I have a 96 850 wagon high pressure turbo (non-R) volvo. it has about 116k.
I had just replaced the head gasket (getting oil in the coolant and vice versa), the job went ok.
and I was driving into town when a small coolant hose burst and emptied all the coolant (the coolant light came on), I stopped and filled the reservoir back up, the light came on only shortly before I got the auto parts store (at that point I was out of coolant). I fixed the hose and filled the car with coolant, but within 5 minutes of leaving I it started blowing white smoke and shortly after died in the middle of the intersection. I assumed it was the head gasket. towed it home and replaced it... again...

I wasn't sure if the head was warped so when I had the it off, I sighted it and it looked really flat, it didn't seem no warp-age, nothing... so I put it all back together. (new head bold every time torqued to specs 14lb-ft, 44lb-ft, then 130 degrees)

now, within 1-3 minutes of start it up after it was all back together, it started blowing white smoke... that sounds like a head gasket...
Should I have milled the head before I put it back on? I wasn't sure if their was enough valve clearance.

Should I look into buying a new head? or should I scrap the car? I'm a little skeptical of taking that head apart again because some of the exhaust manifold bolts needed to be replaced and I'm not sure how much more screwing in and out that head is going to take.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

The head should have been shaved to be safe. Also are you loosing coolant or do you see if mixing with the oil again?

 

I do see oil in the coolant. but it's odd because it blows less and less white smoke, the more I drive it (I only drove it about 15-20 minutes.

I'm thinking about trying the blue devil stuff. Do you think that'd be a good idea?

any application tips/suggestions/warnings?

 

Myself I would not use it.

 

Any chance what you're seeing is residual left over from before your head gasket repair? If you were blowing coolant out the exhaust before, it likely saturated the cat converter and rest of exhaust system. You will need to run at operating temperature a good long time before it's all burned off.

Are you loosing/using coolant now? Have you pressure tested the cooling system? This will tell you if your head gasket (or head) is still leaking.

I also agree with Tech regarding additives; they seldom work and will gunk up your engine.