Hi everybody. I have a 79 245 wagon. I just had a series of problems resulting in a possible blown head gasket. I just had the radiator and a heater hose replaced yeaterday morning. I drove about 300 miles that evening. Temp was ok the whole trip. I get to my destination, my hatch window has nasty black film, Volvo out of oil. on my dipstick, at the tip, was a dirty white goop, not much. is it the head gasket? Also on a sidenote, I was runnung w/o OD in the interstate for about half the trip. I was going 70 at some points in the trip not realiving I was. Thanks for any advice. Franklyn

Not using OD should not be much of a problem.. You just ran with higher RPM that you needed too.

The black could be carbon from overly rich fuel.... It could be oil too I guess?

Running with low oil is not doing the engine any favors... A white gob on the dip stick does not say much... It might indicate that the oil level was low, and that you drive very short trips often?? Do you?

If I were you and I suspected a bad head gasket, I would do a engine leak down test, or have one done. That done well will pin point many things including a bad head gasket.

You can add proper oil,to what is there, or you can change the oil and filter to maybe just ruin it.. I would not use this car at all untill testing has been done...

You can look in the coolant for signs of oil. You can look at the oil filler cap bottom side for signs of condenced water/coolant, and smell it for signs of coolant.. if it is white gook and does not have a sweet odor it might just be condenced water??? If it smells sweeter your in for some workings for sure..

You can do these simple tests with not even running the engine.. Coolant in the oil is pretty bad for engines.... Coolant displaces oil from bearings, and cly walls and must be cleaned up well as the work happens to allow.

Black smoke at the tail pipe in day light indicates too much fuel.

White smoke is not smoke but steam....

Blue / gray lingering smoke is oil...

You may have one or all 3 smokes mixed depending on what the causes are.

I can't tell with out seeing and or getting more info... Mac

Thanks for the advice. I will certinly have it checked. I do drive short distances all the time, this journey is the first time I have driven over 15 miles in a day for a long,long time. I'll surely be back in a day or two with an update, thanks again. Happy New Year.

In that case it might be possible that these short drives at hardly ever getting the engine really warmed up caused heavy carbon build up in the exhaust!

Driving the 300 miles might cause it to show up on the rear door of your wagon.

Thje slip stream certainly is flawed in that dust will collect on the tail gate if you drive on a dirt road.. We have plenty of dirt roads here where I live.

It is likely you blew out lots of carbon as I see it....

It is likely you will find white goo under the oil filler cap as well. I would expect to with 15 mile trips in cool weather. There is no way you get to do much more than create water inside the engine, as you don't go far enough to heat the engine and have it vent well...

I would also check the engine breather hoses, and metalic parts to see that they are clean and free to breath... I would change the oil and find out why it was so low and even if you use 2 quarts in a 1,000 miles see to it that you are never more than 1/2 qt low. 2 qts in a 1,000 is excessive, but so what if you can't, don't won't fix the leaks...

It is likey some leaks exist due to a clogged breather system... Front main and rear main engine seals do not care for high internal pressures the pistons create from going up and down inside the clys. probably you have some blow by of fuel as well. Mix that with contminated oil (water made from condensation) and you make a nasty sulfuric acid. It is pretty diluted, but still in time it will attack bearings which are a babbit material and low on the galvanic list..

In other words the first to go in a acid bath.

You must determine if there is coolant present in the oil.... The sooner the better, and if none is found so be it and good enought for it!

Then get the oil changed and drive 1,500 miles and get the oil changed again. Always use a good filter and always change it with the oil.

Fram filters are junk...

I would continue to change the oil early, untill it runs far cleaner than what it must be now. It will take time to get the mung and goo out...

Take a day a week to drive the car for at least 1 hours time and hit 55 and up.

You didn't say what fuel system you have, but get it looked at... It coulkd be carbs and it could be injected. I think D Jetronic, and I might be wrong but possibly L jetronic... In my day I recall both systems on Volvo about then. As of late someone corrected me and said Volvo never used L type...

Because I worked on any Euro cars made at that time it might well be I am mixed up with BMW,Saab and or VW.... That does not matter, what ever you have might, and I say might be running rich...

One way to know would be take a good drive and drive at higher rpms.. Oh 3,500 to 4,000 say... And then ASAP have a look at the spark plugs...

Looks like maybe a good time to check the condition of all filters and the tune up parts as well...

I still can't tell if you have a bad head gasket, but I am kind of doubting it.. Mac