98 V70 glt headgasket

Post by **stephansvolvo** » 08 Mar 2018, 00:16

So we finally pulled the head off this car that’s been sitting for a while. Is the white crystally lookin stuff from the coolant when the HG gave up? Or what is it? What’s the best way to clean it up to prep for the new head?

Thanks you for your help.

Stephan

Post by **tryingbe** » 08 Mar 2018, 06:10

Aluminum corrosion.

It means the coolant change rarely happened on this block.

Post by **erikv11** » 08 Mar 2018, 08:40

Now that provides some motivation to keep changing the coolant regularly.

Post by **stephansvolvo** » 08 Mar 2018, 08:51

So is it toast or cleanable/repairable?

Post by **stephansvolvo** » 08 Mar 2018, 08:58

Not that it matters. I titled this as V70 this is actually an S70.
I picked it up a year and half ago knowing he HG had given up. I had to put the project on hold because I figured my wife was right about paying he mortgage first.

Post by **rspi** » 08 Mar 2018, 09:13

My guess would be that the PO put some "head gasket fix in a bottle" in it. I've pulled the head on many, many Volvo's that I doubt had coolant changes that had NONE of that stuff.

Post by **stephansvolvo** » 08 Mar 2018, 09:26

rspi wrote: ↑08 Mar 2018, 09:13 My guess would be that the PO put some "head gasket fix in a bottle" in it. I've pulled the head on many, many Volvo's that I doubt had coolant changes that had NONE of that stuff.

It definitely was not taken care of. The plug wires were literally melting in my hands. The plugs hadn’t been changed in who knows, probably never yet the timing belt was done in nov 2014.
Either way, Robert, is there a best way to clean this stuff up? I did the head on my v70 a few years ago and it didn’t look like this either, it was pretty well maintained. So this corrosion is new to me.

Post by **rspi** » 08 Mar 2018, 11:04

If the car was overheated until it shut down, all kinds of gunk in there, melted parts on it, I'd replace the engine, turbo and all.

Post by **erikv11** » 08 Mar 2018, 11:51

I would go for another engine, too.

Post by **scot850** » 08 Mar 2018, 12:51

Hate to say it but agree with the other guys on replacing the whole engine. If that is a stop leak type product it can get everywhere like the radiator, water pump, heater core and turbo pipes to name but a few places. The only way to not do that is to pull the whole motor, strip it down and have the engine acid cleaned to get the crap out. Initially I thought it might have been some cheapskate using tap water from a very hard water area in the coolant instead of de-ionised water, but looking at it I don't think that is it.

Good luck whatever you do.

Neil.