How do this cylinder walls look?

850T5Ritalia · Post by **850T5Ritalia** » 04 Sep 2020, 11:02

Hi,

First a little context:

I bought myself a little project. Is a 2003 V70 2.4 engine:B5244S

Previous owner had top radiator hose blown off and told me it's using coolant by the liter. His garage took a quick look and said probably the head gasket blew.

I did a short diagnose and found low compression on all cylinders. Also it builds pressure in the coolant reservoir as soon as the car was started. Since the oil looked like chocolate milk I didn't want to run the car to much and started taking the head off.

What I found is best told in the pictures below. The oil contains a LOT of water as can be seen in the last picture. My question is mainly what do you guys think about those cylinder walls? Are those scars from coolant? I can lighly feel them with my nails when scratching the cylinder wall. Can those be cleaned out with some scoth-brite green or is this really bad? Before I get the head checked for cracks I would like to know if this engine is still worth it. Thanks

Post by **oragex** » 04 Sep 2020, 12:13

Could it be just coolant deposits ? Try with a steel wire sponge - the kitchen stuff kind, see if it goes away. But at this point, I would be more worried about worn rod bearings from coolant mixture. Was the oil pressure light on ?

Post by **volvolugnut** » 04 Sep 2020, 14:18

Most areas still show the honing marks behind the 'scars'. So the depth can't be much. How low was compression? Did you try to add oil to see if compression was low at the rings or valves? How do the valves look - any burnt valve edges?
maybe send an oil sample to see how much bearing metal is in the oil.
volvolugnut

850T5Ritalia · Post by **850T5Ritalia** » 04 Sep 2020, 15:14

oragex wrote: ↑04 Sep 2020, 12:13 Could it be just coolant deposits ? Try with a steel wire sponge - the kitchen stuff kind, see if it goes away. But at this point, I would be more worried about worn rod bearings from coolant mixture. Was the oil pressure light on ?

The light was not on. I will try the sponge idea! thanks.

volvolugnut wrote: ↑04 Sep 2020, 14:18 Most areas still show the honing marks behind the 'scars'. So the depth can't be much. How low was compression? Did you try to add oil to see if compression was low at the rings or valves? How do the valves look - any burnt valve edges?
maybe send an oil sample to see how much bearing metal is in the oil.
volvolugnut

Compression was meassured cold and found between 100-125PSI. It was more to determine where the head gasket could be leaking. I did not think about checking compression to see if the rings are in good shape since I was pretty sure the headgasket was blown and it would give me low numbers anyway. Valves look to be in good shape and no burnt edges.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 05 Sep 2020, 03:01

Looks like scale to me.

Theory:
Previous owner ran it with coolant in the oil for a short period of time. Coolant washed the oil off the cylinder walls and diminished the ring sealing. Coolant got past the rings vaporized and left the deposit you see.

Fact:
You can feel the edge of it with you finger. That tells us it is a deposit not scoring.

I would try to chemically decompose it with Acetone.

850T5Ritalia · Post by **850T5Ritalia** » 05 Sep 2020, 03:48

RickHaleParker wrote: ↑05 Sep 2020, 03:01 Looks like scale to me.

Theory:
Previous owner ran it with coolant in the oil for a short period of time. Coolant washed the oil off the cylinder walls and diminished the ring sealing. Coolant got past the rings vaporized and left the deposit you see.

Fact:
You can feel the edge of it with you finger. That tells us it is a deposit not scoring.

I would try to chemically decompose it with Acetone.

I will give acetone a try! thank you. I have already tried to clean it off with WD40 and kitchen sponge this morning. I can barely feel the edges now. But maybe acetone will do a better job.

Post by **abscate** » 06 Sep 2020, 05:23

If it ran with that chocolate milk I would worry more about the bottom end than the cylinder walls.

That’s ugly

850T5Ritalia · Post by **850T5Ritalia** » 06 Sep 2020, 05:32

abscate wrote: ↑06 Sep 2020, 05:23 If it ran with that chocolate milk I would worry more about the bottom end than the cylinder walls.

That’s ugly

It's a bit of a gamble. It ran for a short time according to previous owner. I started the car for a couple seconds myself before taking the head off. Im currently debating if its woth it to fix this engine. It can be done relatively cheap since I can source my parts for good prices. All I need is a couple gaskets and the costs of the machine shop checking the head. Im leaning to giving this engine a goog flush and just send it. Not sure yet tho.

Post by **abscate** » 06 Sep 2020, 05:36

You should be fine if it was short running. The bottom ends of these engines are really tough

850T5Ritalia · Post by **850T5Ritalia** » 06 Sep 2020, 09:16

abscate wrote: ↑06 Sep 2020, 05:36 You should be fine if it was short running. The bottom ends of these engines are really tough

I'll give this engine a chance. thanks