yeah, something is wrong and that engine should be looked at.

I ran with the burnt valve for quite some time. I will not recommend your driving, but what do I know? I am no expert.







If things are too bad with the block once the head is off... Which I doubt, but your never know. read on.
if you can, a used replacement engine could be bought for not much money, might be a good way to go. Check out LKQ (nation wide used parts dealer from all the LKQ junkyards). Plus I got free shipping when I bought my engine.

Also, there are people that sell engine on turbobricks.com. ask around.
Shipping is not that hard, but will have to be freight.


Took about one weekend to swap the engine. I have had practice though...

 

Sure, running on 3 cylinders is no fun but if you have to you should be OK, not damaging anything.

Don't sweat the new engine, doubt you need one or even another head...

Worse case you need a valve job. Last time I did this I did it in one afternoon: took the head off, got a $12 valve from IPD, paid $20 to a machine shop to put the valve in, put the head back on, all good! And it was a Turbo... I am sure what you got is not a show car and all you want is to put it back on the road. You just need a torque wrench to tighten the head bolts. Easy!
(And never put a sealant on the water pump O ring like I see on one of those photos some one volunteered! Gawd, the things they do to these poor cars!)

 

Lev , I think the head needs that valve done. or all 8, The plug wire thing is bugging me big time. About a month ago I changed the Dist cap with a new one. The one I took off was a bosch and was not two worn. IS there any thing in a dist cap that would make the spark go wacky when all the plug wires are connected to spark plugs?

 

"Go wacky?" Gee, I don't think so. Then again, "wacky", is a relative thing.
Did it mess up your valve? No.

Don't speculate at this point. Get the head off, see what you got. You don't need 8 valves for sure. I mean if you want to rebuild the head to go another 200k and outlive the rest of the car, OK, but I doubt that's what you want... What are your plans for this car? Go from there to determine how much you want to invest. Cheapest way: replace the one valve (most likely the cause), make sure the head is not warped, put the head back on--all that is for less than $100 if you do the work yourself. But if you take the head to a machine shop and have them make it new, then things get pricier--you just have to decide what you need/want. The quick fix, replacing a valve, will be fine for a long time if all else is done right, i.e. head installation, etc.

 

I polled our car guys at work got a hint. I'm still buggered by the spark.

I stuck new plug wires. nothing. took out the plugs. when I ohmed the plugs the 4th plug had 130 but the other were infinte. I was Ya!. I had some old volvo plugs and replaced it. Car still ran worse with the 4th wire connected. whether with the injector on or unplugged Bummer

 

Victory.. Sort of... I had an old Bosch
distributor cap laying around. and traded it with the new one I installed a month ago. For some reason it ran a little better and the spark jumping between 3 and 4 isolated Better. Now when I jerked a plug wire off I could tell which cyl was working or not. Found a bad plug, stuck in an old worn plug in its place. Runs like a 20 year old worn out volvo should. Thanks for you help, I need to work on that low compression in 4 now. Sc

 

spark plugs

get 4 new correct NGK or factory plugs, a good set of Bougicord spark wires, put a large can of techron or seafoam in a half tank of gas, and do an Italian tuneup, running it in 3rd gear on the freeway a couple hours at high RPM til its empty, totally baking out any carbon buildup. get some fresh gas, and change the oil as soon as convenient.

It might just run better after that :-p or not :-/

note, I wouldn't do this if the transmission is suspect, or you know your cooling system and/or air hoses and/or seals are sub-optimal, it might encourage them to fail sooner.