Frack!

[Zenmervolt]

Took a corner hard today in the Volvo and my oil light flickered. Which was odd since I'd just checked the level two fill-ups ago (about a month ago, 500 miles) and it was right at the top mark. Checked the oil when I got home and there's a nice milkshake goop on the oil dipstick. Coolant is also showing low based on the fill lines, but is at least clear and the right color.

Yay. Missing coolant. Missing oil. Some of the missing coolant is in the oil. Head gasket time. Yippie. *grumble*

ZV

 

[alfa147x]

damn thats going to be fun, i take you have to remove the engine to take the head off right?
well here is cookie

 

[njmodi]

What year/model Volvo?

alfa147x - why do you think he'll have the pull the engine to get the heads out?

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: njmodi
What year/model Volvo?

alfa147x - why do you think he'll have the pull the engine to get the heads out?

i always thought the head was the aluminum block with the pistons, just googled engine head and its where the valves sit

 

[njmodi]

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: njmodi
What year/model Volvo?

alfa147x - why do you think he'll have the pull the engine to get the heads out?

i always thought the head was the aluminum block with the pistons, just googled engine head and its where the valves sit

Ya - but you don't need to pull the engine (at least not in any cars I've worked on) to get the heads off... not sure about the volvo in question...

 

[sjwaste]

Just happened to my Supra as well, but the 7M-GTE is a notoriously bad engine for HG problems. I dont have time/space to do it myself, so I'm still waiting on an estimate to fix it. It's probably not going to be cheap, but I'm retiring that car as a daily driver, so I might fix it just to keep the car around.

 

[nakedfrog]

Already? That sucks.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: njmodi
What year/model Volvo?

alfa147x - why do you think he'll have the pull the engine to get the heads out?

'98 S70 T5 SE with only 122,000 miles. It's the 2.3 litre high-pressure turbo engine.

The Volvo is supposed to be the car I don't need to wrench on or think about.

ZV

 

[nismotigerwvu]

Sorry to hear about it man. These are never pleasant to do yourself and are always expensive. Lets keeps the fingers crossed and pray the head isn't warped. I've replaced a few on some KA24DE's, which is about as easy as a HG goes and its still a weekend long ordeal.

 

[Zenmervolt]

From further investigation it seems that some condensation in the oil is normal on these cars. Since there's no milkshake showing on the cams and since the coolant is clear, I'm going to do a full oil change, top off the coolant, and monitor the car closely for a couple weeks. I don't usually check the coolant level so it's possible that's been low for a while and I suppose I could have borked when I last checked the oil level.

If the oil keeps going missing and the coolant stays clear and un-fouled, there's a good chance it could just be a buggered PCV oil/air separator, which causes increased condensation in the dipstick tube. I may luck out on this one...

ZV

 

[DougK62]

Yeah, some cars just get a lot of condensation in the oil. An old car I had with GM's Quad4 in it was real bad about it. It always scared the newbs!

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: DougK62
Yeah, some cars just get a lot of condensation in the oil. An old car I had with GM's Quad4 in it was real bad about it. It always scared the newbs!

Just mentioning the Quad4 scares me. I had such nightmares with that piece of shit car.

 

[cardiac]

Aaron, why don't you just do a coolant leak-down test and see if you lose pressure. That will give you a definite answer. Try it both cold and warm......

 

[chucky2]

If you haven't already changed the oil, get yourself a free test kit, heat the car up, take a sample midway through the drain, and send it in. It'll be like $25 USD all said and done and then you'll know if there's coolant in the oil.

Blackstone Laboratories Free Test Kit

If you have greater than low double digits (as in, 10, 11, 15) for Potassium (and probably Sodium too, depending on your coolant and oil), then that's the flag. If you've really got enough coolant in there to make a milkshake, the lab will absolutely flag that - last time I had that happen, the lab even called me to make sure I got the message.

Chuck

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski

Originally posted by: DougK62
Yeah, some cars just get a lot of condensation in the oil. An old car I had with GM's Quad4 in it was real bad about it. It always scared the newbs!

Just mentioning the Quad4 scares me. I had such nightmares with that piece of shit car.

My Grand-am had a Quad4, blew the head gasket@65K. Mec. says all of the HG's go
on the quad, it's just a matter of time..

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski

Originally posted by: DougK62
Yeah, some cars just get a lot of condensation in the oil. An old car I had with GM's Quad4 in it was real bad about it. It always scared the newbs!

Just mentioning the Quad4 scares me. I had such nightmares with that piece of shit car.

My Grand-am had a Quad4, blew the head gasket@65K. Mec. says all of the HG's go
on the quad, it's just a matter of time..

65k?
I lost a head gasket after 31k. On a crappy Fiat though.

 

[bruceb]

I had a GM Quad 4 once in 1989 .. it too blew a head gasket.
And when it did the Temp Gauge went right to the top and then
Back down again as the steam pocket hit the temp sensor.
If you do need a head gasket, check with Felpro as they usually
make better gaskets than what the OEM supplied. Also, have the
head checked for trueness & warpage and if ok, also do a valve
job, including refacing the seats and the valve seals.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

GM's made some great engines and they've made some crappy ones. The Quad 4 definitely doesn't belong in the first group...

But good luck on the Volvo.

 

[bruceb]

The Quad 4 made some good HP at 150 for the stock engine
and 180HP for the High output model. It was just a case of
the wrong type head gasket that did not move as the engine
heated and cooled due to an aluminum head & iron block.
The engine was actually very quick to drive for it's displacement.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
Just happened to my Supra as well, but the 7M-GTE is a notoriously bad engine for HG problems. I dont have time/space to do it myself, so I'm still waiting on an estimate to fix it. It's probably not going to be cheap, but I'm retiring that car as a daily driver, so I might fix it just to keep the car around.

IIRC the issue with the Supra engine was that the torque specs called out in the repair manual were too low. People who tightened them up more didn't have problems.

/edit: Yup, some research indicates that the factory setting is 54 ft/lbs, whereas 72 or so is MUCH more appropriate.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: bruceb
The Quad 4 made some good HP at 150 for the stock engine
and 180HP for the High output model. It was just a case of
the wrong type head gasket that did not move as the engine
heated and cooled due to an aluminum head & iron block.
The engine was actually very quick to drive for it's displacement.

Yea, mine was peppy but loud as a concrete mixer@ high RPM's!.

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
GM's made some great engines and they've made some crappy ones. The Quad 4 definitely doesn't belong in the first group...

But good luck on the Volvo.

Really? I had a Quad4 in my 87 Grand AM and that thing was great. Granted I got it at 133,000 miles, but it ran awesome. Tons of power and got like 40MPG on the highway. Had to get rid of the car at 175,000 miles though because the body was almost completly rust and the clutch was going.

 

[sjwaste]

Maybe it was getting 40 MPG because of some unintended water injection

My Supra ran great up til the moment the head gasket went. Actually, emissions improved the last time it was run, which was my first suspicion that the head gasket was going. I can't wait to see pics from the mechanic w/ nice, shiny steam-cleaned cylinders!

 

[cardiac]

Zen, how about an update?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Well, good news on just about every front.

PCV system: Sludged up, this was the goop on the dipstick. Cleaned out, runs noticeably better.
Missing Oil: Hard line for the Turbo oil cooler was leaking (semi-steady drip, not a spray) under pressure only.
Missing Coolant: All in my mind.

Thank God for only moderately expensive problems.

ZV