98 volvo v70 valve job?

wuttheheeck · Post by **wuttheheeck** » 21 Apr 2015, 12:12

hey all, Just pulled the head from my wagon. I was expecting to see an obvious blow head gasket since there is coolant in the oil. I am wondering if just leaked around gasket.

Since I already have 1/2 the engine out of the car, the cylinders look in good condition. Would you recommend getting a valve job and removing the residue left on the valve heads. As seen in the photos.

Post by **erikv11** » 21 Apr 2015, 13:02

If you are keeping the car for a while: I would, and I would also get the valve stem seals replaced with seals bought from Volvo (otherwise leave the old ones in there, most of the aftermarket ones will go bad in short time).

Head gasket breaches can be tough to see. Hopefully it was not just condensation on the dipstick though!

Post by **JDS60R** » 21 Apr 2015, 13:22

Did you check the oil cooler in the radiator?

You need to post pictures of all of the cylinders and the full head so posters can look for the steam cleaning effect and give good feedback .

draser · Post by **draser** » 21 Apr 2015, 13:59

On the valve job: if you don't see obvious ridge in the seat no reason to resurface. If they pass visual just close each set at a time, put plug back in and torque and fill combustion chamber with paint thinner to check for leaks, and soften deposits. Stem seals always a good idea.

wuttheheeck · Post by **wuttheheeck** » 21 Apr 2015, 15:36

Here are some more photos of it. I haven't been having any smoke. Not sure a valve job is necessary, I just already have the head off.

Thanks guys!

Post by **JDS60R** » 21 Apr 2015, 16:02

Small amount of steam cleaning in cylinder 4 . very little though. Do you have an engine oil cooler in your radiator?

Have the head serviced. You can place the head on its back and fill the combustion chamber with gas and see if it flows through.

In my shop if the head is off and the car has over 100K miles it is going to have valves , guides, and seals checked and replaced as needed. I have all of the heads skim cut as the modern gaskets require a pretty good Ra ( smoothness) to the surface for the gaskets to work correctly. Remember not to use abrasives to clean the block. And never use the copper spray a gasket on any head gasket other than a metal shim with no sealing compound. I have repaired quite a few as the spray a gasket sticks the sealing compound to the block/head and then rips it off as the assembly heats up. Victor Reinz had it happen so often they wrote a paper about it. Permatex has even re-labled the can telling folks not to use it on anything other than a metal shim type gasket.

Post by **rspi** » 21 Apr 2015, 19:53

draser wrote:On the valve job: if you don't see obvious ridge in the seat no reason to resurface. If they pass visual just close each set at a time, put plug back in and torque and fill combustion chamber with paint thinner to check for leaks, and soften deposits. Stem seals always a good idea.

HUH?

Did the car overheat? Was it misfiring? Was he head ever pulled before?

wuttheheeck · Post by **wuttheheeck** » 21 Apr 2015, 23:44

The coolant was leaking a lot. Loosing a gallon over 35miles. Coolant smells like oil and the oil looks like chocolate milk. I thought it was having compression issues from the head gasket and from coolant/oil mixing. The last day it was running I saw water coming out from the back side of the block, near the exhaust manifold.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 22 Apr 2015, 00:11

The leak by the manifold is likely the coolant line at the turbo. That line is a fairly high failure rate item and now is the time to change it, when everything is out of the way.

...Lee