As per my 20 year old, care about nothing son says, while driving the car it started a clicking noise and shut down. He drifted to a stop and the car was overheating. I've replaced the water pump, thermostat, drive belts, timing belt, distributor cap and button. The car turns over but won't start. I have spark and fuel. What next?

 

Did you make sure the head gasket is ok?

 

So in other words are you suggesting that I replace it. What am I looking for, oil?

 

I guess I should ask how do you check it without pulling the head?

 

After overheating, you have to make sure the HG is not blown. Take a compression test, besides checking for coolant in the oil, etc.

 

I do not have a means or knowledge of conducting a compression test. Could I simple lift the head, change the gasket and torgue to specs?

 

The oil appears to be normal. I am assuming that if it had mixed with the coolant it would have a milky appearance

 

If you don't have the knowledge to perform a compression test, I don't think it would be a simple procedure to perform a head gasket swap. Was the valve timing ok before you replaced the timing belt?

 

check the timing belt, do so by taking the oil fill cap off and having somebody turn the engine over and seeing if the cam moves

 

The timing belt was loose so we decided to change it. It was not broken or worn.

 

i had spark and fuel when my timing belt went and coudlnt figure out what was wrong for the life of me, but it turned out to be the timing belt

 

to the best of my limited knowledge, the timing belt was replaced properly. We did not have a tentioner so we reused the original. Everything was aligned as per the marks. What is needed to do the compression test? I'm not the smartest guy in the world but I do believe that my can do attitude and empty wallet can figure it out.

 

After further observation, I do notice oil around the head gasket area. I normally keep a clean engine so this does not look good. I'm borrowing a compression tester tomorrow. Can someone tell what the psi reading should be and how to properly conduct the test?

 

Timing belt was loose?

Sounds like it may have jumped timing and pounded the valves to oblivion, that would explain the ticking noise, assuming this is an interference style engine.

 

So if the valves were damaged would I not hear something out of the norm when trying to start the car? We did suspect the belt to have slip or jumped. That being said I thought that there was a device in place to disengage thus causing the car to shut down preventing further damage. Am I just wishful thinking here?

 

When the timing belt slips or breaks, the pistons continue to move, but the valves are opening at the wrong times, or in the case of a broken belt, some remain open all the time.

Pistons come up, knock the heads off the valves, valves fall down onto the pistons and all hel breaks loose.

Pull the plugs out, move the wires AWAY from the holes..have someone crank the engine, you should feel air moving rapidly out all 4 plug holes, a compression gauge will tell the tale.

 

also it's probably cranking a little easier, or with less resistance. May be able to put your hand over the exhaust pipe while crnaking as well, may not feel much air movement, but you should.

 

your engine is a Non-Interference engine meaning YOUR VALVES ARE FINE because the piston could never possibly come in contact with them. Again, i would reccomend checking to see if the timing belt is broken, its super easy to check and can save you a lot of time figuring out whats wrong

 

Go to www.stepbystepvolvo.com for free guide to diagnosing 740 no-starts (that's a B230 engine).

 

To those who responded, THANKS. Long story long, While conducting a engine compression test, noticed that the number 2 spark plug was full of antifreeze. Replaced the head and all is well. There is a fair amount of exhaust smoke that appears to be fading. I learned a lot during this evolution but one thing that I'd like to share is that we found out that the fuel pump relay could be installed backwards causes a NO fuel indication. On to the next problem. What could be the cause of my left front rotor to warping all the time? About every 6 months.