Volvo RWD 700 Forum

you must...i repeat must...take that head into a machine shop and have them check that it is not warped...if the head gasket is blow i would bet dollars to donuts that it is...and if it is simply poping a new head gasket in will do absolutly nothing....as for you checking for cracks jsut how do you think that you are going to do this at home? this is not a visual examination, it requires a process called magna-fluxing which the shop can also do...none of this is very expensive...i think the magna-flux (or whatever other proprietory name was used) was $40 and the checking for trueness was free. my first head job took approx 10 hours...but that was my first OHC car ever and i had to totally dissassemble the head for machining. for the hastle that this job is don't be cheap and skip the machine shop visit. also you need to figure out why the head gasket failed to begin with...they don't just wear out...99% of the time on street cars it is due to overheating...mine was because the thermostat stuck closed and being that my temp gage wasn't functioning at the time, I never new untill it was too late. check that and then check or replace the water pump (~$45). also don't forget that volvo head bolts are torque to yeald...meaning that if you wanna reuse them you must have the machine shop measure them for strech...otherwise you need to replace them all (volvo oem ones are mega expensive at ~$10.50 each...and there are 10) I went with aftermarket ones for ~$3.50 each and have been fine....good luck