Thanks Hudini, I am going to to grind some where the marks are. It just makes sense.

Anyone,
I bought the gasket set and it came with some parts I don't know what to do with. I don't remember seeing these when I took the engine apart. Any thoughts as to where these go?

 

A looks like the oil dipstick tube o-ring.

F looks like the oil cap seal.

The copper ones look like for the oil and coolant lines at the turbo.

 

A also looks like the turbo oil drain pipe o-ring. Where the tube enters the block.

E looks like the thermostat o-ring.

 

Thanks guys, for the other gaskets, it will be a matching game.

Later this week I will get the head back from the shop and find time to start putting this back together.

Photos will come with actions taken. I am sure to have many questions as I have many hose, tubes, and parts to connect back. I found a vacuum line diagram online which should help.

 

Pic B might be the o-ring for the fuel pressure regulator...

 

Oh, man, I have let this project drag out. Work it a little here, get something done there, and then just like that~! It falls off your radar. The project is in suspended animation. No ground gained, no obvious ground loss. It just exists.
Now that the holidays and merry-making is over; now that we have entered yet another hopeful year; hunkered down to a couple of hard winter blasts; saw the snow melt as fast as it came; and had many days of cold sleety weather; we can now see a glimpse of spring. It happened this Saturday morning. In my backyard I spotted tiny sprouts of green on the lawn. To early in the year so birds weren't singing yet, but I could smile at the sun and bask in the blue skies of 60 degree weather surprise. What fun could be had on such a nice day to get outside!
"John, wouldn't today be a beautiful day to finish working on the car?" was hurled at me from my wife's kitchen window. Like a red rubber dodgeball ball, the words knocked the daydream out of me. So with that my Saturday became dedicated to getting the car running.

Here is where I left off:
- Head removed diassembled, and cleaned white
- somewhat of a port and polish job
- valves removed, cleaned, hand lapped (drill assist), and re-installed
- machined flat
- cams cleaned real good
- turbo disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled
- catalytic converter cleaned with soap and water then paint thinner
- Then finally everything put back together and put on the car including the oil and other fluids (except the plastic engine covers, the wheel, and the ignition coil wires - which were too melted)

I pretty much had the job done in early December. Infact, all I had left to do was route and plug up the ignition coil / camshaft position sensor wire harness and I should be able to crank it up. I was even thinking to myself, "How good will it feel when I turn the key and prove to the whole world, 'I can change a head gasket ! I can even do it on a gravel driveway with no garage! I can do it !"

With all the confidence in the world I grabbed the craiglisted used wire harness and trotted out to the car. Between me and a fun sunny day was 15 minutes of work (hardly will get my hands dirty).

So I plugged the harness in and went to start it up. the battery was weak and it didn't turn over so I put a battery charger on and set it to 'jump' setting. This time I heard the fuel pump engage and starter was working. I could hear the engine turn but no ignition spark. I tried a few more times and then went to the passenger side and manually turned the engine with a big socket wrench. I wanted to see if it was stuck somehow. I turned the engine around once clockwise and half around counter clockwise. I also sprayed starting fluid in the air intake - filter housing not attached yet.
When I tried to start it again it sounded the same as before so I held the key for like 15 seconds then a loud POW and I let go. The POW was kinda like a backfire but it came out of the front of the car, not the tail pipe. It shot a mist of starting fluid from the air intake.
Not sure of what that was, I asked a neighbor to stop weedwacking his fence and start the car for me while I watched the engine. Before he started it I opened the oil cap to inspect. Same as when I started it, when the neighbor started it your could hear the fuel pump and the starter was turning the engine over but no combustion sound. The timing belt was slowly moving. Then another big POW and this time it also came out the oil fill hole. I stepped back and oil dripping like a class 3 leak and puddling under the car.

Upon inspection, the oil filter housing was half shoved out and mis-threaded. It appeared the first POW blew it out. I fixed the oil leak but stopped working on the car.

What I need now is help.

Why did it make such a POW? Did I put it together wrong? Was a cam not put in right?

Secondly, why won't it ignight? I am sure the wiring is right. The plugs are new. The coils are the original (could they have gone bad when my car over heated - all 4?)

Any insight? I can follow directions to change the head gasket, but can't troubleshoot this now that it has gone wrong.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would first pull all the plugs and remove the fuse from the fuel pump circuit under the hood. Now hand crank the engine over 2 or 3 times to make sure there is no binding. Clockwise rotation.

Next I would check the compression. This is to check if it's mechanically sound. You should see 150+ psi per cylinder. Harbor Freight sells a cheap compression tester kit. Put a few drops of oil into the cylinders before cranking the engine over. Make sure to hold the throttle plate wide open while cranking.

If it's low or no compression I would suspect the cam gears or cams out of synch. This would be bad.

If it's good compression then it's a matter of tracing down the fault. It could be as simple as you forgetting to hook up the cam sensor or crank sensor.

 

A few observations, some of which are redundant now....
Lapping the valves in a drill press is all but useless. Unless of course the drill press turns both ways? As with most precision jobs, lapping valves sucks. Taking shortcuts suck more though.
If I opened a motor and saw what you did, re the pistons, it would have come out. Period.
I commend you for the driveway HG job, but the rest is pretty shady.
You pulled the turbo apart and didnt renew the seals etc?
Only lapped half the valves correctly?
The "porting" you did on the turbo housing etc did get thoroughly cleaned up right? Nice and smooth now with no machine/grinding marks?
I am thinking you'll soon discover why good folks get good money for doing the jobs you listed.....
As far as your current issues...
The oil filter housing, or cap blew off? If the cap, it was put on wrong, simple as that. If the housing......ouch.
Did it turn over with no lubrication? If so another ouch.
If the "POW" is a backfire through the intake, it's normally ignition timing. Coils are 1 and 4, then 2 and 3, with the plug wires.
If the cam timing is off that far, say goodbye to the motor as a rule.
Sorry to be blunt, but there is a genuine reason folks like me either make tools (cam holding tool etc) with a plasma cutter and 200 amp welder, or buy the right stuff. I'm of the school of do it right or dont do it.
I do commend you giving it a go though, I'm too old to be doing that stuff outside of a heated/cooled shop myself lol.
Check the plug wiring, and if it isnt that, check the cm timing.
I made a thread not too long ago about doing the cam timing and the tool I made while waiting for the right tool.

Martin

 

Thanks Houdini for your comment and past helpful comments. I will do the compression check and see how that works. Prior to starting the engine I did manually turn the engine several revolutions to see if there was binding or if a valve would touch a piston. It felt pretty normal to me - like it was prior to me even opening it up.

Thanks, too, LeftLaneTruckin. I don't mind blunt. I will check the coil order with my fingers crossed. Also I will search down your post on cam timing. Just to let you know I did use the cam alignment tool (bought a kit with different associated volvo tools - and will happily sell it when this job is complete) but I was wondering if I could have put a cam in at 180 degree spin of what it should be - that is why I hand cranked it to hear/feel if the valves touched.
I knew people would shake their heads when I said I used a drill to lap the valves. This may not satisfy everyone, but I didn't put the valve stem straight into the drill chuck. I used a very flexible 3 inch tube to connect the valve stem to a drill bit in the chuck and spun it both ways slowly. The tube made it so I wasn't wearing down one side of the hole's edge.

Thanks guys. I will post back in a few days. Hopefully I am armed with what I need.

 

You shouldn't be able to put the cam holder tool on the cams if they are 180* out. The cut in each cam is off center so that the tool would end up being too low for the center part to reach the top of the cam cover. I've not tried it though so who knows for certain?

The compression test will show pretty quick if you got it wrong.

 

back when I was your age, we used to pull cylinder heads and had to remember where all the parts went - anything extra went into a drawer or on a shelf. Now people can take pics on their phones and post questions to a forum... Gotta go now - my wife says time to clean the shelf. Got stuff to put on eBay - ya think there's a market for parts like a 6V generator to a 1967 BMW or an AC condenser for an 84 Audi Quattro? - even got a rear bumper skin for a Volvo 850 wagon (new). good luck with the project sir!

 

When building a motor, the timing is "normally" number 1 TDC, on the compression stroke. Meaning both valves closed when No 1 is at TDC. Lock the timing in at that and move forward. Not looked at the Volvo on that, but that is the general rule.
Check the plug leads, hopefully that is it!

 

I just checked the ignition coils and i had them in wrong - Thanks LeftLane. Over the weekend I will get the mentioned compression guage and check each cylinder. I bet I have to re-adjust my timing belt regardless.
MT6127 - I am always surprised by what sells on eBay. There seems to always be someone looking for whatever is out there.
Thanks. I will report back.

 

OK - I have new information and am perplexed.
I loosened the wire mess on the transmission side, exposed the ends of the cams, and saw that the line up marks on cam ends were slightly off. I pulled off the timing belt (and serpentine so I could only feel the engine) and attached the cam alignment tool - which made me twist the intake cam some. When I manually turned the engine over instead of turning a free 360', it stopped like it hit an object. I removed the cam tool, adjusted the cam, and when I manually cranked, it would go 360'+. I realigned the cam, attached the tool, and when I cranked, it wouldn't go 180' . I tried several things like spinning the cam 180' and trying it, spinning 360', spinning 2 full rotations. Each time I hand cranked it, it would get stopped. The only way to crank it fully is to mis-align the cam some.
I am at a stopping point.
Any help would be appreciated. Is there a thread that may help? My quick search didn't find one.
thanks in advance.

 

Oh, I do realize that when cranking, the reason it gets stuck is that the piston head is pushing on a valve. It seems that there are re-alignment procedures for other cars out there, though I haven't found one for this 2000 V40.
Thanks -

 

OKAY - I think I got it - though please correct me.
I was thinking that if the cams were lines up I could crank the engine freely and the pistons wouldn't ever touch the valves.

What I really need to do is NOT worry about rotating the crank freely, but instead focus on making sure the cams are aligned using the tool and that the crank gear mark is lined up with the tick mark on the oil pump housing. Am I correct?

What about TDC? When the cams are straight and the crank belt gear is on mark, then it is not at TDC. Infact, when I crank clockwise to get to TDC I then feel the interference of the piston and valve. Is that expected?

 

I think I am right and will put the belts back on. I'll check back here before I try to start the car.

Here is a post that gave me the Ah-Ha about TDC and timing marks:

http://matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37158
Re: Camshaft timing
Postby richkel » Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:23 pm

Thanks for the reply mrj. I've read so many messages, links, etc. I'm about dizzy. Here's what I think I've learned; With the slots in the "back" of the cams parallel to the head surface, (the exhaust slot offset low, the intake slot offset high) and the crank up against the tool inserted near the starter OR the crankshaft marks aligned properly, the timing belt tight, and the cam gear bolts tightened, everything should be in alignment. Right? (BTW mine doesn't have VVT)

Now, one more thing to confirm; the alignment I described above is NOT TDC. Right?

Rich

Re: Camshaft timing
Postby erikv11 » Fri Mar 11, 2011 3:10 am
Absolutely correct. With the crank mark lined up, number one is either just before or just after TDC, I don't remember which. This is so you can rotate the cams if/as necessary, and the valves will not hit a piston like they would if it was at TDC.

 

There are timing marks, so just use them.
In a new build situation, you'd install the crank, rods/pistons, torque everything down, then lock the crank in place with the tool or one you made. At this point, the crank should be lined up with the timing mark on the bottom end.
The cams are offset slightly, so will only lock in, in the correct position.
If it's timed correctly the valves will never touch a piston. Were you turning the engine over via the crank bolt, while the cams were locked/not connected with the belt? If so, a big no no. Only time you turn the engine over like that is without the head(s) installed.
Everything installed, and turning over by hand, remove the plugs to ease hand turning. Otherwise the trapped air will attempt to compress, and it will give LOTS of resistance.
Did you try it with the plugs in the right order, or just move onto other stuff?

Martin