I just picked up a S70 AWD turbo. The car is smoking very bad out the tail pipe as well as from the back of the motor on the firewall side. It is white smoke.The car still runs great, idles perfect, doesn't over heat.

I am almost certain it's the head gasket. It has 160,000 miles and I don't have any service history on it.

So I know I need a head gasket. Do the head bolts need to be replaced are they torque to yield? I was going to do the timing belt, idler, and tensioner, water pump, and thermostat.

Is there anything else I should check before pulling it apart and is there anything else I am missing that should be replaced? Thanks

Sean

 

Also, I don't think it needs a valve job as it has little to no valve train noise.

 

Yes, you need to get new head bolts. Also, read through the procedure carefully... make sure you want to do it... this isn't the easiest car to do a head gasket on.

Before you take it apart, though, is it going through coolant? Head gasket failure on its own isn't that common of a problem on these cars. If it's not using coolant, the problem may lie elsewhere. Also... if you pull the dipstick and notice the "coffee with cream" froth all over it, but not actually mixed in with the oil itself, that's just condensation due to a plugged PCV system, not a bad head gasket.

 

And if you determine that the problem is, in fact, a blown head gasket, you should have the head checked at a machine shop to make sure that its not warped or else you'll use your new-found expertise to remove it all over again since it will (sooner or later) leak again and you won't be very happy unless you find your joy in torque wrenching and following factory torque sequencing. Done any leak down test yet?

You have no way to know whether the car suffered some significant overheating if coolant dropped too low because of bad head gasket. Its not a Briggs & Stratton type of job, or even Harley Davidson.

 

Compression is good and the car never overheated. As soon as the head gasket went it started blowing white smoke and was immediately parked. I ran a straight edge across the head and everything seems very straight. Should I still have it checked?

Also, is there any way to get the dampener / harmonic balancer off without the special tool. I put an impact on it but the crank turns.