2001 V70 2.4T Oil pooling in the wells around ignition coils, Permatex 51813 cam sealer Topic is solved

[precopster]

I use that same sealer 51813 is the part number. I've resealed at least 6 or 7 upper halves on whiteblocks. Never had a leak using it.

[prwood]

I use that same sealer 51813 is the part number. I've resealed at least 6 or 7 upper halves on whiteblocks. Never had a leak using it.

Do you know if the sealer will cure at any ambient temperature? I'm going to be doing this at some point in the next week or two and the air temp could be as low as 28F. I emailed Permatex to ask this as well, but just in case they don't get back to me...

[prwood]

I use that same sealer 51813 is the part number. I've resealed at least 6 or 7 upper halves on whiteblocks. Never had a leak using it.

Do you know if the sealer will cure at any ambient temperature? I'm going to be doing this at some point in the next week or two and the air temp could be as low as 28F. I emailed Permatex to ask this as well, but just in case they don't get back to me...

Nevermind, just got the response back from Permatex. It's fine to apply at these temps but you need to allow 48 hours to cure instead of 24.

[abscate]

I almost responded that you can count on Permatex to respond - and they beat me to it.

Well done.

[precopster]

That's a useful piece of info. Thanks for sharing about the curing time.

[prwood]

Regarding applying the gasket maker... the instructions I've seen say to use a roller to apply it to the cam cover. They point to some specialized Volvo part number, but I'm assuming something like this would work just as well?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/FoamPRO-3-i ... /205037135

[prwood]

You'll need anaerobic sealer to re-assemble. Torque on the 42 bolts is 17Nm.

Do you need a special tool to pull the top and bottom half of the head back together? I'm seeing photos of a wing-nut style press installed at cylinders 1 and 5.

[precopster]

That tool with wing nuts is for re-assembly to apply the two halves evenly. I recently bought a kit containing that tool for the cam hold tool within that kit. The tool kit is inexpensive but I've heard that quality varies with the aftermarket ones. Mine seems OK for about $65

I usually set a portable power drill with an adapter for 1/4" sockets to lightest torque then screw down all the bolts while going back and forth in a criss cross pattern. This method avoids stripping out the threads on the head. The aforementioned tool uses two of the spark plug threads to do the same job.

Always clean the threads on the head and on the bolts and apply a light oil prior to torquing it down.

[prwood]

Alright, I pulled the cam cover off yesterday without too much trouble, and removed the camshafts. Since this is my first time looking inside this part of the engine, I took some photos of the parts involved and I was hoping that folks here could comment on their condition and if there are any visible issues.

The only other thing I have done is a quick surface wipe with shop towels - next up would be a complete cleaning to prepare for installation of a new liquid gasket, installation of new spark plug tube seals, and reassembly.

Aside from wanting to hear any comments on the photos, I did have a few observations/questions of my own:

1. I was under the impression that there would be visible residue from the chemical gasket after separating the cam cover from the cylinder head. Is that correct? If so, am I just not seeing it in these photos?

2. I thought that oil was supposed to drain back down to the oil pan when the engine has stopped, so I was surprised to see oil pooled up around the camshafts. Is this normal?

3. The sections of the camshafts between the lobes looks almost charred. Is this normal?

4. The area around cylinder number 5 is extremely black and cruddy. I am assuming this has something to do with the oil leak originating from around there?

Thanks for any comments or advice you have!

Camshafts in the cylinder head, just after cam cover was removed.

Close-up of cylinder 1 area

Close-up of cylinder 2 area

Close-up of cylinder 3 area

Close-up of cylinder 4 area

Close-up of cylinder 5 area

Camshafts removed from cylinder head

Underside of cam cover

[precopster]

Great pics!! I see you got some cam holding tools. Do you also have the wing nut pressure tools?

The residue from the old chemical gasket are the dark orange lines you see; the anaerobic sealer dries to a very thin film.

Other than the obvious crud and carbon (quite a lot of it there indicating multiple missed oil changes and/or use of mineral engine oil throughout its life) which must be cleaned off with a chemical stripper and use of scrapers nothing is really out of the ordinary there. Most people prefer to use a plastic scraper to avoid damaging the surfaces. I'm not so patient and will use a steel blade very carefully on a very obtuse angle.

If you use a chemical gasket stripper you can use water pressure to clean off the upper half of the valve cover. Of course you'll need to dry it off quickly to avoid corrosion. Compressed air comes in handy here or a hair dryer.
With the lower half you'll need to be more careful of course. Whatever you knock down into the oil ports will mix with your clean oil so I would flush a couple of litres of cheap oil into the oil filler then drain that out. Some pipe cleaners would help knock that carbon down the oil ports. Don't worry about that crud blocking the oil filter as these oil ports lead straight down into the crankcase below the pistons.

I might even be tempted to pour some petrol down the oil filler and also into the head near the valve springs so it will help get all that crud out of the drain plug. Then use cheap oil to push the crud down to the crankcase. Just wait about 30 minutes for the petrol (or other solvent) to evaporate before refilling with good synthetic oil.

Of course you'll want to make certain that the 42 bolt holes are perfectly clean. Also Trial hand screwing in a M7 bolt into each of the 42 holes is essential to ensure they're not blocked or contain liquid. Also thoroughly clean and lightly oil each of the bolts with WD40 or similar before torquing them down.

The anaerobic sealer goes on as a really thin film. A small paint roller works well. Don't be too liberal with it as it may block the intricate oil ports in the head and starve the cams of oil.