Login Register

1995 850 T5-R Engine "rumbling" and "gurgling"

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

Post Reply
User avatar
Seaweed
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 August 2024
Year and Model: 1995 850 T5-R
Location: Perth, Australia

1995 850 T5-R Engine "rumbling" and "gurgling"

Post by Seaweed »

Hi guys, first poster here.

Been digging and digging and digging and didn't find anything so I decided it was about time to post something myself.

My '95 T5-R is misbehaving (a lot). I'm getting some interesting sounds from the block and they're simply nothing I've ever heard before. It's a sort of rumbling and gurgling and I'm not quite sure what to rip out first. The noises seem to be coming from the lower end of the block, but it's hard to tell. I know I have a couple of gremlins in the engine, but it generally runs fine and idle is steady at about 900rpm. Engine feels and sounds healthy outside of this one weird noise. I'll be doing a compression test over the weekend at some point, and I'll have a video of the engine noises up here tomorrow, but it's a bit difficult to test the engine by itself since I also have a pretty major boost leak in my intake, so no hard revving.

Not exactly expecting much before I get some soundbites up, but if anyone knows anything then that would be lovely.

Cheers! :D

User avatar
Clemens
Posts: 1932
Joined: 3 September 2015
Year and Model: 96 855 R + 94 855 T5
Location: Austria
Has thanked: 473 times
Been thanked: 219 times

Post by Clemens »

no clue ... but I'm fascinated by the symptom itself. Hopefully we'll find out what it is with a soundfile...
Summer: 1996 855 R
Winter: 1994 855 T5M
Donor: 1995 854 10V

scot850
Posts: 14879
Joined: 5 April 2010
Year and Model: 2000 V70 R
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Has thanked: 1843 times
Been thanked: 1710 times

Post by scot850 »

Mostly blocked PCV tube blowing into the oil pan? Engine oil cooling thermostat failing (normally more of a whistle).

Neil.
2006 V70 2.5T AWD Polestar tune
2000 V70 R - still being an endless PITA
2006 XC70 - Our son now has this and still parked in our garage
2003 Toyota 4Runner V8 Limited
2015 Kia Sportage EX-L - Sold
1993 850 GLT -Sold
1998 V70 XC - Sold
1997 Volvo 850 SE NA - Went to niece in California - Sold
2000 V70 SE NA - Sold

User avatar
Seaweed
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 August 2024
Year and Model: 1995 850 T5-R
Location: Perth, Australia

Post by Seaweed »

Clemens wrote: 09 Aug 2024, 15:53 Hopefully we'll find out what it is with a soundfile...
Got a soundfile here, tried to get some different angles. Try not to mind the belt making some weird noises, it generally goes away after a couple of minutes of running (might be bad as well to be honest). I still have no clue at all as to how I'm supposed to identify this without ripping the entire block apart... :cry:


User avatar
misha
Posts: 5379
Joined: 7 December 2008
Year and Model: '97 850 2.5 20v
Location: Serbia
Has thanked: 152 times
Been thanked: 402 times

Post by misha »

Sounds like some bad pulley to me.
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon
History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS

User avatar
BlackBart
Posts: 6497
Joined: 10 December 2016
Year and Model: 2004 XC70 BlackBetty
Location: Over the far far mountains
Has thanked: 927 times
Been thanked: 884 times

Post by BlackBart »

Yeah. Water pump failing?

Maybe it has 10 quarts of oil in it and the crank is swimming….
ex-1984 245T wagon
1994 850T5 wagon
2004 XC70 wagon BlackBetty

User avatar
Seaweed
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 August 2024
Year and Model: 1995 850 T5-R
Location: Perth, Australia

Post by Seaweed »

BlackBart wrote: 11 Aug 2024, 09:12 Yeah. Water pump failing?
Ahh this is somewhere to start, I'll have a look at it tomorrow. Good excuse to find out why my belt tensioners are acting up too while I'm down there.

User avatar
BlackBart
Posts: 6497
Joined: 10 December 2016
Year and Model: 2004 XC70 BlackBetty
Location: Over the far far mountains
Has thanked: 927 times
Been thanked: 884 times

Post by BlackBart »

Cheap auto stethoscope, poke around and see if you can trace the noise (could be two different noises), but DON"T stick it into any moving parts!
ex-1984 245T wagon
1994 850T5 wagon
2004 XC70 wagon BlackBetty

User avatar
Seaweed
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 August 2024
Year and Model: 1995 850 T5-R
Location: Perth, Australia

Post by Seaweed »

Okay so after poking and prodding a bit around the lower part of the block, it seems to be a bad water pump that's making the weird noises. Belt was replaced about 8000km ago by someone else so I assume they either did something wrong then or they just didn't catch it/cared to fix it. Either way it's a bit of a messy job as far as I'm aware. Is it generally recommended to change the belt if it's been in contact with coolant or should it be fine since it's such a fresh belt?

User avatar
misha
Posts: 5379
Joined: 7 December 2008
Year and Model: '97 850 2.5 20v
Location: Serbia
Has thanked: 152 times
Been thanked: 402 times

Post by misha »

If it's not contaminated...leave it.
It's not hard job...but scraping the old gasket is a pain because of bad access.
Don't scrap it with a razor blade or metal scraper.
Use plastic scraper since you don't want to leave scars on mating surface.
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon
History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post