1998 Volvo V70 - Head Gasket

bobsnow100 · Post by **bobsnow100** » 11 Dec 2006, 09:32

I would bet my money on a blown head gasket. You have ports in your cylinder head which allow oil to pass through and also water passages which allow coolant to flow. When it gets breached(blown head gasket) than you may get oil mixing with the antifreeze or the other way or both. If you continued driving you would of probably seen oil in the antifreeze also.
I have a 94 850 which I had to change the head gasket due to a bad water pump which caused valves to get bent. I saved a ton of money by doing it myself. I think someone said $2000 -$3000 is quoting a price when your head is bad and your rebuilding your cylinder head,not just for a head gasket replacement. I don't think a head gasket replacement should be more than $1500,probably less.
Once it's apart you should replace the timing belt,tensioner,water pump,serpentine belt,also clean or replace pvc system hoses and oil seperator under the intake manifold. I also put new valve seals on the valves.I also had to replace 10 valves. I did do the work myself so I can't begin to estimate what I saved. If you get a used engine than you could have the same problems shortly down the road.I like fixing the original motor idea.

Emmette · Post by **Emmette** » 13 Dec 2006, 11:30

Just went through the process of getting the head gasket replaced on my 850 Tutbo. $1967.63..ouch...The good news is that if they do the job right and replace the timing belt,plugs.wires,ect then you basicly have a rebuilt enging when its all said and done.

Post by **JRL** » 13 Dec 2006, 14:05

Emmette wrote:Just went through the process of getting the head gasket replaced on my 850 Tutbo. $1967.63..ouch...The good news is that if they do the job right and replace the timing belt,plugs.wires,ect then you basicly have a rebuilt enging when its all said and done.

How do you figure?
The entire BOTTOM end has still xxx amount of miles on it, the pistons, the rings, rod bearings, etc.

MarkMc · Post by **MarkMc** » 19 Sep 2008, 21:03

PJRiebold, Whatever happened with this?

volvosurfin · Post by **volvosurfin** » 17 Sep 2010, 17:53

Mahalo to all who contribute to this forum. I have done many a repair thanks to everyone's generous contributions.

I have a 98 v70 T5 wagon with 135,000 miles on it. Got it used from a friend for cheap. Love it. Great for surf boards and the performance, initially was smooth and enjoyable. Has not had any major problems in the past and I think, after my current tear down, had a timing belt, water pump and maybe cam/crank seals done at some point.

My problem is similar to that above. I recently had poor engine performance, stalling and changed out the PCV system with quick improvement in performance. Within a week I had a worsening of performance again and a decent sized, what I and a local mechanic thought was oil leak from within the timing belt case. The mechanic thought the leak was from the rear cam seal. No overheating, though AC was lack-luster and seemed to stick, i.e. have to turn A/C from max to hot a few times before moderately cold air kicked in.

As I needed a new drive belt as well, I began a complete tear down of this side of the engine. Prior to removing the water pump I noticed copious oil in the coolant as I drained the radiator. The reservoir had clear fluid, but with close inspection, some crud in the bottom. No visible water in the oil, no white smoke. Oil normal, no clumping, color change. Leak was only while car in motion.

Once in the timing case it was obvious that the leak was coolant, which had seemed like oil as it had oil in it, and it was definitely not from the rear cam, but appeared to be concentrated around the water pump. On removal of the pump, its gasket was oil tinted on inner and outer edge, perhaps a bit worn, but not appreciably damaged.

So, my current list of potential issues is: busted radiator(oil cooler), head gasket leak, turbo leak. I also saw a thread where someone had a similar problem due to clogged PCV, which mine was prior to my recent replacement. Could the oil in coolant be from prior to my PCV repair. I can't really think of how clogged PCV would cause the oil in the coolant.

I'm thinking complete the pump, timing, drive belt replacement, flush the radiator, change the oil and watch carefully with short drives. I'm going to check the oil pan for water and pull a few plugs today when I get home, then flush the coolant.

Anyone have any ideas as to cause or best way to proceed.

I hope I posted in the right spot. Newb here.

Much thanks,

ed7 · Post by **ed7** » 17 Sep 2010, 19:36

Aloha Cousin,
Not that great a thread, but it does open your eyes to the different things that can happen from just a bum head gasket.
Coolant under the timing cover most likely is from the weep hole of your water pump which you are replacing.
How a leaking gasket could show...
Coolant can be dumped into the crankcase.
Combustion gasses can pressurize the cooling system and dump coolant out through the reservoir cap.
Engine oil pressure can overcome cooling system pressure and dump oil into the coolant.
It is possible for coolant to dump into the combustion chamber, but not likely considering the pressures of each.
The oil cooler could fail and oil the coolant.
The ATF cooler in the Radiator could fail and dump coolant into the trans... check trans stick.
I'm not aware of turbo failures that have affected either way.
It sounds to me as if your head gasket leak has gone from bad to worse.

Copious amounts of oil while draining radiator but didn't show in the reservoir?
Lots of oil or just the sheen of oil?
Combustion gasses w/ oily residue can slime the reservior.
Warm the engine (or not) and pressure check cooling system @ 20psi and see if it holds for a while.
Pull the plugs and turn it over a few times to check for coolant leakage into the cylinders (mist coming out).
Keep pressure on the cooling system and start the car to see if the system pressure rises.
This should be noticable quite readily.
Just a few things to do to help narrow the field.
Let's not talk about the A/C just yet.
Start checkin' cuz and have fun,
ED7

volvosurfin · Post by **volvosurfin** » 18 Sep 2010, 18:48

Thanks ED7 for prompt reply. Much appreciated. You from round these parts?

As far as coolant, there was some sludge on the bottom but relatively clean fluid over it in the tank, I had thought the darker color on the bottom of the reservoir was age related color change....lesson learned. Also noticed radiator not mounted appropriately, missing some bolts allowing it to slide up/down an inch or two, maybe damaged?

Could the water pump have been the culprit of the oil in the coolant? Definitely large leak there, or cause oil spillover in radiator? Still hoping no head gasket issues, I need this car running ASAP, so as stoked as I would be about getting the repair, not the best timing for starting a month of 80-100hr work weeks.

So I pulled the plugs and checked the cylinders, no apparent coolant, plugs look good. Cleared out coolant, running clear. Can't quite figure out best way to pressure test the system. Got a loaner pressure tester that has adapters seemingly for radiator caps. As far as I know I do not have a radiator cap so assuming I must attach to reservoir where cap would be? Also thought about testing directly at intake hose at passenger side top side of radiator, adapting with large hose to fit. Is this ok? Or is there a standard way I should do this? Maybe an adapter designed for reservoir tank?

My thinking now is pressure test coolant, if normal start her up with new water pump and belts and look for stuttering, oil in fluid, smoke, etc... No driving, just brief start-up. I figure if none of those pan out, likely head gasket.

What do you think?

volvosurfin · Post by **volvosurfin** » 18 Sep 2010, 19:16

Forgot to check trans fluid...just did and it smells and looks like there may be oil in it....maybe it is the radiator?

volvosurfin · Post by **volvosurfin** » 18 Sep 2010, 20:23

Started a pressure test, reservoir case immediately started spewing water, its cracked. Could this have caused low coolant pressure thus allowing engine oil to spill over into the coolant? By the way, how would the pressure differential cause oil to overflow. Do they communicate? Or would that only happen if it was junk.

ed7 · Post by **ed7** » 18 Sep 2010, 20:42

Did you add pressure or did the engine pressurize the cooling system?
The Res cap is a 'radiator cap' and should relieve at 15psi.
The oil and coolant only come close together in the oil cooler. If that failed the oil would flow to the coolant because of the pressure differential.
ATF and engine oil get milky when mixed with coolant.
Dark stinky ATF needs to be changed.
The slime in the coolant tank is likely the result of combustion gasses getting to the cooling system by way of a head gasket leak.
A low pressure guage (o-30psi) teed into the system on the small diameter hose on top of the reservior will show how quickly the pressure builds when the engine is running. This will show how bad the gasket leak is.
ED7