'96 850 turbo, replacing head gasket, anything else while heads off? Topic is solved

Cook.p.michael · Post by **Cook.p.michael** » 12 Feb 2017, 07:12

Sorry I don't know what to put for trim, I'm in USA, its a 1996 850 turbo sedan 2.3 L 20 valve B5324T engine with about 200k miles, Odometer stopped working recently. Bought the car at 170k miles from a guy I realized later lied about a few things. Engine was overheating due to radiator fan not operating so when in idle (Traffic) it would overheat, i'd pull over and wait to cool off then add water or radiator fluid. One day it overheated and shut off with a bit of dark (rubber smelling?) smoke from the hood and wouldn't start anymore. Did a compression test a number of months back when i first started the project, going from left to right (passenger side to driver side) the compression was about 80 60 60 40 60 or something similar, i apologize it was a while back. Leading up to this everyone suggested that the head gasket was bad so after the compression test I started (for my first time) pulling apart the head, now its off, I pulled apart and cleaned up the valves, which the intake were pitted a bit, the worst were the intake valves for the lowest compression cylinders. I've been running low grade fuel in my turbo engine and read an article on here about that causing pitting. I cant afford to have them ground so i lapped them and none of the pitting matched where they lapped. Had the head resurfaced, a few more experience guys have looked at the head gasket and it didn't look like the issue. Now the valves and keepers are back in the head, put in new valve stem seals and i'm about to start reassembly and wanted to know if anyone had any cheap things i should also replace while the heads apart? I want to finish soon so I can move to Indiana for a job that's lined up(after a few paychecks I'll do a proper valve job). I'm going to put in new spark plugs, my wires look ok, one broke and i found a replacement at a junk yard. Also the previous owner cut a small vacuum(?) line that comes out of the intake manifold and i have no idea where its meant to go. There's a sensor hanging from the bottom of the engine as well, I'll try to get a picture of that tomorrow. I have a Hayes manual so that helps but really this is beyond my experience(changed a MAF sensor once, spark plugs and fuel filters), i have great mechanical sense so i'm learning fast and fearless to try anything relatively quick that anyone suggest. My goal is to be done and have it running (if it starts when im done) by the 19th. Thanks!

Post by **tryingbe** » 12 Feb 2017, 10:14

Use only anaerobic sealant and NOT RTV.

Post by **rspi** » 12 Feb 2017, 14:38

You can't tell that a head gasket is bad by looking at it. I hope you are going to install a new head gasket along with new bolts.

If the engine was over heated multiple times and you had low compression, I would swap out the entire engine. Most of the time you get good compression even with a bad head gasket with these cars.

Post by **erikv11** » 12 Feb 2017, 15:00

rspi wrote:... Most of the time you get good compression even with a bad head gasket with these cars.

I wouldn't have guessed this, interesting tidbit from the master. Good to know.

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 12 Feb 2017, 19:19

Did you happen to do a leak-down test before tearing it apart? This would give you a decent estimation of the piston rings.

Cook.p.michael · Post by **Cook.p.michael** » 12 Feb 2017, 19:27

Anerobic is what came with the head gasket kit, and I did not do a leak down test.

Cook.p.michael · Post by **Cook.p.michael** » 12 Feb 2017, 19:30

Also I just remembered 2 things, there was a bit of water or rad fluid in the oil. I took the hoses off the radiator because i thought i needed it off to have room, some clean oil from a hose that had a metal connection connecting to the bottom of the radaitor leaked out some clean oil, i think that hose leads to the turbo, when i replace the oil afterwards, will it fill that as well or do i have to add oil somewhere else?

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 12 Feb 2017, 19:37

They sell a synthetic lube for new turbo installations. I'd suggest adding that lube direct to the turbo feed plus pre-filling the oil line to the turbo. The worst thing possible for a turbo is to run it dry - well, other than perhaps allowing rocks down the intake...

Cook.p.michael · Post by **Cook.p.michael** » 12 Feb 2017, 20:28

Rocks down the intake? Am i missing a good story here? Where do i add the turbo lube?

Post by **erikv11** » 12 Feb 2017, 20:37

Actually the turbo will not spool up when the car is only idling. So just install the turbo (i.e. put it all together) and fill the crankcase with the proper amount of oil. Then if you want to be careful (never a bad idea!) you can crank the engine without the fuel pump fuse installed, so that the oil pump distributes oil everywhere before you start it up. But literally hundreds of people have just swapped in a new turbo and started it up, with no pre-filling of oil anywhere and no problems.

The line into the side of the radiator is an oil cooler line, it circulates with the oil in the sump (the oil pan). Again just hook it up, the oil pump will refill the oil cooler in the radiator. Keep an eye on the oil level, it may drop once you have filled the oil cooler. Make sure you get the metal clip back on in the correct orientation, or it will leak.