A sad day indeed.
 

So, I just got my 1996 volvo 850 turbo wagon running, after I replaced a valve, lapped all the valves and replaced all valve stem seals/full stage zero(timing belt, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, thermostat). Boy was she a strong runner, for the whole day it was running. I do admit to abusing it quite a bit. But what else would you expect from an 18 year old kid who just rebuilt his first volvo engine ? Now, i will note that the car had horrid previous owners, that took no care of the car(ran it low on oil and who knows what else). I know I ran it out of oil once, on the way home from buying it.....the guy did not put the oil filter on tight enough, and it blew the oil filter seal out. Luckily volvo's have low oil sensors. Anyways, to cut to the chase; My engine sounds like this one(note video is from another member on this forum).

DSC_8277.mp4 video by paintballfreak14 | Photobucket

Now i have to do all the things i just did to it... but also the bottom end. So what i am thinking is... since i am taking the engine apart all the way, Why not build it so that this wont happen again?. So i am going to put in forged pistons/rods, glt cams, R manifold, bigger turbo, bigger injectors/fuel pump. But then comes the fact of an automatic transmission, i know it cant take all that power, so i need to do a manual swap(Tons of fun weekends right?)and i have never took a transmission off an engine before, so that will be fun. So all in all i was pretty sad and depressed that i blew up my volvo. One of the cars that i truly love. I can say, for certain; i would rather have a volvo 850, than a corvette, mustang, sweet truck, or any other awesome car you can think of. I feel better now that i have gotten those things off my chest. If anyone has any tips or ideas to help me on my way, please feel free to throw them at me.

Thanks a bunch,
Predxen

Does it only make the knocking noise when you give it gas? Are you running 91+ octane? Sound like a knock to me.

Did you do a compression test?

The Knock is always there, as you can hear in the video its a light knock, but it gets a huge clunking noise at about 2k rpm that sounds like its closer up in the cam cover, but the knock at idle sounds like its in my block. I am running 93. I have not done a compression test yet. It happened last night and it was raining when i got home from work. if its not raining tomorrow night, then ill get the drop lights out and check compression.

How big a turbo and what tune ECM ?? How much horsepower do you think you'll be making ??

An automatic should be good for up to 300.

Modding your 2.3L FWD Turbo Volvo 850, 70-series [Archive] - Turbobricks Forums

a gt35, i dont know exactly which one yet. i will probably get Megasquirt III, if i can figure out how to set it up.

Unfortunately a video does not give direction as to where the knock is coming from. Are you sure its coming from the cam area? If so that is sure better than the bottom end. Let me run this by you. The oil path that runs through the valve cover is pretty small. Suppose when you put the sealant on there was an excess that plugged or partially plugged one of the oil feed lines that pressurize the hydraulic lifters for the valves, the lifter collapses. At low RPM there is not much noise but when you rev it the gap becomes larger and the cam lobe slaps the cup. Just a thought. You might want to invest in a mechanics stethoscope and see if you can pinpoint where the noise is coming from.

Right On Boxpin. I hear the same type of noise, what I sometimes call valve slap, which is a result of ... lifter clasped...improper value adjustment (mechanical lifters-not applicable here). So I like boxpin explanation of how this could have happened. That is where I would focus with use of good listening tool as he described.

Good luck. We all have learned from our mistakes, which makes us smarter for the next assignment.

I had that same idea, i think i used too much sealant, and i plugged up an oil passage, which is an easy fix. ill pull the cam cover this weekend and check the lifters. Thanks for all the help everyone, i really appreciate it. if i turns out to be a lifter, then i will just replace it, and buy a volvo s70 t5m to build, its less work. ill post up what it turns out to be when i get it done.

Would plugged oil passages cause blue smoke ? i had a lot of blue smoke coming out of my engine the whole day. I thought it was the turbo burning oil. But could plugged oil passages cause this ? i have new valve stem seals in, so i know its not that. And if a lifter is collapsed, will adding ATF to the oil clear the oil passages, and pump up the lifter, as rspi suggested in another post ? Or is the lifter Wasted and needing to be replaced ? also how will i know which lifter is broke ? It will be seperated from the cam if it is collapsed, Right?

Band-aid

I really think the first thing you need to do is purchase a mechanic stethoscope and find out where that noise is coming from.

Ok, ill pick one up and try and figure out where it is coming from this weekend. Having a full time job sucks, you have no time to do anything.

Well, what was wrong with the Volvo in the video? Has its owner figured anything out?

This is all a work in current progress.

I never posted that ATF will clear sealant from the cam cover passages, it will sometimes flush out a little oil gunk.

Agreed, it has cleared up some sticky valves for some. Me included but it wont break through a sealant.

Cam cover is off, only took me 4 hours instead of 1.5 days to do it the 2nd time. but i dont know what passages go to the lifters. Also i have no clue how to see if a lifter is bad. I have had a long day, i got home from work at 6:30, it was dark and 8 degrees Fahrenheit. i started at around 8, and am just getting done, at 12:30 am. Boy am i tired.

I think it's a little cold to be working out in the garage (unheated) today. It's sitting at 3 degrees right now.

i am looking at the lifters, yet i have no clue how to tell if they are bad or not. Also i was wondering if there is supposed to be a little notch, where the cam sits. its where the intake cam sits, on the opposite side of the cam sprockets, just inside from where the cam seals go, there is a notch about 3mm wide, and 12 mm long, where the cam sits, is this for the oil to drain back....or is it from no oil being there and the cam burning a hole through?

****Uh, did you pinpoint where the noise was coming from before you did this?****

-Well, now that you have the cover off. Pull the pucks out, flip them over and push on the center, it should move and feel spongy. If they are solid and dont move they should be replaced.
-Then, put some pressure on each valve and look for possible broken springs.
-Get an air compressor and blow out the channel that feeds each lifter, make sure they are clear.
-Look at the valve cover and you will see the channels that the oil travels, look for anything that might block the oil feed.

Umm... what if all of my lifters are so hard that it takes a c-clamp to even get them to go in a tiny bit? also before i took the cam cover off, i could hear the noise clearly from the number 5 cylinder on the intake lifters. there were a few clogged oil channels, but none that went into the lifters. i used a pipe cleaner on the oil feed for the lifters. i am starting to get a little scared, because it may be the bottom end. If it was the lifters making that noise, i would think i would clearly see the problem. also i pushed on my valve springs, and they seem fine. Also the compression was fine on all cylinders.