, I'd still replace the studs as they may break during torque up (you don't have to ask how I learned this). As someone else said, either pull a cheap head or take yours to machine shop to check for flatness and redo valves. Don't disconnect much from intake manifold, just undo nuts and pull it back, use something (rope) to hold it a away from head. Good luck. Mike

I know you are a regular contributor so I will not make a big deal about, but you do know that almost everyone on here says they have never seen and externally leaking (oil, not coolant) head gasket on a B230.

Just to verify though, clean the bejesus out of the motor and coat every thing with baby/talcum power. Even better, disconnect the fan as well. Start the car and see where the oil is coming from.

I still thin it won't be the head gasket, but if it is, you can do it. You probably seen all the threads but to review, there are two common routes.

Pull the head from a junk yard motor and have a machinist do the refurb work required. This is more expensive but has the advantage that you get to practice head removal on a car not your own. You also have only two tasks on the weekend of doom...remove the head, re-install the head.

The other is to pull the head, take it to a machinist...etc. Downtime is at least a week and more likely two.

The third option is the cowboy option...just R&R the head gasket. This should only be done in times of EXTREME financial trouble or as a temporary solution ot transportation crisis. That said, we did exactly what I just described on a /6 in a Dodge utility truck some 180k mile in the past and it is just now show signs of need a full rebuild.

if the valve cover gasket, the front cam seal, the rear cylinder head plug or the vale cover filler gasket are not the source then what remains must surely be a failing head gasket.

the mileage of 260k also points towards a head gasket at the end of its statistically useful life and ought to be replaced based on mileage alone.

I am only implying that there is a possibility that one of the listed items is leaking but because of the volume of oil and the fun that driving and the fan running can obscure.

On a non-turbo I kind of disagree on the statistical headgasket life. I have not had one fail yet due to "natural causes". It was always overheating or similar trauma. I am sure they do just fail due to the cycles of expansion and contraction, but it just has not happened to me. This includes three different Volvo's with more mileage than stated...one a B230FT.

Either way, planning for a headgasket failure at his mileage is not a bad idea.

imo you are on borrowed time before you either run out of oil ruining the engine or blow inward into the combustion chamber and inopportunely break down.

if i were you i would decide now replace the head gasket at my convienence
rather than letting fate have its way.

Its nice to see someone not only say something about the problem AND offer what to DO about the problem!! Great!