...back from the dead

**TenaciousC** · Tuesday 15th July 2008, 23:18

Hello!

I posted a sad story here a few weeks ago (now lost in the ether) regarding my old Volvo 850 and a compression loss problem on one cylinder. I was in two minds whether to scrap it fearing a piston ring had gone.

I couldn't let it go without doing a postmortem, so have managed to take head off and have good news..

. it was a burnt exhaust valve - so I should be able to fix it.

The bad news is that I managed to crack the cylinder head around the ends of one of the cams when I took it apart... so I'll need a new head.

Someone replied to me original thread who mentioned they had contacts in a scrap yard in Widnes (or Wigan). Can't remember who it was. Anyway it's an 850 2435cc 20V (B5254S) engine. If anyone knows a good Volvo scrap contact in or around Warrington please let me know.

Cheers

C

**Tomcat** · Tuesday 15th July 2008, 23:42

Glad it's not as bad as you thought, I think it was me who spoke to you last time, however the car I was thinking of has since gone. Try speaking to Salvo, I'm sure they'd be able to do you a head, and althought they're not local it shouldn't cost a lot to post it to you.

**readview** · Tuesday 15th July 2008, 23:49

Hi,we repair,sell+break volvo's and i'm pretty sure we have a 20v head on the shelf.We are not too far from warrington,about 40mins away in accrington.Pm me for the details/phone no.
Regards,Adam.

**TenaciousC** · Sunday 20th July 2008, 21:33

OK, I have a new cylidner head courtesy of Adam (thank you). Quick question about removing the valve-stem oil seals. They are deep seated, difficult to get at and tightly on. Does anyone have any tips on how to remove them?

Cheers! :-)

C

**nobananas** · Sunday 20th July 2008, 23:12

Glad your motor was a fairly cheap fix. I had compression down on one cylinder on mine, put a teaspoonful of oil down the offending bore and prayed it wouldn't make any difference. Unfortunately the compression came back up and pulling the head revealed completely knackered bores and a scrap engine ! You could try some very long needle nose pliers for the stem seals or ask a friendly engine machine reconditioners to pop ém out for you.

**Justin** · Monday 21st July 2008, 07:52

Originally Posted by readview

Hi,we repair,sell+break volvo's and i'm pretty sure we have a 20v head on the shelf.We are not too far from warrington,about 40mins away in accrington.Pm me for the details/phone no.
Regards,Adam.

Adam, can you tell us a bit more about what you do mate, what cars etc and what you keep in stock. No other reason but for your benefit as you can be added to the traders section and perhaps get some parts off your shelves

PM if needed.

Tenacious glad its not going to be too expensive to repair, keep us posted.

**TenaciousC** · Tuesday 22nd July 2008, 09:57

Aha! you can buy valve stem removal pliers.... http://www.uktools.com/product_info....oducts_id=5558 . There's a tool for every job!

C

**TenaciousC** · Tuesday 29th July 2008, 23:05

Finally getting around to putting the upper head back on.... having decarbonised and ground in the valves in the lower head.

Volvo want £30 ish for a liquid gasket seal set for the upper/lower mating surfaces. I wondered whether anyone has tried using standard silicone gasket for this job. I'm guessing that the volvo stuff is a bit different for good reasons. Failing that... can one obtain similiar liquid gasket from a motor factors? If so, what should I ask for?

Thanks in advance.!

C

**Jod T5** · Tuesday 29th July 2008, 23:09

Originally Posted by TenaciousC

I wondered whether anyone has tried using standard silicone gasket for this job.

No No No...the volvo stuff is what to use..silicone will block the oilways......
cheers
jod

**Tomcat** · Tuesday 29th July 2008, 23:44

I think for the sake of £30 I'd go with the proper stuff, the last thing you want is a wrecked engine for stuff costing so little.

**TenaciousC** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 14:53

Just put cylinder head back together..... rotating crankshaft (timing belt off) to line up marks.... then clunk. Crank Shaft stops, dead with hard resistance just before timing mark. (piston1 TDC) Tried the other way... same thing.

What could have happened? This was spinning round fine until now.

Could one of the valves in piston one got loose somehow? Is there some thing in the engine that could cause the crank shaft to lock at that point?

I am spitting feathers! Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers

C

**Jod T5** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 15:52

Originally Posted by TenaciousC

Just put cylinder head back together..... rotating crankshaft (timing belt off) to line up marks.... then clunk. Crank Shaft stops, dead with hard resistance just before timing mark. (piston1 TDC) Tried the other way... same thing.

What could have happened? This was spinning round fine until now.

Could one of the valves in piston one got loose somehow? Is there some thing in the engine that could cause the crank shaft to lock at that point?

I am spitting feathers! Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers

C

Not sure without being there, but i expect that if you have replaced the head with valves there will be a period of "interference" until the cams are timed to run in time with the pistons.....???/crank
Line everything up, replace the belt, then give the set up a twirl.....
Cheers
Jod

**TenaciousC** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 16:03

Cheers... for that... i suppose my main question is assuming that piston 1's inlet valves appear to be fully extended, would the prevent the piston from rising right up? If yes then mystery explained.

Cheers

C

**PNuT** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 16:09

erm.... you are turning the crank without a cambelt fitted?

if you are then at somepoint things will meet

**Jod T5** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 16:27

Originally Posted by TenaciousC

Cheers... for that... i suppose my main question is assuming that piston 1's inlet valves appear to be fully extended, would the prevent the piston from rising right up? If yes then mystery explained.

Cheers

C

Yes of course, at some stage.., as i said before put the belt on, alligning the two cams and crank and spin the crank....bu hand....
If you need alignment help refer to this post which shows the marker points....http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=46957
Cheers
Jod

**Alan M** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 18:28

Originally Posted by PNuT

erm.... you are turning the crank without a cambelt fitted?

if you are then at somepoint things will meet

As PNUT said. Don't try to rotate the cank by hand until the belts on

**TenaciousC** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 18:42

Cheers guys... it also helped when we put the correct cam shafts in the right places... God only knows how I managed get that wrong!

C

**TenaciousC** · Saturday 9th August 2008, 18:19

It's back together now...but a non starter.

Checked Timing - all looks good.

Compression looks good in all cylinders

Checked spark plug pulse using timing strobe - OK.

Issue looks fuel related. After attempting to start, plugs examined. No fuel on them. Fuel is in rail, as slackening the bolt which connects it to fuel line produces a leak.

So I'm assuming the injectors are not getting a pulse or some other injector related problem. Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers

C

**TenaciousC** · Saturday 9th August 2008, 20:45

It was the relay under the radiator cowl. (wasn't plugged in). Required for Fuel injection I read.

I am very pleased!

C

**TenaciousC** · Sunday 10th August 2008, 22:14

Everything seems to be running fine now..... one minor (or possibly major) worry, I have noticed "mayo" (white gunge) in the water. I am aware that this means oil has entered the cooling system.

However there may (please God!) be an innocent explanation for this. I used oil to test the piston ring seals (when the head was off) by pouring into the cylinder pots and moving the piston down and up. The up part obviously meant oil pouring back and into the water jacket (which in heinsight was a really foolish thing to do). Anyway damage done and now having run the engine till hot, have cooked up some nice white gunge.

Reassuringly there is NO trace of mayo on the oil dip stick.

I have flushed the cooling system a couple of times and ran the engine in between, and the amount of mayo in the water seems to be lessening. However it seems to be very adherent. Is there some additive which might help remove it? Is this stuff very harmful to the water pump?

Cheers

C