OH NO!!!

sntee · Post by **sntee** » 30 Sep 2006, 14:50

HELP!!

Decided to go mad and check my fluid levels today.

Wishing that I hadn't though. Instead of the usual bluey green coolant in my header tank, I've got horrible brown gunk!

I know that it probably means that my head gasket has blown, but I was hoping that someone out there could tell me otherwise. When this has happened on other cars I've owned, it usually goes that other way, i.e. water into the oil.

If it is the head gasket, can anyone tell me how difficult a job it is to change them on this car (1996 850 T5). Am I gonna get half way through it then find I need some special tool, only available at authorised Volvo dealerships.
And do I HAVE to get the head machined before I refit it?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 30 Sep 2006, 15:02

Did someone top off your fluids recently? If they mixed the orange coolant it could cause the color to turn brownish. Are you getting white smoke from your exhaust?

sntee · Post by **sntee** » 30 Sep 2006, 15:14

No, I haven't even taken the cap off the coolant tank for 12 months.

Anyway, the stuff that's collected under the cap now is like brown butter.... classic oil / water mix.

But, yes I am getting occasional white smoke (I posted about it a few days ago actually)

Post by **billofdurham** » 30 Sep 2006, 15:31

Certainly appears to be the head gasket.

It is a fairly straightforward operation, no special tools and no need to have the head machined. New bolts are a must when replacing the head.

Download the manual at the top of this forum, courtesy of MadeInJapan. It will help.

Bill.

mastertech · Post by **mastertech** » 04 Oct 2006, 12:24

Wait, before you do cyl head test your auto trany cooler, it is built in to the radiator. I've seen it before where bad cooler coil allows trany fluid to mix with coolant.

sntee · Post by **sntee** » 04 Oct 2006, 12:51

I did wonder about that myself. I'll check it out tomorrow, before I start fitting the new gasket and other bits that just arrived from GSF

One other thing that someone out there might be able to help me with....

My wonderful Haynes manual includes a "Tool Tip" showing how to make a Camshaft Locking Tool out of angle-iron and a couple of strips of flat steel bar.

Unfortunately, in true Haynes style, it neglects to tell you how thick the steel bar needs to be to fit snuggly into the slots in the cams.

Does anybody out there know this, or have they got one of these tools that they could measure? I could really do with finding out soon, so that I can get the material before I start taking my car apart and rendering myself immobile.

Sweet Wagon · Post by **Sweet Wagon** » 04 Oct 2006, 13:00

sntee wrote:My wonderful Haynes manual includes a "Tool Tip" showing how to make a Camshaft Locking Tool out of angle-iron and a couple of strips of flat steel bar.

Not sure if you are referring to this tool or not: http://ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.aspx?Cate ... RootID=629

sntee · Post by **sntee** » 04 Oct 2006, 13:10

Thanks for the quick reply, but the tool I'm talking about is for holding the cams in place during removal of the cylinder head.

The idea is that you attach the two steel plates to the angle iron. The angle iron bolts to the side of the upper head section and the steel plates locate into slots in the right-hand end of the cams. This stops the cams rotating and allows you to lift the head and the cams in one go (provided you have supported the other end with another one of Haynes' Home-made tools).

Sweet Wagon · Post by **Sweet Wagon** » 05 Oct 2006, 08:00

Sorry, don't know where to find that one. I'm no huge fan of opening up an engine (lack of experience), so I probably never paid attention to that section of my manual.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 05 Oct 2006, 19:39

Actually, this guy here sells the cam alignment/holding tool. Although a savings over what Volvo wants, still a bit expensive: https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/chat/p ... php?t=7875