98' S90 engine lock "Help Please"
 

I have some work to do. 200,000mi. on my s90 and about two months ago it started using coolant without any leaks. I haven't had any overheating issues but was concerned about the head gasket. The car has been running fine. Well last week only on start up first thing in the morning I got a valve rattle noise that went away in a few minutes and everything ran fine, the rest of the day no noise on start up. Two days ago while starting in the morning a got a hum noise and the engine locked. I have pulled the plugs, put the car in netural and get only a little movement back and forth with the 30mm socket. I have noticed oil down the back on the trans. and I hope it's only a gasket and bent valve problem and not cracked block. I have done head gaskets before and need to do this work also. I have removed all valve cover bolts and I'm trying to get cover off. Please give me some next steps and what to look for as far as damage signs go. Let me know if you need any more details. Thanks so much, Scott....................:(

Scott, those S90's are so cheep just get another car, swap all the parts you need from the old one and move on if you can. Did the timing belt break?

Timing belt looks great just like everything else on the outside of the engine. The car ran fine the night before and this happened first thing in the morning. Turned the key, made a hum noise and locked. What do you think? Thanks.............

Regarding overheating -- the dash gauge is heavily compensated, which means it does not show the coolant temp fluctuations.

Do a leakdown test and a compression test. Have you tried to pull any codes?

It sounds like you are saying that you could NOT turn the crank manually. If that is the case, cut bait.

I'm not sure what "cut bait" means but I sure could use some ideas on what to look for. I'm working on pulling the head because this just happened on the morning first start up and wouldn't turn. Ran fine the night before. Not like I was running down the highway and everything came loose. Thanks, Scott..............

Hi Scott: Did you try to turn the motor manually with the crank? If so, and it did NOT turn, I think you may be right and your motor has locked up for some reason. If that is the case and you are hear asking questions, I just don't think you are able to break that motor down and rebuild it successfully. Therefore I suggest you CUT BAIT (count it a loss and move on).

This site is really designed to help people with basic assistance. Very few users here have ever removed a valve cover, let alone removed a head. I recently purchased a S90 Volvo for $500 that only needed a water pump. I gave a 960 away for $1 and sold another for $1,150 that needed NOTHING done to it (new timing belt, water pump, radiator, etc). I just don't think it's worth diging into from what you have described above.

BUT DON'T LET ME STOP YOU.

Hi rspi, just two years ago I pulled the head on a Accord, had it machined, replaced the valves, springs, rocker's, guides etc... Then reassembled with new gasket kit and the car ran fine. I'm hoping I can get a least that far on this S90 and with any luck not much more will need to be done. Maybe a least I can save on some labor depending on what's done. Your feed back really does help so thanks and I'll keep digging at this and let you know, Scott.................

Scott: My guess would be that the Volvo would be easier to work on than the Honda. Volvo engineers (althought I believe that Porche helped with that motor) take some care in trying to make things a little easier for the mechanic.

Have you pulled the starter and tried to turn the motor? It's kinda strange that the motor locked up so fast. Maybe the starter engaged, siezed, then locked up the motor. Just a wild guess from me.

rspi: Great thinking on the starter. I just got back from work so I'll check asap. My only concern with that is the valve rattle noise for a few min. only at start up in the mornings for just a few days before lock. I'll let you know, Scott.................

Volvo's valves do tick from time to time, usually after the car has been sitting for a few days. I can't say that I have ever heard a rattle.

repi: here is a update. I have pulled the head and to my suprise I had 5 exhaust valves heads laying on the pistons tops that I simply just icked up. Now, they are all on the exhaust side which I hope the cam slipped on the timing belt and caused them to hit. I can't believe the car seemed to run ok until that morning start up. Next I'm going to check the pistons and then have the head checked out. Each of the valve heads that broke have contact spots where they have hit the pistons. If you could, please give me some thoughts on the different reasons this could happen and that way I'll know what to fix. Once again, thanks so much for your help, Scott........

rspi, are you still out there? Sorry It's been a few days but here's an update. I removed the head and sure enough six broken exhaust valves. Long story short, the head is ready to put on and a few questions that I hope you or someone else can tell me. 1) How do I set the crank at TDC? 2)What is the best way to set the two cams in the right position. I haven't put the head on yet and don't want to hit valves again because I figured out that me exaust side slipped and broke valves. I have read for the cam the arrows on the gears and I have read use the lines on the back of the cams with the exhaust side low and the intake side high but if I dry fit them that way the arrows aren't close to lining up. Could you please help and maybe we could even talk on the phone? I sure it would save me a lot of time, Scott. 304-346-5522

My guess is that your car jumped timing. If the belt is not damaged your tensioner may be bad.

Here is a link to my t-belt instructions: Timing belt replacement instructions on a 1997 Volvo 960
If your cam shaft sprockets were not loose you may be able to align them like the pics in my instructions. The most important thing in putting it all back together is to turn the motor at least 2 times before you hit the starter. It should stop if any valves are hitting.

rspi, this is great. Only one question before I start. Timing marks. Crank - where are the two marks to line up and from what I understand the #1 piston will not be a the top of it's compression stroke on these engines. Cams - I have arrows on my gears that are still attached to the shafts so where do they point? I've seen two different ways, arrows or slots on back of shafts but one doesn't match the other. ie: slots lined up exhaust on high side, intake on low side causes the arrow on gears to be all over the place. Should I use arrow or slot method? I hope this make sense because I not sure the link is clear on this. Your great, Scott.....

Scott, I do NOT understand what you are saying. If you are saying they will not line up properly, maybe that's why the valves were broken.

I really have no idea of how to align timing aside from a timing belt replacement with the timing already in proper sync. I messed up the timing on our S70 when I did the cam seals but I had so many marks that I was able to twist them back to where the marks were and I ended up being ok.

If you look at my instructions, the pics will enlarge if you click on them. As for the cams, here is the pic for it (step 11). The white out on the cam gears is actually painted on little groves on the sprocket. Now if some idiot in the past has removed the gears and did not install them where they were or suppose to be, that's another story.
http://www.atthetipwebs.com/technolo...0/PICT1185.JPG

As for the cam shaft alignment mark, it's at step 11 as well.

As mentioned before, if timing is correct when you are done putting it all back together, you will be able to turn the motor by hand. I don't think you can turn it by hand two complete turns if something is wrong or not aligned properly.

rspi, thanks. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Got ya on the cam's. Really just the crank. I see the mark on the gear but not the engine block. You've been great, Scott....

The mark on the block (oil pump casing) is there -- about 11 o'clock.

On the '97 960 the crank mark had a tip on it.
http://www.atthetipwebs.com/technolo...0/PICT1084.JPG

Thanks everyone, I'll keep you posted, Scott....