Ok I'll try to keep this short..
1995 850 Non- Turbo, head gasket went, bought used motor (90,000 miles).
Sent car and motor to local import car repairs shop. Excellent reviews of this shop they have been in business for 15+ years.
So they called after getting car and motor (that I heard run before I purchased), and asked about doing the t-belt which I agreed should be done.
They are telling me that they cannot get it to run, they have good spark, compression and fuel. I just got off the phone and they are waiting for a call from volvo, they say the the fuel and spark are out of sync.
What did they do wrong if anything?

 

A common problem when working on these engines and they will not start while getting spark and fuel is the cam position sensor. I am not a mechanic, but I read quite a bit on this board and know that is a common problem. Know I had to replace mine after doing the head gasket.

The fact that the fuel and spark are out of synch leads me to believe they have the timing off. If it's off by 180 degrees, you will not bend the valves but it will not start. Off by something other than 180 and you will know it by the sound and it will bend valves.

 

It may be something simple that was overlooked. Let's see what the mechanic says. If they screwed something up, count on them denying it though.

 

Well they have obviously overlooked something. Yes they have said they may have to start charging labor to find the issue.
They are in for a big surprise though. They say they are waiting for a return call from Volvo Tech support. i would have do the swap myself but I just did not have the time and I need the vehicle. At this point (2 weeks) I would have had it done.

 

What questions do they have for Volvo. Maybe you can search for some of those answers here, Sweedspeed or Turbobricks. Plenty of Volvo mechanics and engine guys on Turbobricks...

 

I realy dont know about that but all these answers are very important for me
i got learn from them thanks for this question and as well for answers.

 

What year block did you buy for it? Did they lock the cams when doing the t-belt? Do they have everything (sensors) plugged in? Did they try starting and it does nothing or does it try to turn over? Could be cam position sensor. If the rpm sensor on the side of the block is off as well, it will not turn over. Try to get some more information. Go to the shop and look at it for yourself.

 

shut up. you got gramar that are bad even for teh computer robot. DERP

 

Came out of a 95 850.
They say the car turns over fine won't start.
They have great compression, they have spark and they have fuel.
They said today that the ignition is firing on the wrong strokes..
So that tells me that they have the timing off..
They are extremely sure that the timing marks are right on...

 

timing is off 180 degrees then. if it was off anything else, youd have bent valves.

 

Huh???

 

Did they make sure the crank and cams were all in time before they put the motor in? crank at TDC and cams lobes on the driver side parallel and TDC as well?

Tell them to turn the crank by hand clockwise until the timing marks on the cam gears line up with the factory timing marks. Then tell them to make sure the crank is TDC at the same time. Then tell them to take off the CPS and the cap/rotor and make sure the cams look like this:



Obviously the rear cam is slightly off time but can be straightened. Those should be parallel to the block.

 

running a bit of retard on that exhaust cam, are ya?

I still think that they have the timing off by 180 degrees. that would explain why it's getting fuel and spark but no fire.

 

Yah, that's why I noted that it can be fine tuned once the cam cover is installed. Using all those Volvo specific tools is over rated when doing cam swaps and cam cover installs. lol. Straightened before timing belt was put on.

 

Well now the garage needs to know how many underhood computers the done car had. They are completely baffled. I'm considering getting the car sent someplace else. Also should I have to pay them? They have not done what they where hired to do?