2003 XC70 R&R Volvo in-line 5 Turbo Head, How I do it

[jpgurley]

R&R Volvo in-line 5 Turbo Head the easiest way

OK Guys, I have gotten lots of info from this website over time. It's time the old retired mechanic writes some tips of his own.

I recently posted a question about bent vales on a 02 XC70 and got 100 views and no replies. So I printed out the ALLDATA and went at it. But not the way they do it. I am certain that both Volvo Service Manual and ALLDATA tell you how to do it the hard way. To use their methods, you would want a a lift and lots more time than the way I go at it.

In a nutshell, I do ALL the work from the top and through the passenger side wheel-well.
I leave the Turbo and most of it's attachments in place and pull and replace the head with a cherry-picker and load leveler. There are a few different steps between the P1 engines and the P2, but it is doable on the newer ones as well.

Before some of you guys get skeptical about this procedure, I have done it on over a dozen 850's, 98 70 series and a few 960's. In many cases I have done it for less than $150 for everything needed and have had NO COMBACKS on any of them! One engine leaked at the turbo oil drain line, but that may have been there before the job.

One thing that I do (that I suspect few have the equipment to do) is to replace my own valves and cut the seats on ones with burnt or bent valves. But if you have to get a good head or a reasonable machine shop to do the actual head work, that would be an additional expense. So this narrative will be on how to R&R the head.

TOOLS NEEDED:
Floor jack, jack stands, cherry-picker, load leveler (to attach the cherry-picker the head) a full set of hand tools, and everything needed to do a timing belt job. A torque wrench and angle gauge.

FIRST STEPS:
Drain the coolant from the pet cock that is right behind the #1 cylinder. You may not be able to see it, but it takes a 13mm box end wrench and will drain the engine. I don't drain the radiator since those plastic plugs on the bottom the radiator are breakable plastic.
Jack up the car from the center of the front subframe and remove both wheels. (That will allow you to lower the car below ride height for easier access to some components,) Remove the 10mm plastic nut and bend back the cover by the front pulley (passenger wheel-well) If plastic is stiff heat it with a heat gun or hair dryer. Tie it back with a bungee or clap with a vice grip.

ON P2 REMOVE ENGINE SUPPORT AND STRUT TOWER BRACE
Get all the pieces off the head related to that brace/mount assembly.

REMOVE THE TIMING BELT
Just follow the steps found elsewhere on this website. Leave the timing gears on the cams and everything timed to the marks (I add paint to find them easier). Take off the timing belt idler pulley and take out the one bolt that holds the inner timing cover to the head.

TOP AND DRIVER'S SIDE
Pull the battery ( P1 cars only) air cleaner assembly and crossover pipe. Leave air cleaner to turbo plastic pipe in place. Take off the top engine cover, remove plug wires and distributor on early models, coils and ground wires on later. Lay them over in the air cleaner area. Remove the plugs if you have not done so already. Take off oil filler cap and disconnect breather hose on the top.
Everything attached to the head on the driver's side must come off. This does vary from one model to another and on some P1 engines there is a coolant plug that must also be removed. This includes the cam sensor and distributor if so equipped. On P2 there is a water hose from the heated flametrap line that must be disconnected from the pipe nearest to the driver side rear. I had to buy a new set of end-cutting pliers to get it off without damaging to the hose.

INTAKE AND RELATED PARTS
Take off the fuel line (different on P2) the injector wires, the, throttle assembly and vacuum hoses as needed, the injectors and lay them all over where the battery was. Take out ALL of the intake bolts and have magnet ready to catch them before they fall into the abyss. Take loose the dipstick tube and the invisible bolt that braces the intake from the bottom. Pull back the intake and gently remove the intake gasket. I usually reuse these but it's your call.

POWER STEERING AND THERMOSTAT HOUSING
In order to get the head out at the angle that is needed, you will have to take loose the power steering pump. It is about 7 bolts on P1 and only 3 on P2. On the P2, you must also take loose the thermostat housing, leave it on with the 850 type, the bottom bolt is impossible on the early ones and simple on the P2. (The heated flametrap hose on the later model can stay attached to the intake and just hang there.)


REMOVE THE UPPER HEAD AND CAMS
The procedure at this point is to unbolt the dozens of 10mm head (7mm thread) bolts in the reverse order of the torque sequence. Don't scar the surfaces but break loose the upper head cover and remove it. Pull the cams out and use a magnet to pull the lifters out. (Place the lifters in a can of fresh oil so they don't bleed out)


PULL LOOSE THE EXHAUST HEADER TURBO AND COOLANT LINE(S)
You can do some of this before you pull the top of the head, but with the cams gone the rear timing cover can be bent outward so you can see the coolant connector near #1 cylinder.
Remove the two heat deflector covers. One bolt is hidden behind the turbo output hose, so remove it. Take off all the exhaust nuts. IMPORTANT! It is best if ALL the studs come out with the nuts as is often the case. You can remove the head if some of them are still in the head, but it is better if you can remove all the studs. When all ten nuts and/or studs are out gently pry the exhaust and turbo assembly back away from the head just a little (½ inch or so).

REMOVING THE HEAD
Unbolt all the head bolts. I use a pull-bar and a 4 foot pipe to break them loose. Once removed, place the threaded end of the bolts in oil. (I DO reuse the head bolts and have never had one break except on a Volvo Diesel and that one came out with a left-handed drill bit.)

Attach the load leveler to the head near the four corners using the same bolts that hold the top of the head down. Attach the cherry-picker and gently lift till the head comes loose. Do not force it out of the hole yet. Allow the head to move slightly to the front of the car, pry loose the exhaust header (easy if all the 10 studs came out, harder if not).
Jack up the head bring it forward to clear the intake and thermostat housing and you are there.



PREPARING FOR ASSEMBLY
When you have fixed the head, or have one ready to install make certain to do the following:
Install all 10 of the exhaust studs, use a high temp silicone gasket sealer to hold the new exhaust header gaskets in place and silicone the new thermostat gasket and rear coolant connector gasket (at #1 cylinder).

MOUNTING THE HEAD
The real trick here is clean parts, head gasket in place and patience. You do not want to damage the head gasket as you maneuver the head in place! To do this without a cherry-picker and load leveler would be next to impossible.
You want to get the head just above the top of the block at an angle where the back of the head is lower than the front by about an inch. Using pry bars move the turbo/header assembly far enough back so the studs feed into the holes all the way across. Maneuver things gently and you will feel it slide into place.
Slowly lower the head till it falls into place. Sometimes a #2 Phillips screwdriver or similar tool placed through the head bolt holes will help with the alignment.

Of course, reassembly is in the reverse order with the following notes:
On the intake, place the gasket in its place and install at least two of the bottom bolts loosely.
I do the back of the engine before putting the cams and top together. Easier to see behind the timing cover.
When installing the upper head to the torqued down lower head, I just use a battery powered drill and lightly tighten them over and over till I do the final torque. (No need for the Volvo special tool for the job)

If the bench is empty of all bolts when you are done, fill it with coolant and start 'er up.
Let the coolant system heat and cool several times and top off reservoir to desired level.
I usually change the oil after the first time it gets warm so any trash/ coolant will come out with the hot oil.

I hope this helps you guys.
By the way, I am 62 years old and broke my back 5 years ago. I can do this and so can you.
Good luck.
JP Gurley

[3carmark]

only a couple of questions. my 2001 and 2002 v70xc's have mechanical cams and adjust with shims. (no soaking in oil) next mine both have vvt and one is spring loaded and the other is not i have the cam locking tool (it's not that expensive) how do you set the exhaust cam? and finally it cost me $18 for head bolts why wouldn't you replace them? there is a reason they are called "torque to yield"

[65stang]

Nice write up. Great detail. Thanks.

[Botbasher]

Hey guys.... before bringing the undead back to life, you might want to check the users Last Active time.

It appears JP has not been active since Nov 2015! You might not get an answer... or you might. If looking for info on long dead threads, I often PM the user to see if they are still around before dredging the bottom of the Abyss.

I agree with the great write up thought, but the attachments appear to have died and stayed dead... would be nice to see them too!

K "TWD" S

[jonesg]

Youtube has great videos for this.