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P80 head gasket job , shop advice

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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abscate
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P80 head gasket job , shop advice

Post by abscate »

Have a NA1998 head in for cleaning and decking

Shop guy tells me often Volvo heads warp on top and bottom at which point cams will nit sit right and lube. I don’t remember hearing this hear except once, cams that wouldn’t rotate right after a head job.

Can you guys share knowledge here please?
Empty Nester
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erikv11
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Post by erikv11 »

Wrong shop.
'95 854 T-5R, Motronic 4.4, 185k
'98 V70, T5 tune-injectors-turbo, LPT engine, 304k, daily driver
'06 S60 R, 197k
'07 XC70, black, 205k
'07 XC70, willow green, 212k
'99 Camry V6 :shock: 153k
gone: '96 NA 850 210k, '98 NA V70 182k, '98 S70 NA 225k, '96 855 NA 169k

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RickHaleParker
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Post by RickHaleParker »

Sounds like the shop is saying the Cam journals are out of alignment too.

The head would need straight as well as resurfaced. Straightening a cylinder head constant of bolting the head to a heavy metal plate and baking it in an oven until it straights out, then resurfacing it. Not all shop have the equipment to straight a head nowadays. It is more economical to get a straight used head and the matching Cam cover, then rebuild it.

Here a used Double Cam Cylinder Head is $75.00. A shop can easy exceed that in labor.
⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙
1998 C70, B5234T3, 16T, AW50-42, Bosch Motronic 4.4, Special Edition package.
2003 S40, B4204T3, 14T twin scroll AW55-50/51SN, Siemens EMS 2000.
2004 S60R, B8444S TF80 AWD. Yamaha V8 conversion
2005 XC90 T6 Executive, B6294T, 4T65 AWD, Bosch Motronic 7.0.

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erikv11
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Post by erikv11 »

The shop is saying this happens a lot, not that they diagnosed this head that way, isn't that the case? Or did they actually tell you they detected it here?

Of course there is no point trying to fix a badly warped P80 NA head.

Anyway, to me it sounds like the shop is talking nonsense.
'95 854 T-5R, Motronic 4.4, 185k
'98 V70, T5 tune-injectors-turbo, LPT engine, 304k, daily driver
'06 S60 R, 197k
'07 XC70, black, 205k
'07 XC70, willow green, 212k
'99 Camry V6 :shock: 153k
gone: '96 NA 850 210k, '98 NA V70 182k, '98 S70 NA 225k, '96 855 NA 169k

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abscate
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Post by abscate »

erikv11 wrote: 19 Feb 2020, 01:25 The shop is saying this happens a lot, not that they diagnosed this head that way, isn't that the case? Or did they actually tell you they detected it here?

Of course there is no point trying to fix a badly warped P80 NA head.

Anyway, to me it sounds like the shop is talking nonsense.
Just cleaning and checking flatness right now, he was politely warning me that it could be warped top and bottom.


These guys know their stuff and might just be reporting based on a recent case they had.

I was expecting , and still hope, that we just need to skim the bottom and then be all set.
Empty Nester
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1999-V70-T5M56 2005-V70-M56 1999-S70 VW T4 XC90-in-Red
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abscate
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Post by abscate »

Closing loop. Head was badly warped by 0.018 out of flat

Toast
Empty Nester
A Captain in a Sea of Estrogen
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