1990 Volvo 740 turbo wagon 150k

I was driving down the freeway and noticed white smoke. I looked at my dash and my temp gauge was all the way in the red. I did not want to stop because I was in a bad location and trying to get to work. I probably went about 4 miles and the car turned off.
I turned on the heat and it blew cold.

I had it towed home and checked the fluid when I got there. I was about a quart low on oil. And the antifreeze was I think close to being empty although I had checked it just a couple days before.

I have not noticed where the coolant is leaking from. I was thinking it might be from the water pump but am concerned that it is an internal leak.

I checked the oil filler cap and don’t notice any milk shake. There is no milkshake on the dip stick either.

My question is this, is there a way to get a positive confirmation if it is a head gasket. I have heard that you can do a compression test and if you have two cylinders with low compression it is a head gasket.

If it is a gasket I am thinking about doing the head myself and taking it in to be machined. It seems pretty straight forward and I have done the timing belt so am familiar with that process.

My next question, if I have coolant in the oil (say I drain all oil from plug looking for coolant) is there a chance that I have ruined the block?

At this point the car will not start. I need a new battery and think I probably blew a fuse when the car got too hot. If you car overheats what fuse would most likely blow? Or would it be one of the relays?

I know that is a lot of info, thanks for looking. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

 

I had a hole on my cyl block...my heads had a giant hole!!!!!!!!you might have melted something

good news and bad news...cyl gasket is fairly cheap...around 38 bucks. changing it will take you around 3 hours having all the tools and taking the steps one after another.

six nuts from intake manifold a couple of hoses and it is off

thermostat

exhaust six nuts...the bolts may come off...

timing belt...kind of easy

YES, EMPY THE REMAINING COOLANT...

you get the pic

YOU WILL NEED A TORQUE WRENCH TO TORQUE THE HEAD BOLTS TO ABOUT 47LBS...double check though.

you can leak coolant from the pump since you have to pry the dam thing up when you install it or the oring between the cyl block and pump wears out.

 

At this point you have a "no start". Why? Probably due to no compression. Is it cranking over? I assume it is. I'd take a compression test. Chances are the head gasket is gone--that white smoke was the coolant being vaporized. The cooling system failed. Why? Have you ruined the block? Probably not. Blocks get ruined under these circumstances if there is too much coolant in the oil which ruins the bearings (while engine is running), which doesn't sound like your scenario.

 

I know that part of the no start is because the battery is dead. I am going to put a battery in and then see what happens. At this point the motor is not turning over. I think I will drain the engine oil too just to see if there is a bunch of coolant there. After I get charged battery and if it turns over I will compression test it.

I think I am going to do the head if I can get a confirmation that that is the problem. I spent a lot on the car and it has a lot of good parts. For instance, it is a turbo, has a new nissen rad, and toyo tires. And an alarm system and roof rack. She is my baby.

I think the biggest difficulty on the head job will be removing manifold nuts if they are rusted. And doing the tappets. The camshaft looks pretty straight forward. As far as I can tell it just bolts down (to spec of course). Maybe I will remove the head and have a shop rebuilt it with new tappets, valves, and camshaft. Then I will just do the reassembly.

 

You MIGHT have been lucky and still have a running engine, but I seriously doubt it. Even if it does run satisfactorily well, you will need to do work to is sooner than later.
Volvo redblocks typically fail between cylinders, so a compression test will tell it all.
Next time, shut the car down as soon as possible. It's teh difference between maybe some more coolant and fix the leak and junking a cylinder head.

Regards, Andrew.

 

Does anyone know what the compression should be on the B230FT? My Haynes says 9 to 11 bars. I used google and came up with 130 to 160 PSI. That sounds about right to me.

Does anyone know if there is a fuse or relay that is likely to pop if there is an overheat?

 

No fuse or relay will pop. Sounds like you overheated it quite badly.

Regards, Andrew.

 

I put a new battery in it and it turns over now but will not fire up.

I think the best route might be to pay a shop to diagnose the issue. And if they say head -- pull it myself and have it machined.

What should I have a shop do -- leak down and compression test? Or do I just let them at it?

Anything else to think of.

Yes I am thinking I blew it pretty bad because what I have heard is that it will run if it is a head gasket.

 

It's good that's turning over and not seized. I'd start with a compression test, and go from there--head gasket replacement is a pretty good bet and it should be OK after as long as nothing melted. I'd check the head for warpage as well.

 

I pulled the plugs and ran some tests. I have coolant on all four cylinders. The plugs had coolant dripping on the part that is in the cylinder. I compression tested and only one of the four cylinders had normal compression. At this point I can be confident that I have a blown head gasket and possible warped head, correct?

I am going to look into doing the head job now.

 

Gasket, definitely! Warped head? May be, but not necessarily. Take it off and see...

 

Do you guys think I should drain the motor oil, and coolant from the block and radiator.

I am concerned that the leaking coolant is going to cause harm (i.e., corrosion).

I can't start the job for two weeks -- anything to do to help keep the motor lubricated?

I plan on using the OEM head gasket and replace the water pump and thermostat. I just did the timing belt and tensioner about 10k miles ago.

 

Drain the fluids ASAP!

 

When I drained the oil from the pan I had a lot of coolant in it.

I started the process of removing the head. My plan now is to check the condition of the head and the block by using a straight edge. And taking it to a machine shop and having them pressure test it.

Hopefully the head will be in good shape. I think if it is in good shape I can be reasonably assured that the block is okay since aluminum warps a lot faster than cast iron.

However, I read that if you have coolant in the crankcase your lower end is shot. Isn't the lower end the same as were the oil drains from? Because I definitely had a lot of coolant when I drained the oil. The motor does turn over though. But compression in all but one cylinder is around 60 or 70psi.

Can anyone that has done the job give me advise on the turbo? Do I need to remove it or can I just loosen the manifold nuts and tie it off?

 

Depends how long the coolant was in the block and if the engine ran with coolant mixed with oil. Damage occurs to the bearings. Compression is low due to the head gasket, but check the valves anyway and do a valve job if necessary. If the turbo is out of the way you don't need to remove it.

 

Agree that the bottom end will be a "depends" situation. As Ted said, the coolant can attack some bearing materials and basically dissolve them.
I had a Jaguar XK engine that blew a head gasket and was perfectly fine even though it ran for a bit with some coolant in the oil. If you leave teh oil in there for MONTHS or keep running the car, then you will have problems.
Even if your head is not warped, send it out and get it skimmed. Ask for "as little removed as you can to get a smooth surface".
It provides a much better surface for the gasket to bite into, and with aluminium head/iron block engines, the gasket almost always fails on the head side, due to the much greater expansion and contraction of the head.
If the head has gotten really hot and is warped a lot, ask the machine shop to check the cam bores for alignment before you go any further. If it's out a lot, the head is junk.
Whilst the head is off, replace the water pump if it's old. It is sooo much easier with the head off, and water pumps are cheap.

Regards, Andrew.

 

Its game over for your engine, sorry to say. Even if you didn't crack the block, which it doesn't sound like you did. You ran the engine long enough for the temperature to get so high that the motor could no longer effciently run, hence why it started to consume oil. Which mean you probably scored the cylinder walls pretty good if not cracked the piston, piston landings, or broke rings. And of course there is going to be fluid in the oil pan if it is filling all 4 pots. Which probably comes from the fact that the head gasket has probably burnt between the cylinders and the one spot on the head gasket where it originally failed was from the water jacket to the cylinder bore. Also thats why you would only get decent compression on one cylinder, which i'm surprised you would even get it on one.

If your block isn't done, which it probably is, do not reuse the head. You can buy an undamaged 530 head all day long on some sites for $50, heck I have 3 of them sitting in my garage right now. Pull the intake, and exhaust manifold, which isn't as simple as 6 bolts, its actually 8, plus the three on the bottom that anchor to brackets, and the piping, and the electrical connections on the intake side... Actually, just yank the motor. Even if the cylinder walls appear fine that lower end will not be long for this world.

 

Does anyone have the R & R instructions for the head job? They would be much appreciated.

I have sprayed PB blaster on the exhaust bolts and have loosened probably 6 of the 8. A couple are a little tricky to get to but I will figure it out. It does not seem like once I get those nuts off the exhaust is going to move much. I guess I will just wait and see.

Thanks for all the responses. I guess what I am going to do is get the head off and have a machine shop pressure test it and tell me what type of condition it is in. And I think that will give me insight into the rest of motor.

I realize that there are no guarantees... I am just going to do the best I can with and try to keep my cost low.

I have never done a head let alone pulled a motor. My big project was the t belt. And I have done some other work on American cars.

 

It's a completely different animal than a Gen I Small Block Chevy aint it....

 

complete different turkey.