Hi All,

(I posted this a minute ago to ALL. I guess I should have posted to the 900 section. Sorry for the double post)

I’m heading to Maine from Kentucky for the first shake down cruise of my 95 945. It’s only about a 2500 mile round trip, but you never know when trouble might set in, and I have only put a few hundred local miles on this car since I bought it.

I will have my laptop and a cell phone with me, but if I have a problem, it is not likely to be in a hot WIFI region for me to contact the Board myself. So, it would be nice to have a phone number or two from someone in the community. That way, if I am in the break down lane, I could call you with a question, you could post it to the board, and call me back with some suggestions.

If you are a willing volunteer, drop me an e-mail with your contact number to zypher@aol.com

I promise not to abuse it with any 3:00 AM calls, unless you tell me you work the swing shift and sleep during the days.

It is about 10:45 Eastern time now on Monday night, and I hope to get out of the house by about 2:00 AM. In other words, in a few hours. I will check my e-mail before I leave.

Sorry to seem so paranoid, but I’m an old diesel driver and all of these computers and sensors are a bit of a mystery to me.

In case you are curious, I will head east from KY, go through Parkersburg, WVA, then across WVA to the Shenandoah Valley of VA, up the valley to PA, and then on to Maine.

Thanks,
Charley

Well, I pulled the drive shaft, drug the 95 945 to the hanger, and pulled the head. Number 4 exhaust valve is not complete. It is missing about an eighth inch square out of its perimeter. It does not look like burned valves that I have seen in the past. It looks like part if it snapped off rather than burning.

However, when I was working, it was hot and I was tired, so I just threw the head in the trunk of the Benz and opened another beer. On Monday, I will drop it off at my machinist’s place and see what he thinks.

Charley

Well, the Volvo failed the shakedown cruise. Number four cylinder went instantaneously to zero compression about 60 miles from home, and I had to limp home on three cylinders. I picked up my 83 diesel Benz and completed the trip without a miss.

Later, I will try to figure out what failed on the Volvo. I haven’t even pulled the valve cover yet.

Thanks to those who responded with offers to help in case I got stranded.

Charley

What a bummer!
I'd say that was an unusually bad failure for a B230 engine. Hope it's not a piston problem. Maybe the spark plug fell out????

It's not a spark plug. Number 4 cylinder has essentially zero compression. It's probably not a piston since there was no oil burning. I expect some sort of valve or cam failure, but I haven't looked into it yet.

Charley

Dear Charley,

May this find You well. A valve spring may have broken. If so, the repair is pretty straightforward.

Please post your findings.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Spook,

A broken valve spring is what I am hoping for since I could fix that without removing the head. I will catch up with the car (it isn't at home) in a few days and pull the valve cover to see what I can see.

If it is a valve spring, I wonder if I should replace them all or just assume that the failed one was a freak. The car only has about 143K miles on it.

Charley

That would be bit of luck if it was just a valve spring.

Valve spring failure is rare on the red blocks, if it turns out to be a broken spring I would install a new one and leave the others alone.

Randy

Dear Randy,

Good p.m. and may this find You well. I agree: replace only the failed item.

I can't recall having read a post regarding a broken valve spring.

Thus, if indeed a spring broke, it is a freak event.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Well, no such luck with the valve spring. Everything seems normal under the valve cover. I guess it's off with its head. I may do a cylinder leakage test first to see where the air is escaping.

Charley

Dear Charley,

May this find you well. Before pulling the head, it might be useful to remove the spark plug, and inspect the piston, using a fiber optic device. For example, if a hole has been burned in the piston - or if rings have broken - pulling the head won't help. So far as I know, pistons are replaced from underneath.

Thanks for posting your findings.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hello Spook,

In fact, I do have a friend with a fiber optic camera pack, but he is out of town at the moment.

But, do you think the pistons really go in from the bottom? In my experience (on non-Volvo engines) that would be very unusual. Usually, although you have to pull the pan to disconnect the connecting rod, the piston won't fit up from the bottom. Also, if it did, the piston ring compressor doesn't fit in the bottom.

The only time I ever had a piston fail, it let the crankcase oil migrate out of the bad cylinder into the intake manifold. The result was massive smoke. The Volvo isn't smoking, so I suspect some kind of valve or gasket failure.

Thanks,
Charley

Dear Charley,

Good a.m. and may this find you well. You're correct: pistons go in from above, but disassembly is from below. I don't recall reading a post - over the past couple of years, at any rate - in which a single piston failure was reported.

Single valve failures are equally rare. Thus, your findings will be of general interest.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hello Spook,

I reported on my findings last night, but you may have missed it because I put it near the top of the list. It was a valve. Take a look at the second message of this thread for the details.

Thanks,
Charley

Dear Charley,

May this find You well. You're right: I did miss it!!

I don't recall a post about a valve actually losing a "chunk" of metal. It will be interest to learn if the metal vaporized, or actually broke-off. If the latter, the piece may simply have been blown out through the manifold. Even so, I'd check the cylinder walls for any scoring, etc.

Thanks again for posting back.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

I got a chance to see the valve today. It was not broken. It looks like it had been worked on with an oxy-acetylene torch. My machinist suggested a couple possibilities. One being that it was stelite (sp?) faced and fractured under the stelite, and the other being that carbon build up on the stem may have prevented it from fully closing. It seems odd that it failed so instantaneously.

Anyway, we decided to replace all the exhaust valves and exhaust valve guides, and just resurface the intake valves and seats.

I think while the engine is down I will see about having my AMM and ECU checked. The FAQ section mentions a rebuilder of these items that is located here in Louisville, so I suppose they can check them. I have been battling OBD error code 232, but since it takes so long to set the CEL, I keep thinking I have fixed it when I haven't.

Charley

Have faith in the 95-945. Last month I took an 8 hour drive in an identical vehicle. Performed flawlessly. Drove back in a 91-780 that I knew absolutely nothing about after the trade. Now that was risky. You're welcome to give me a call.