hey guys l really need your help.l am planning on changing my exhaust valves because mine knocks all the time.l got a quote from a volvo guy and he wants to charge me 650 to change the valves.its something l think l can work on myself when l get the chance to.l want to know whats the torque specs when l try to put back the head after installing my valves to prevent leaks.with your help l think l can do this.also is there any DIY for changing the valves?thank you

 

Do you have bent valves?
Why change them?

Are you sure the tapping isnt lifter chatter?
Could be a bad lifter, or not enough oil pressure to keep one of the lifters pumped up..

 

What Matty said: could be bad o rings in the sump. I'd hate to see you do a complete teardown of the head and come to find out that your problem was 5 bucks worth of o rings...

 

I'm pretty sure he either already did the sump or tried to do it. His lifter has been ticking since he got the car nearly a year ago.

Man, you have to pull the head to replace a valve, not just take the top off the head. It's a full head job. Not something you should really do yourself. If you pull the head, it's best to send it to a head shop so they can check it out and let you know what it needs. They only charge like $40 to check it out. If it needs work, they will tell you what it needs and you can decide from there what gets done and what you can try to do yourself.

 

Yeah but I dont understand why he would need to replace the valves... If they arent bent or burnt or cracked..

The ticking is most likely a bad lifter, $18 each IIRC and you only need to pull the Valve cover to replace them, It can also be a clogged oil passage to the lifter...

 

The torque value to the cover is on the DIY head gasket job thread that Tracy built.

 

thanks guys for your input.l dont know if it is a bent valve or it is a lifter noise.l did the oil sump and everything seemed fine. the rings where still in good shape.l figured its the valves because the tick sound comes from the back of the block. are the lifters hard to replace?if l do replace a lifter do l have to replace all of them? l am really worried about the knocking sound.l dont know if it will hurt the engine or not. here is a video of it on youtube.thanks
volvo 850 noisy lifter and harsh bang on reverse - YouTube

 

You went from ticking to knocking. I really think it's lifter noise. If you had a bent or bad valve you'd have missing and or preformance problems. Also bad valves usually get worse as time goes on pretty quick.

If lifters can be changed by just removing the top of the head, I'd say go for it. Not sure if you would need a valve compression spring tool or not but it may only take you 5 or 6 hours to get that done in one day.

 

it was actually knocking.its been like that and hasnt been worst since day one.but l read the comments people made on my video saying its normal for it to knock like that and wouldnt hurt the engine.

 

Sounds like a tick to me. Have you heard a smooth running motor? All motors make noise, that's how you know they are running. Other than that, ticking and knocking is NOT normal.

The thing about having a bad lifter or something, it will likely lead to another problem sooner or later. Like a bad valve, cracked or burnt.

 

thanks RSPI.is there any DIY on how to replace the lifters?

 

I know there is one for doing a head gasket but have not heard of anyone doing the lifters. Call your most local head rebuild shop and ask them how much they charge to do lifters if you send the head in. You may call iPd and ask them if they have a video for the job.

 

l know this guy who works on volvos.he is a mechanic.l got a quote from him and he said he will charge me $600 to change all the lifters, gaskets,and all the seals.does it seem to be a fair price?

 

Allright. Take it for what its worth, but I'm gonna toss my .02 in here. Who exactly is this mechanic? Because, if it's reputable, @ $650 you should just jump on it. Unless you just want to do it to say you did. Let me explain why. You are going to find that the price of parts is going to add up quicker than you think. @ least if it's done properly. If it's just going to be done barnyard style, then thats a whole other animal. And even if you do it that way, You'll still be looking @ a couple hundred in parts, and machine shop costs. I just did mine (Because if a bad exhaust valve) about 5-6 months ago and my costs for the DIY still came in @ about 400-450. The job itself is real easy. Just time consuming due mostly to cleaning. (And I have the legit tools, so I didn't have to take the extra time to make them) Now if it is a bad lifter, thats something different. That can be done without removing the head. And in parts and material would only run you about $30 bucks. (Assuming you are just changing out one lifter. There are 20 of them. Now I have to ask, do you have a CEL? If not, I would be hesitant to think it's a valve. A damaged valve should cause your car to miss on that cylinder, and more than likely would throw a code for that cylinder. Outside of a compression test, you might want to think about trying to take a peek through the intake. May or may not do you any good in regard to the exhaust valves, unless you have a snake camera. (they're pretty cheap now days) but it should give you a lot of insight as to the intake valves. Anyway, I'll go back and read through the thread again. And if I can offer anymore insight I will post. Otherwise, you can shoot me a PM and I'll give you my #, and will be more than happy to answer any questions you have.

 

I wouldn't say it's a smoking deal. But depending on where you live, could be on par with an average local mechanic. If you are handy you could DIY just the lifters for $150-$200

 

Head doesn't have to be removed to do the lifters.

 

Iddddddd

 

thanks ovlov l really appreciate your help.your comment really does make alot of sense.l will see into doing the lifters myself with the help of my personal mechanic.thank you.l will keep yall updated

 

Wait wait wait.... the lifters are above the valves... once you take the VC off, pull the cams out, if you take a magnet they will lift right out.

$600 is kinda high in my book for a lifter job. If your replacing all 20 lifters your only looking at $120 in parts..

Then $33 for the volvo OEM sealer.. No gaskets.

Might as well replace the cam seals while your there $4 ea so $20.

Total you looking at $200 in parts if your replacing ALL the lifters..

Unless this guy is charging you $200 an hour plus parts i dont see the $600..

I just completed this same job on a friends S70, took me 2 hours from removal to start up.. If he is a volvo mechanic he should be as fast or faster than me.

But if your replacing just 1 or 2 lifters parts price drops below $100

 

Where do you live?

If your close to miami, buy the parts and Ill do it for free..
Or if you can wait until the 12th or 13th

I will do a write up on doing this job, Im driving up to orlando on the 8th to do this same job plus more to a friends car