Okay I'll try to keep it brief and to the point. Unfortunately this is my gf's car and I wasn't in it when it happened.

She was driving on freeway. All of a sudden with no abnormal noise or anything else abnormal, car starts slowing down. When she steps on gas toms go up but car doesn't accelerate (still slowing down). Pulls over and when she stops all light on odometer panel come in then at dies.

This is where it gets hazy. She said she tried turning it on, but doesn't know if it was actually on. It just rolled back cause she was on a slope. Tow truck came and tried and she said there was a loud harsh sound. Unfortunately she isn't describing it very we'll.
also said car smelled smokey

I looked at it tho morning and noticed something scary. No oil! There was quite a bit of oil on the skid plate so I'm hoping it sprung a leak rather than her driving the car with no oil. I tried to pinpoint the source just by looking and it looks like it came above the oil pan. But not too much higher.

Anyways, looking for suggestions in where to start first in this mess

2006 volvo s40 2.5l no turbo

Thanks

 

There are a couple of variations of this engine that have a problem with oil consumption mainly engine code 39. So I see those engines all of the time come in 5-6 quarts low. But if there is a good amount of oil on the skid plate then she probably did more damage by trying the accelerate with it not accelerating.

 

Last time all dash lights went on and it died the timing belt broke.

 

Sorry forgot to say. Timing belt is okay luckily!

 

Yea in hoping it will be an inexpensive fix like a gasket or something. Any ideas on how I can start diagnosing?

Let me know if more info is needed, but a of right now this is all I know til I can get under the good again

 

Start by diagnosing where the oil is coming from

 

I see a lot of people smash their oil pans. Maybe she hit something which caused the leak. Running it without oil isn't good though- probably needs a motor.

 

Okay, so it's pretty bad!

I noticed there was no coolant in the reservoir so I added water to it and noticed there was a leak. Not all the water was coming back out, but a good amount of it would after the water level reached a certain limit. I also added oil so that I can try starting it.

I had a friend crank it and surely enough cloudy liquid (oil and water mixed) shot out near the exhaust manifold. Couldn't exactly tell from where but pretty sure there is a crack in the head. Also pulled the oil filter out and inspected it and found little traces of metal pieces/shards in nearly every crease.

So I know this isn't much info, but I was hoping someone could suggest what they think would have to be done to get this up and running again. Would I just change out the head? Or is it a maybe, but there may be damage to the block as well and an entire engine replacement is the way to go?

Thanks a lot!

 

No with all those metal particals floating around the oil I'm sure they have done a ton of damage. First of all you need to know for sure where the oil is coming from.

 

How would I find out for sure?

What I suspect is that there is a crack that runs all the way to one of the combustion chambers. This would explain the oil and coolant spraying out.

 

Also, I checked the oil after cranking it a few times and there doesn't seem to be any sign of water getting in. No cloudiness or change in viscosity. Looks like the same oil I put in. So that's another reason why I'm thinking it's just the head that is cracked. As for the block, I'm a little worried that the metal shavings in the oil filter are not from the cylinder walls itself which would mean big problems even after head is replaced, right?

 

Did it start when you cranked it?

Pull all 5 spark plugs and check the color. Is one a different color than the rest?

How about a compression test? Harbor Freight sells cheap testers.

My guess is you will end up removing the head and having it checked for cracks and warping. During the tear down it should become apparent where the problem is located.