New Volvo Owner/Project

abj1 · Post by **abj1** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 5:44 pm

Hello MVS

I am the proud new owner of a beautiful 2001 V70 XC 2.4T 165Kmi

This car has a really clean black interior with heated leather seats. Does this mean it has some sort of premium package or do all XC versions have all this luxury? I really like the car, but I have to say my favorite part is the price I paid for the car, 0. Free. Nothing!

That's the good news, lol. The Bad news is that I had to tow it home with half of the engine in the backseat. The story goes as follows:

Previous Owner is the original owner. It was in some sort of minor accident in which the radiator was damaged. The car was repaired at the body shop, but nobody noticed the radiator was damaged right away. It was driven and overheated at least once. The radiator was then replaced. After that, the previous owner was experiencing overheating and coolant loss (Head gasket). They took it to a local shop (not a volvo mechanic) to have it repaired. The shop determined the cylinder head was warped beyond re-surfacing (0.012").

They decided it would be too expensive to repair and offered it to me for free.

I have lots of home-mechanical experience. Including Cylinder Head removal and head gasket replacement on other (not volvo) cars. I'm not shy about getting my hands dirty. I don't have any issues with this project except that because I didn't disassemble the car, I will be confused at where everything goes, especially hoses and wires. I am hoping by taking pictures and using this forum, I can get it back together.

I am planning on getting a re-manufactured cylinder head from odessa cylinder head. Does anybody have experience with them? They seem to be the only place that has 2.4T volvo heads in stock. I have used a reman head on my Honda and it's still ticking 50k+ miles later. I'm planning on fabricating the special volvo tools.

I wouldn't bother doing this repair if the car wasn't in such good shape and so well maintained.

I have a few questions:

1. Does anybody know of a good place to get a cylinder head?

2. I'm worried about how to get the camshafts correctly in time. Is there a foolproof way to do this?

3. Has anybody had their cylinder head resurfaced? Has any of you dealt with a warped head before?

I'm sure I will come up with more questions as I go. 1st thing is to source a head.

Thanks in Advance for the help.

Post by **abscate** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:08 pm

You will need a budget of about $2000 to do this, are you ok with that?

abj1 · Post by **abj1** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:58 pm

$2000?

I will be doing the work myself

Reman cylinder head-- $500-700
Head Gasket and upper engine gasket set -$130-300
Head bolt set $29-80
Fabricated Special Tools $free

Timing belt and components are not necessary right away, but I'm still coming up way short of $2k.

I'm new to volvo's so please forgive me, but what am I missing?

mouseskowitz · Post by **mouseskowitz** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:10 am

Good luck with the exhaust cam with the variable timing. The alignment marks were missing on the gears and my guy didn't get it back together quite right. The good thing is that the computer will tell you now much you're off and which direction if you have a computer, there is a sub forum dealing with the software and what not.

jonesg · Post by **jonesg** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:37 am

abj1 wrote:$2000?

I will be doing the work myself

Reman cylinder head-- $500-700
Head Gasket and upper engine gasket set -$130-300
Head bolt set $29-80
Fabricated Special Tools $free

Timing belt and components are not necessary right away, but I'm still coming up way short of $2k.

I'm new to volvo's so please forgive me, but what am I missing?

You can do it. !
Add a few bucks for the cam retaining clamps and the cam lock tool, maybe $250 in all. Or fab your own.

The timing belt isn't so bad, there are vids on youtube for that. I saw the marks on my cam sprockets, very faint tics.
With those low miles they coulda fixed that car and sold it at profit.

Post by **abscate** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 10:03 am

Be aware you have unfortunately picked the one model year with a problematic transmission - so much so it has its own thread, sticky above.

Its good news if it was in an accident which took it beyond economical repair for the last owner, but you still have to worry a bit that your AT could be bad on this model.

You can get it running for less, but if you want to bring it to daily driver condition, a 2k budget is more reasonable.

It will need

AT flush and fill 3x
PCV overhaul - especially if any seals are seeping.
Valve stem seals while head is off
Evaluate valves and replace any burned ones.

These cars don't flip well since good parts are expensive, but for a luxury daily driver, they are about the cheapest out there.

Post by **JRL** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:05 pm

Clearwater Heads used to sell complete Volvo remaned heads for $400 and they were supposed to be excellent.
Try them.

If you can find a lower mileage used engine you may want to go that route, most people have done that

abj1 · Post by **abj1** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:21 pm

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I have bit the bullet and ordered a cylinder head from odessa (clearwater). I was looking at buying from them mostly because they were the only cylinder head shop that had it in stock, but I was happy to hear quite a few happy customers who were impressed with their work.

I have also ordered a head gasket and full upper gasket kit and new cylinder head bolts. Both are MAHLE ORIGINAL/VICTOR REINZ.

I have decided not to buy the cam tool and valve cover tool. It seems like it will be easy to weld up some myself and save some $$.

I thought about getting another engine, but repairing the current engine will be quite a bit cheaper. And like I said, the previous owner took very good care of the care. Suspension and steering components are fresh and tight. Interior is MINT, (Michelin defender) tires are almost new, with $770 receipt. All five cylinders still have the factory cross-hatching. No leaks

abj1 · Post by **abj1** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:45 pm

A couple of pictures of the car.

also, I decided to be productive after work and made a camshaft holder tool. It's crude, but it'll work and the best part is that it was free. see pics...

Hopefully will make the valve cover compressor later this week when I have time

abj1 · Post by **abj1** » Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:38 pm

Ok, got the valve-cover pullers done tonight. I took two of the old spark plugs and knocked out the ceramic center, then welded 1/2" threaded rod into them. I then made the "tightening handles" using 1" flat stock with a 1/2" nut welded on.
I plan to use a small, maybe 10" piece of 2/4 as the actual pressing piece.

Cost:
1/2" x 24" threaded rod $4.29
X2 1/2" nuts $0.45/ea
Old spark plugs $free
Total $5.19