There's a nice coolant leak on the driver's side of the engine block. I haven't had time to dig in deeper, but it seems quite likely that it's a head-gasket failure. So how big a job is it to pull the head? Since the car's so old and so high-milage, I'm hoping to get away with a $50 head-gasket and several hours of work - and hoping to avoid having the head machined or needing any high-priced tools. Is that realistic??

Peter

Having done headgaskets on nearly every car/truck engine out there, I'd say even the Volvo Turbos are among the easiest.

A couple hints:
-Leave the Exh manifold ON THE HEAD, just remove the down pipe.
-Resurfacing the head will help insure a good end result, however if you cannot see any real pitting or deterioration of the head surface, it may well be a waste of time and $$$.
-No need to completely remove the intake, just remove the bolts and pull it off the head and let it set there.
-Common hand tools, except for a GOOD Tq wrench, nothing fancy at all.
-Unless you have "blue smoke on start-up", leave the valves alone (lots of time and energy for very little gain).
-Excellant time to add a GOOD cam of your choice.
-If you drain the block first (below cyl #4 sparkplug), you should get NO coolant into the oil pan or cylinders.
-Also an Excellant time to replace that waterpump, make sure to lever it up, THEN Tq the pump bolts so when you set the head on it seals REALLY well againstthe "o-ring" on the top of the waterpump.
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JohnG 1989 245 MT @216,500

How big a job?

A *massive* friggen job!!!

The 240's a pain in the ass to work on. Well, the turbos, anyway. I've never worked on a car where simple tasks like oil and air filter changes were like pulling teeth, as they are on a 240 turbo.

There seems to be a lot of space in the engine compartment and the motor's only 2.1 liters, so why the hell did Volvo cluster components and hoses so tightly together?

In my view, it's bad engineering.

Unless you're *extremely* proficient and experienced in auto care and also own a ton of tools, you're better off paying somebody else to do it.

People here, while nice and helpful, make certain things out to be fairly easily accomplishable.

Maybe they're all mechanics, which is why they find it all easy. I don't know.

One thing's for sure. You'd better plan on the job taking 3 to 4 times longer then what anybody says it will take not to mention having to jump into another car in order to run to the parts store or dealer either for parts or tools that you suddenly find you need although there's no mention of them in any of the manuals for the job at hand.

Better to pay somebody and to save yourself the headache of trying to do it yourself.

And if you don't believe me, find a 240 turbo and then do your own oil change and put in a new air filter.

I will almost guarantee you that you'll say "screw this" and vow to pay somebody the next time.

I've done work on Audis, VWs, Hyundais, Nissans, Saturns, and Volvos.

Volvos are by far the most difficult cars to work on.

You've sure had a bad experience with turbo'd engines -- I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever tempted to buy one -- but I don't think I would be -- I like the easy access to air and oil filters of the normally aspirated versions.
But anyway, this guy is asking about an '85. Were 240's still turbo'd in '85? And even if so, odds still are that it's normally aspirated, so he ought not be frightened.

Just telling it like it is Ken. The turbos are a real bitch to wrench on.

I would add, if you go ahead and do this, to get spare M8 nuts for the exhaust manifold studs. Get either stainless steel or the copper ones that Volvo and FCP Groton sells. Use never-seize on these studs. And to preserve them from damage, soak for days ahead of time with PB Blaster on teh nuts, and split any stuck nuts with a small sharp chisel. This works every time to free crusty old nuts without breaking the studs. If you snap off a stud, you have to go to the machine shop. OK? Good luck!
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 225K, 88 744GLE- 209K, 91 244 183K. Also responsible for the care and feeding of: 88 745GLE, 229K, 88 244GL, 146K, 87 244DL, 235K, 88 245DL, 236K

And while I'm asking: mightn't it be possible to leave the exhaust manifold in place, disconnect it from the downpipe, and just avoid the issue?
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David Brick, Santa Cruz CA

You know it probably isn't the head gasket. Probably the heater hose under the rear of the intake manifold. I have never the gasket blow out to the outside, only into a cylinder. Be sure before you go to all that work.

Rob, I'd like to know more about the nut-splitting technique. It seems like an *excellent* idea when R&R the exhaust manifold. Do you also do it on the intake side, or do you just leave the intake manifold in place and lift off the head? Any special comments about the chiseling? I assume that moderate (*there's* a weasel word!) hit(s) with the hammer are all that are required. Thanks!
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David Brick, Santa Cruz CA

I presume you mean the left hand side.
Peter, make sure it's not leaking from around the thermostat housing or coolant temp sensor before you go pulling the cylinder head.
If you're in England, please disregard this message.
--
'80 DL 2 dr

Eeuroparts has the elring head gasket set for $45.90 with free shipping, assuming you have the B230 engine. However, I would strongly recommend having the head surfaced while you have it apart. Where I live that costs $25, so you might want to shop around for a good price.
--
1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.

sometimes someone needs to replace the cylinder head itself. sorry, you did not mention what engine you have?

I doubt you could find an easier candidate for a low-strees, low-dollar head gasket job. You will want a full head gasket set, though, which may be more than $50. You will also want to spend the $70 or so to have the head cleaned and resurfaced since the most likely cause in my experience for a failure like you describe is corrosion creating a channel under the gasket. Borrow a valve spring compressor and you can hand-lap the valves for nothing. Don't have them ground. I don't even know if there are stem seals to replace but if there are, they will be in your gasket set. The counterhold tool for the crank pulley is very useful but I'm sure many get by without it.

Don't rule out a leak unrelated to the head gasket either.

It is really an easy job, just very time consuming.

you need to machine the head in order to do it right, you can skip it, but it will cause a headache later in the form of more leaks.

besides the gasket set (head gasket, engine seals, etc.) you shouldn't have to do anything else, unless there is internal damage and/or you want to replace other gaskets (intake man.) and injector o-rings as long as they are out. I would suggest this.

Chuck