Volvo V70 head removal

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Anyone ever done one? I bought a 2001 V70 T5 2.3T in the spring to use as a workhorse for some home reno lumber hauling and put it up for sale this summer however its been a hard sell, car runs like [censored], in my research it may have a burnt valve or bad headgasket, my plan is to get it fixed and inspected and listed for a reasonable price and get my money back out of it. Has anyone done this before, there is no much info out there on these cars, I'm used to vw/audi where there is a wealth of knowledge on the internet.
 
Yeah with V.W. and Audi the info is everywhere because there are a large number of failures on those cars.. On the Volvo they are generally good vehicles... Before you pull the heads scan it then check for other things like vacuum leaks, bad plugs/wires etc. If that all checks out check with a vacuum gauge and then do a compression test. if that shows you have low compression then you can pull the head but find out what is wrong first before you fix things that are in working order. How many miles on the Volvo?
 
Very, very rare to have a head gasket problem in that engine.

Check the coils first, they're a common failure item. Figure out what cylinder is misfiring (CEL on? You'll have a simple OBD code) - then swap the coil with a different cylinder and see if the misfire follows.

Troubleshoot before you dive into this.

Matthews Volvo site is a good resource.
 
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Originally Posted By: Astro14
Very, very rare to have a head gasket problem in that engine.

Check the coils first, they're a common failure item. Figure out what cylinder is misfiring (CEL on? You'll have a simple OBD code) - then swap the coil with a different cylinder and see if the misfire follows.

Troubleshoot before you dive into this.

Matthews Volvo site is a good resource.


missfires on cyl one, already has new coil and plug, swapped injectors around as well, just did compression test, 90psi on cyl 1, 180 on all the others.
 
forgot to mention car has 279k kms on it, dumped oil in the cylinder and compression went up 5psi, after doing lots of reading I think I've got a burnt valve.
 
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Have you removed plugs, added a slight amount of oil and rechecked compression? If compression improves, may be rings. A piston soak may improve.

Do a cylinder leakage test. Pressurize cylinder through spark plug hole and listen for leakage through intake or exhaust or crankcase.
 
Originally Posted By: bugeye
Have you removed plugs, added a slight amount of oil and rechecked compression? If compression improves, may be rings. A piston soak may improve.

Do a cylinder leakage test. Pressurize cylinder through spark plug hole and listen for leakage through intake or exhaust or crankcase.
bugeye said:
Have you read all the replies?

The o/p said in his last reply that he added oil and rechecked compression.
 
An odd, but not uncommon, failure on that vintage/model engine is the loss of a ball from the check valve in the PCV fitting on the bottom of the intake manifold. As that bit of steel makes its way through the engine, it often takes out a valve. Generally, it's cylinder 3, but who knows...

If you're going to pull the head on this, you'll have to remove the intake, making it easy to replace the PCV components, all of which tend to plug up with carbon/sludge and cause excessive oil consumption, and quite often, camshaft seal failure. Be certain to check that banjo bolt on the underside of the intake manifold. If it's the check valve type - replace it.
 
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Originally Posted By: seanf
.....missfires on cyl one, already has new coil and plug, swapped injectors around as well, just did compression test, 90psi on cyl 1, 180 on all the others.
Ouch indeed. Sounds like a burned exhaust valve. Mathews Volvo site has lots of info. Search their repair database.

Also search youtube for Robert's DIY videos.
 
How much money are you possibly going to get for a 289km vehicle? You sure it's worth the time and effort to perform a major engine repair?
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
How much money are you possibly going to get for a 289km vehicle? You sure it's worth the time and effort to perform a major engine repair?


inspected ready to drive seem to go for 4k around here, I'm into it right now for about $1500 and can't seem to sell it for that, my highest offer thus far is $800. I think I can fix it myself for under $1000, I found out a friend of mine has tools for removing the head so I'm hoping to at least break even or come out slightly ahead than lose $700
 
Why not buy the service manual if you want to know what's involved ?
You'll pay more for the labor than what the service manual costs.
 
I have played with used cars and those with over 175k are very hard to get your money out of them , You may budget $1k but most likely spend close $2k. Dump it for $800 and move on!
 
Definitely move on here and let a buyer who wants to work on it and already knows how deal with it. You got some use out of the car which is worth something. Now you risk entering the "good money after bad" phase of old Volvo ownership. It's really not logical to buy a car, unfortunately have the engine blow, and but somehow still expect to come out money ahead.
 
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