Recently posted about how my timing belt came off, damaged valves, you all know the sad story when this happens. I have now had the head repaired (18 new valves to replace the bent ones).
I am about to time the camshafts to the crank but cannot find the crankshaft timing mark. According to the Volvo engine manual picture it is located on the crank pulley but I cannot find it. Yikes!

Anyone have experience with this?
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David Hunter

Got the head and manifolds torqued down today and then installed the upper cylinder head and cams.

When the upper head is first laid in place it sits about 1/2" high because certain cam lobes must compress their valves before it can come down. It takes a fair amount of pressure to pull that sucker down. The bolts cannot get enough hold in the head and they will strip out the holes. To avoid this I started in 10 or so "temporary" bolts about 3/4 longer than the actual bolts and started to ease it down. As it came down I started to add washers to the bolts so they would not bottom out in the lower head holes. As it got closer I started the actual bolts (there are 42 or so of them) and continued to ease it all the way down by turning each bolt just a small amount while moving from bolt to bolt to bolt. All this was to avoid having to buy the special Volvo pull down tool.

I also double confirmed today by talking to a Volvo engine geru that the crank pulley timing mark is NOT TDC. That one had me worried.

Tomorrow I will Do the final torque on the 42 upper head bolts, install cam seals, idler and tensioner pulleys, time it with new belt then hook up all the "stuff". Maybe do the start up with crossed fingers.

This is the kind of job that takes a lot of time and great care and some ingenuity. It is not for the casual back yarder. If I had to do it again I could easily cut the time in half.

Completed the job,engine runs better than ever!
It was scarey when I started her up, very noisy valve lifters for a short time, missing badly, backfires, check engine light and she started to run hot. She settled down nicely and ran beautifully after I discovered I had mixed up two ignition coils and the brand new thermostat stuck closed.

I have not yet installed the timing belt cover, top ignition coils cover, belly pan and few other items. I plan to drive it around neighbohood with few short hops on the interstate for a few days to put it through a few heat up/cool down cycles while checking for any oil or coolant leaks. Then I will change the oil, filter and coolant and button her up,.

Thanks for the information, advice and encouragement from fellow Bricksters. I can say this is not a job for the faint of heart but quite doable with meticulous care, patience and planning. I was able to complete it without any of the special Volvo tools. I did order the engine manual from Volvo though. If anyone is thinking of removing a head on the B6304 engine I would be happy to offer up my experience. There are some procedures in the manual which can be done much easier with no ill effects and a few gotchas.

By the way when I went to install the new serpantine belt it was too long so I put on the old one. I seem to remember something about an alternate method to route the belt around the pulleys possibly to give more grip on the alternator. Anyone ever heard of this? Otherwise I have the wrong belt.

Thanks again
David Hunter

Congrats on your success and thanks for sharing your procedure.

The new belt routing puts more belt on the alternator and less on the A/C compressor.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100

david, I had the same problem routing my new sepantine belt. It should go from the power steering pump down around the idler pully (back side of belt) up around the Alt. down to the AC over to the crankshaft up to the tensioner (back side of belt) back to the power steering pump.
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'96 965 170,000+

Thanks. That is a different routing than my original belt. I will put on the new one using your routing method. I guess they made a change somewhere along the line.
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David Hunter

the new routing puts more belt on the alt.
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'96 965 170,000+

I'm glad it went smoothly David. I hope it continues to run smoothly for years to come! I saw an add for a '93 965 yesterday and it had something like 411K km (~260K mi) on it. The add said it runs great, I wish I was closer to it as it was listed for $600 obo! As for the serpentine belt, I'm not sure. I've replaced the one on the 960, but not on the V90. The new belt for the 960 fit and worked perfectly in its original routing...
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 195K km, '94 964 > 82K mi. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

Great idea using the longer bolts. There is no shortage of ingenuity on this forum.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100

Dave the longer bolts you mentioned- are they 6 or 7mm? Were did you find them.
Poolman

They were 7mm 1.0 pitch about 2" long. Got them at Lowes. Slightly shorter would have worked but that was the length they had there. They only have to be about 1/2" longer than the actual bolts. When drawing down the upper head it is important to alternately and evenly tighten the bolts just a very little bit at time so that not to much pull is applied to any one bolt. I set the rear cam seal (there is only one and its on the exhaust side) in place before setting down the upper head. This avoided the difficult job of trying to push it in afterwards.

Are contemplating this job?
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David Hunter

I have an oil leak out from the back of my head,on the exhaust side-right out the back. The leak is not bad right now but if it gets worse I may buckle down and tackle it.
Thanks
Poolman

You may not have to remove the upper head at all if you can pinpoint the exact location of the leak. There are 3 possibilities:

1. Rear cam seal. Can be changed, just a bit tricky. No need to remove upper head.

2. Leak between upper and lower head. I do not think that this likely as all oil passages under pressure are well to the center of the head. Try torquing the bolts in that area slightly say an additional 5 ft/lbs. The spec is 13 ft/lbs.

3 Oil can accumulate on top of the upper head, it seeps up the unthreaded bolt hole and out under the bolt head. This would mean that the oil under pressure has migrated across the sealed surfaces to a bolt location and up to the bolt head. This condition is common. I would try torquing them slightly in the area of the leak. You could also remove the bolts one at a time and apply a sealant under the head and re-install.

A leak between the the upper and lower heads is not a sign of impending doom. I would be inclined to try the above or live with it if the leak is not bad.

If the leak is between lower head and block that is another matter.
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David Hunter

Best I can tell right now it's between the lower head and block, not a bad leak right now but they can and will grow.
Poolman

David, I think you should do those bolts now, if you have the sealant on,and you should have the sealant on before the top is in place, you should go ahead and torque them down now. You don't want that goo to harden and then drive those bolts home.

When it is time to crank it over, do it first by hand without spark plugs. Get a big socket on the crank pulley bold and slowly turn by hand at least four revs. If every thing checks out, put the plugs back in. Do this before you put the serp belt and timing belt cover on, just in case there is a need for an adjustment.

Let us know how it goes.

DanR 94 964 298,000 miles (64,000 on the new engine)
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DanR

The sealant does not set up in the air. In fact I smeared some on my bench, it stays as a thin paste and does not dry out or set, its sort of like a grease. It sets only with heat.

I will be checking the timing carefully, thanks.
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David Hunter

The sealant is anerobic in nature which means it only hardens in the absence of O2. However, leaving it hanging open like that is a bad idea. Tighten the thing down and be done with it so it is sealed up and nothing will interfere with the process. We could theorize for days about what could happen, spark plug O ring could roll over, a little oil could drip from God only knows where onto the gasket area and cause it not to seal, a bug could crawl across it and disturb it, wind blown b.s. in there. The bottom line is it's not meant to be left hanging half way done, bolt it down tight and be done with it. As far as the cam timing goes it is obviously best if you do it the correct way and use the Volvo tools but if you do not have them then I guess you have to wing it, good luck.

Mark

It was snugged but not torqued, it is now torqued down. There was a small amount squeezed out and barely visible at the edges and at the spark holes. It is amazing how such a small amount of that stuff goes so far.

Thanks.
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David Hunter

Are you planning to use the Volvo cam timing tools? That is about the only way to be sure you have it right the first time.

With the crank and cams held by the tools put the cam pulleys on so the marks match up with the cover. This way when the belt gets changed the next time the marks will be correct and useful. The pulleys can be put on so the marks don't line up.
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'96 965, 16' wheels, Michelin Pilot Sports, rear 18mm bar + Koni, 201 HP cams, 132K. Put 200K on '85 745 TD.

Have you used the cam align tools? Are they expensive?

I placed the pulleys back on aligned up with the same holes in the cam. Tightened them down so that the bolt marks were in the exact same spot on the pulleys but I could be about a smidge.
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David Hunter

Here is an after market that is alittle cheaper than Volvo.

http://www.toolsource.com/ost/product.asp?sourceid=&dept%5Fid=500&pf%5Fid=89889&mscssid=0R2VLSK321348P29M93P33ARJ9500439

I have the cam tool that I could loan you if you want to send me a deposit. After you return the tool I'd refund the deposit minus the shipping costs.

Where are you located?
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'96 965, 16' wheels, Michelin Pilot Sports, rear 18mm bar + Koni, 201 HP cams, 132K. Put 200K on '85 745 TD.

Jim:
Gosh, I really do appreciate the offer to loan the cam tool. I now have the engine running as per my post above. I was very carefull about maintaining the relationship between the pulleys and cams so I am sure it's set pretty accurately.

Thanks again
Dave
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David Hunter

It is on the crank pulley. As Poolman, said, the small 'square' notch is on the 'peak' of one of the teeth on both our 95 and our 98. Be patient, have good light, and keep moving your head to get the right angle. It's there.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100

Dave the crank mark on mine was if I remember correctly was on top of one of the teeth not in the vally of the teeth. it was an awfull small cut on the back side of the tooth towards the block. Tell us about the tear down-did you have to pull the engine to do all this? Have you retourqued the head already? What is with the angled tourqe sequence I seem to remember hearing about when doing this job.
Hope that helps
Poolman

Found the mark, thanks!
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David Hunter

Thanks for the hint, that is where the book says it is and there is a drawing/picture in the book that points to the pulley, I was looking for something more noticeable but I did see a very small marking on a tooth towards the back as you said, it looked like a straight indented line in the metal no more than an 1/8" long. It would seem that it would line up with a raised line on the oil pump housing. I assume that that it represents TDC on #1 as in all other engines, I can then verify by probing in the spark plug hole as I "rock" the engine. Too dark now, will do that in the morning.

I am doing this with engine in the car. Getting the head of was not too bad, just a lot of stuff to disconnect. I have the head back on new bolts in place but not yet torqued, manifolds connected but not torqued. The sequence for head bolts is to tighten in 3 stages 20 ft/lbs then 44 ft/lbs then turn 130 degrees more. This is similer to the B230 engines, just different values.

Installing the upper cylinder head with the adhesive gasket material along with the cams will be a challenge. I plan to pull the upper section down with large "C" clamps and blocks of wood across the top, I also have some longer bolts and washer to assist in inching down till the regular bolts can get a good hold. As the upper part of the head is being brought down you are actually compressing the valves springs so it does take some force to ease it down.

Then I will insert the new camshaft seals. I will be installing a new belt, idler and tensioner pulley as well, set timing, then hook up all the stuff.

The root cause of all this was seized idler pulley which caused the tensioner pulley to fail, then the belt came off and pow!
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David Hunter

David,

I have not done the repair you are doing but my understanding is that the when the timing mark on the crank gear and the front case lined up, the #1 piston is NOT at top dead center as is the norm. It is just lined up for proper T-belt installation. I may be wrong, others that have done this repair hopefully will set the record straight.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100

Walt,
Thanks for your help.
I found the crank timing mark on the pulley, it is a very small cutout or slot right at the rear edge. I think you are correct, the mark does not indicate TDC, it is about 80 or so degrees away from TDC. I discoverd this by probing the #1 spark plug hole. I suppose a reason for that may be so that when installing a belt the cam lobes are not "loaded" against valves. If a lobe was at the top or on the slope the cam would tend to spin away from it's mark. By finding a neutral point in the cam revolution it would make it easier to install a belt, but that's just my guess.

Thank you for pointing that out, I was worried that the pulley had sheared something and slipped. However that is not likely as it is mounted to the crank on a spline with a bolt torqued to 200 plus lbs. I seem to remember the B230 engines have a keyway.

My next problem is that when the belt started moving forward it cut away the cam timing reference marks on the upper plastic cover, so I have to get a new top cover piece. Otherwise the job is going OK. Will keep advising.
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David Hunter

"The root cause of all this was seized idler pulley which caused the tensioner pulley to fail, then the belt came off and pow!"

It seems that the idler pulley is the one that commonly fails. That's the one that failed on the '95 my mechanic repaired as well. I believe I heard of that happening to others as well. My mechanic and I reciently replaced the T-belt on my 960 because there was no record of it's replacement. When we replaced it we discovered that there was some play in both the idler and tensioner pullies. We put it back together and I drove it for a few days until the new pullies arrived from Volvo. The car has 82K mi on it. Needless to say, the V90 will get a new idler and tensioner pully along with it's new T-belt (and probably water pump too) in the spring!

Good luck with the rest of the reassembly, I hope it goes smoothly!
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 195K km, '94 964 > 82K mi. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

Dave did you use the old head bolts or have to buy new ones on the rebuild ?
Poolman

I got new bolts. I guess I could have used the old ones but new was recommended by a Volvo tech that I respect. With all my labor and cost of parts for this project I decided on thaT for peace of mind.
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David Hunter