Bought a super clean 94 non turbo 850 for $500. Had a bad head gasket. Drove it home stopping every other mile to let it cool. Drove fine, just ran hot. Cracked everything open, had coolant in the oil- Bad head gasket, right? Well, when I pulled the head, I see no visible signs of the gasket being blown between an oil and coolant jacket. Neither do I see any visible cracks in the head. Now, when pulling the top of the head off, I cracked the bottom when one of the cams stuck in the top and cracked the journal at the front of the motor, so it will need a new head anyway. Question is, if I can't find visible damage to head or gasket, does that leave me with a cracked block? It is alooominum after all. Or, could the gasket be bad without a visible sign of damage? #5 cylinder had all sorts of dried coolant on the spark plug threads. Maybe previous owner didn't torque the bolts correctly? One of the bolts was much looser than the others.

Any suggestions?


Any suggestions on where to find a good head as well?

Thanks.

 

Normally an engine cracks in the cylinder wall and you get coolant sucked into the cylinder and exhaust pumped into the coolant. On a non turbo it pretty much has to be the head gasket even if it isn't visually apparent where the failure occurred.

You might be better off just tracking down an engine. Just in case something is cracked in the block. You might want to price a salvage yard head + testing and machining + gaskets and compare that to a used engine.

 

Aluminum heads WARP. Did you put a straight edge on the mating surface. I'll bet its way out in left field. (been there)

 

Boxpin ! ! Come back

 

Slang, meaning warped bad

You cant just eyeball a head and think its ok. Doesnt work like that. Sometimes you can get lucky and see where the head gasket blew but when it goes and the engine gets really hot that head is going to become jello and bend. I have a warped head in my garage that I will show what it looks like Saturday on this thread.

 

Unfortunately, I screwed the head when taking the top section off. Cam stayed with the top and came out one end first, cracking the head. Stupid Volvo.

I'll be replacing it anyway so whatever.

 

The point is yes I read your post about cracking the head and you need one but the cost of a used head and the testing to make sure it isn't cracked and machine work to insure it's flat, valve job?? and the gasket set and head bolts (they're stretch so shouldn't be reused) compared to getting a used engine since there is still a small chance something is cracked in an unusual place in the block seems to be a reasonable alternative. Just offering options as it's not my money or my time so whatever.

 

Oh for sure it's an option. Who's to say a replacement motor won't blow a gasket within a short period of time anyway? From what I've seen, these things are prone to head gasket failure.

 

Regardless of your head being broken physically what I am saying is to have the head tested to see if its warped. I know you do not plan on using it again, its to know if you should be looking for a crack in the block or piece of mind that the head warped and blew a head gasket. Then chuck the head.

 

Good point, you're paying to have a junk head checked but at least you'd know how likely it was your problem and leave you less of a gamble using the block.