96 850t burning or leaking coolant after head gasket

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 30 Oct 2013, 12:10

They only replaced the one valve, and ground all the others.

Took it out for a quick spin on some hills over here on Golden Lake Rd. The turbo spools up right quick and kicks in well, the engine is running very smooth, and idling well, and my average mpg on the trip computer is steadily climbing back up to the 20's. It's most definitely an exhaust leak from the manifold, but it's a headscratcher, because I'm pretty sure all the gasket stayed on there. Could the mani be warped?

The lifters really aren't making noise ...that's actually the exhaust leak. It's whupping like a motorcycle. If I stick my hand down under the exhaust mani while it's running, I can feel it pulsing, so I think it's a gasket, which would be a nightmare. Going to the mechanic to put it on a lift in 5 minutes, so I'll know more then.

Post by **abscate** » 30 Oct 2013, 15:17

That sounds like a leak at a flange (gasket) to me - a sound I got really familiar with working on air cooled VW...

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 30 Oct 2013, 15:20

Bad News:
Exhaust manifold gasket slipped down during install, and is not flush. Probably only about 1/2" off the mating the surface, but it's enough. It also happens that my bad luck is holding, and the slipped gasket is on cylinder #3, which is right where the turbo hooks up, and is the hardest one to get to. Sweet!

I've got the car up on ramps now, gonna take off the upper turbo hose, disconnect the air-cleaner hose, maybe unhook the oil cooler lines and see what I can see. I'm gonna try this the quick and dirty way...loosen all the manifold bolts, take out the bottom bolt on the offending gasket, and try and squeeze it back up into place, hopefully I don't need to disconnect anything else.

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 30 Oct 2013, 20:48

SO here goes...

Just completed the head gasket along with a valve job on my wagon. After much troubleshooting, seemingly everything is fine. Cue the gremlins...

The coolant is disappearing. The exhaust seems to be a little moist and white, but not opaque like you would expect from a blown head gasket.

Here's what I think it may be:
1. I used green brillo pads to clean the old gasket and gunk off the block for a clean mating surface, but didn't think that it would harm the aluminum. Am I wrong? Did I f%#K up?
2. I may have overtightened the bolts attaching the thermostat to the cylinder head.
3. Not sure what the bolt is called, but it looks like a drain plug, located on the head, on the same side as cylinder #5, under the torque mount steady bar - I may have overtightened that. Is that a coolant drain plug or something?
4. I used ARP Ultra Torque lube on the ends of the head bolts, and under the bolt heads, but only a little bit. Should I have coated the entire bolt? The guy at the machine shop told me to only use a little on the ends of the bolts.
5. If it's not any of those, I'm stumped...and really heartbroken. This job took me 2 weeks, because I have no place to work on the car back in Chicago, so last week I drove it 3 hours away to my mom's barn to work on it. Left it, came back, picked up the head, and over the past 3 days have been reassembling it. I REALLY don't want to do the head gasket again, and don't have the money for it either. I especially don't have the money to take it to a garage, and I depend on this car to get me to work and to provide me with my second income as an antique dealer. I'm praying to Odin that it's just a leak somewhere, and that I can find it. If not, I may shoot the car.

Post by **JDS60R** » 30 Oct 2013, 21:00

Hi Colin,

If we see no external leaks then it has to be internal. Please get a strong light and make sure you don't see any external leaks. We need to test for actual leaks before tearing anything apart.

1. Green pads on the block can be an issue but the internal steel cylinder liner that contacts the gasket is pretty forgiving .

2. ARP ultra torque is the right lube to use but did you use it on the threads or truly on the end of the head bolt . ( Holding threads up you put it on the top or end of bolt?) If so we may have an issue with them not being in the block enough ( lube can not get by head of bolt and does not allow it to be turned in enough)

Ok - testing.
1. Visual - take a look around everywhere when its running to see where its coming from.
2. Internal. Pull the plugs after the external leaks and drop the pistons to the bottom of travel and look in plug hole for a steam cleaned piston around the edges ( assuming you didn't clean them before putting the head back on)

Let us know what you find.
How much fluid are you losing ? 1 qt in 5 minutes?

Everybody gets knocked down - its getting up that makes us who we are.

Post by **JDS60R** » 30 Oct 2013, 21:02

Make a visual check of the bottom of the thermostat housing as it is weak and will fail if overtightened.

I will be in Northern Indiana for Thanksgiving but hopefully you will have it on the road in a few days.
I could easily get to Angola when visiting

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 30 Oct 2013, 21:19

Thanks for the input JD. It seems like I'm losing a significant amount of coolant very quickly... If it were a head gasket leak, that would correspond with a very opaque white, moist and sweet smelling exhaust right? That really isn't present. It's much lighter and doesn't smell like coolant.

I used the ARP on the bolt ends, covering about 1 inch of the threads all around, and also under the lip of the bolt head. I torqued the bolts in the proper 3 stage procedure. 15ftlb, 44ftlb and 130 degrees.

I have the car parked on a dry floor to see if it leaks overnight. Fingers crossed I come out to a puddle tomorrow.

Thanks for the help JD. Hoping I have the car on the road before then too.

Post by **JDS60R** » 30 Oct 2013, 21:26

I'm sure you will find it in the morning. On a huge internal leak you would see the white smoke but for some reason these Volvo 5 cylinders are great at burning/vaporizing coolant. I have done tons where the block/ gasket had leaks ( small) but no cloud at all.

I'm betting on the thermostat housing to head - that lower bolt is great at breaking the housing. Oddly enough last time one came in broke O'Rielly's had one in stock ( aftermarket) - wierd.

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 30 Oct 2013, 21:30

If it is the lower thermostat housing, would I be losing enough coolant in a 10-minute drive to make the coolant light go on?

Also noticed a hissing near the thermostat, and thought that I had cleared it up with a new thermostat gasket, and an upper expansion tank hose.

This car is going to be undriveable in this condition, which really sucks, and the replacement housing on FCP is $86. Is the MTC part any good?

Post by **erikv11** » 30 Oct 2013, 22:51

If you are talking about the thermostat housing ($86), I am pretty sure you could get one from somebody here for cheap. PM me if you wish, I have at least one in the garage. Not new, but totally intact.

Hopefully that's the problem, or one of the hoses. But draining the reservoir in 10 minutes is a LOT of coolant, you should be able to see where it is coming from if it is external.