All,

As you might know from reading my other post/thread, my son blew the head gasket on our 95 850 Turbo. After pulling the head and taking it into the machine shop here is what I know. The head is not cracked, and is flat at both end cylinders (1 and 5). But the machinist said it was warped badly enough that he could slide a #6 gauge between the flat plate and the head at cylinders 2, 3, and 4. Basically it is shaped like a frown. I'm assuming a # 6 gauge is .060 of n inch. Anyway, he told me he thought is was beyond repair, as since it is an overhead cam head, a head repair shop could not shave that much off it to make it flat as it would upset the timing by decreasing the distance between the cams and the crank too much. He said even heating it to 500 degrees and pressing it flat would probably not work and I should look for a different head. What does the collective expertise here think. Sound legit, or is he feeding me a line of bull.

Next, if I have to get another head (which I am starting to look for) will a head off of a non-turbo motor work on a turbo motor in a pinch? I have found several Non turbo heads, but very few turbo heads. Lastly, I have found a promising head off of a 2005 S60R. The mechanic I talked to assured me it would fit the 95 as Volvo did not change the 2.3L Turbo motor over the years.

So I guess I am asking for help in these areas. Is the head I have now repairable and if so so would it be worth it? Will a non-turbo head work on a Turbo motor? And will most (if not all) turbo heads from 94-?? fit the 95 block I have?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I really want to get started on getting this car back on the road soon.

Glenn

 

I would believe the shop.

I would doubt that any a head from a '05 S60R would fit a '95 T5. I have sent that question to my mechanic advisor. I have what I believe is a good head on a motor that I am having replaced. PM me if you want more info on it. It is being pulled from a '96 R with a bad cam bearing.

 

The head from the 05 will have CVVT...

 

I would believe the shop. After all they make money doing the work on the old head and they aren't the ones trying to sell you a new one.

The only differences I know of between the turbo and non-turbo heads would be the cams are different, the timing and the turbo engines use more expensive sodium filled exhaust valves to handle more heat. If you're not modifying the engine you should be able to get by without the more expensive turbo valves and the cams you likely wouldn't notice any seat of the pants difference. You could have the sodium valves in the bad head moved over to your new head if it's non-turbo.

If you do buy a head as new as the '05 make sure it's returnable if there's is a fitment problem. With '05 I think you're going to run into variable valve timing on the cams. Physically it might fit but the added complexity of the variable timing doesn't make it a good choice. I don't know if you'd be able to swap your present cams over. It is something I've seen over on Volvospeed where people building higher horsepower engines will use the newer heads as they have bigger intake ports. There are ways to run the VVT head without actually running the VVT system but you'd be better served talking to someone who has done it. Might want to read up on it first.

Does the mechanic doing the work think it will fit, that's the important answer.
The machine shop might know what interchanges too.

I was busy typing but see ES6T said it would be the variable valve timing so I'm thinking it's not a good choice.

Some reading on VVT:
https://www.google.com/search?q=volv...OKHYsAS73YGwBQ

 

All good info. Thank you for that. No matter what head I get, I would most likely swap my cams and lifters over from the old head to the new one. That said, I wonder if my old cams, lifters, and valves would fit and work in a non-turbo head? Looks like I might be in for a bit of a search.......

 

I was doing the research to see about using a better breathing head on my engine. In case you didn't know, a lot of turbo guys go with the non-turbo (NA) cams as an upgrade. So going with a NA head and keeping it's cams is simpler, easier and actually a small improvement. BUT, if you're just doing a stock engine it really won't be noticeable. It's one of those supporting modifications that makes a difference if you have done a bigger turbo, exhaust and intake. It helps flow more air.

So if you end up with a NA head (non-turbo) all you would really want to do is change over the exhaust valves, have a valve job done, surface the head and bolt her down

The lifters and valves should interchange it's just the VVT (variable valve timing) stuff that starts to get a bit tricky. If you use a VVT head you have to use the VVT cam. At least that's what I've come across so far. I might be wrong so if anyone knows differently this would be a great time to say so.

Some talk about locking it's position so it isn't variable since you don't have the electronics on an older engine to control them. Some say you can just install them and they'll run OK as is. I haven't read enough yet to have a good opinion on it yet for my own use much less try to sound like I know what I'm talking about to someone else . You might have better luck on VolvoSpeed with the question as they do more performance modification discussion over there.

The machine shop and or mechanic should be able to help guide you too unless they are weak on Volvos. In that case you either need to do some reading to make sure you understand what you are doing and or find someone better versed on Volvo who's going to be working on it.

Then , , , there's always us to try and help hold your hand

 

Here is a good read on the topic: What Cylinder Head To Use For Best Performance With 2.3L Block? - Performance Modifications - Volvospeed Forums

When you're done it should look like this.

 

It's little stuff like the following which is why you need someone who knows Volvo well. You wouldn't be able to use the early exhaust valves in an '05 unless they were able to put in new valve guides and they would work with the lifters. And I don't know if ....


"I know at least the 2000 v70r uses 7mm valve stems instead of the smaller 6mm on the early.
both are sodium filled to my knowledge."

 

Just keep it simple and get a head that fits.

 

It's starting to come back to me. The '05 also doesn't have the cap and rotor since it uses coil on plug. If you were to use the '05 head you'd have to modify the end of the cam. It would be a lot of work.

 

KissaFrog. Thanks for the great advice and response. I really appreciate the insight. GOD that motor you sent a picture of looks SWEET!!!. I could only wish. Well, here is what I am going to do. I am going to look at all my sources and try to find a turbo head and go that route as it will be the easiest. Next best option will be to fine a Non-Turbo head, swap the valves and go that route. I wonder, if I find a head without cams, would the turbo cams I have fit in the Non-turbo head. Thanks for the info on VVT. That definitely takes the 05 head out of the running. I COMPLETELY forgot about the coil on plug issue too.

I'm going to limit my search to a 94-97 head.

And the search continues!

 

I wish mine looked that good too
But there is hope for me as I picked up an engine for $50 with a blown head gasket and I have the time to dismantle, clean, inspect and rebuild at my leisure. Might be able to have a cool looking engine and detailed engine compartment some year

Yes your turbo cams should fit the NA (non-turbo) but unless you have a really good reason I'd go with the NA cams and just have the exhaust valves changed over. It's less work, cheaper, one less thing to cause a problem and the NA cams are better if you're going to mod the engine. If you're not going to mod the engine you won't notice a difference between the two.

Or . . . you can swap the cams and sell the NA cams here, craigslist ... as there are those of us there looking for them.

Or . . . you could just send them to me as a "thank you" for all the research

 

Might just have to send them your way if I get a set <grin>