went ahead and pulled the head. almost zero piston slap on cylinder 1. 2,3, & 4 had zero piston slap. head gasket was leaking between 3&4 a little, and leaking a tiny amount between 1&2 and 2&3. A couple valves were little loose in their guides. Evidence of lean condition in 3&4....

with compression of 165 you think i’m ok to pull the head, replace head gasket, and put new valves, guides, seals, hushers, springs, and retainers? Kinda worried about putting to much pressure on the bottom end of rings are weak.

So check this out. Ran compression test on all 4 cylinders, warm (after the 1 turn plug backoff and run that volvo recommends, distributor and injectors disconnected). results: 1990 b230f 400k miles with zero engine work 1-165 2-165 3-155 4-155 went back to cylinder 3 to add about a teaspoon of oil ...