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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by weezy on Fri Apr 11 05:02 CST 2003
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So I finally get my brick running after 6 months and it turns out that I think I have either a cracked block or head or bad head gasket. WHen I first got the engine running, I noticed an iordinate amount of white smoke coming out the tailpipe... didn't think much of it, but now after I've had it running a bunch of times, it is still belching out white smoke. I haven't gotten the car registered and back on the road yet, I've just been running it in the driveway.

This morning after I started it, the intake manifold side of the engine (B230F, non-turbo) was steaming... and it smelled strongly of antifreeze. I noticed it because the radiator fan was sucking the steam towards the fan. I checked the upper radiator hose and it was not leaking, nor was the thermostat junction... I couldn't see anything visibly wet, but it looked like the enitre side of the engine was steaming... I checked the overfill tank and didn't notice any bubbles nor have I noticed coolant loss overall.

This engine has 240K miles, but did have the head off the car at about 110K miles due to a timing belt mishap.

So, here's my questions...

1 How do I definitively go about pinpointing the problem?

AND...

1. where do these blocks normally form cracks?
2. same question about the heads?
3. Are cracked blocks/heads common?
4. how expensive are used engines/heads?
5. If the head gasket is bad, what is the normal repair procedure?
ie, is milling the head mandatory? Can I just put a new gasket on
and drive? etc.
6. Has anyone else seen this?
7. How long can you drive the car with this condition?

any and all advice at this point would be greatly appreciated... I am just about at the end of the line in terms of patience with this car and I am considering scrapping it and fixing my honda instead.
4. are bad head gaskets common?

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by skowsa on Mon Apr 14 07:25 CST 2003
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I'm currently experiencing a cracked and warped head - bill from machine shop will be about $400 - don't know if this is common or not. I figured a "new" engine would be around that price but then I wouldn't know what I was getting, so it would be better for me to have what I have repaired.

Ian
'92 745t

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by weezy on Mon Apr 14 07:34 CST 2003
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Thanks Ian for the response... yeah, I guess I would be unsure of a new engine too.... definitely frustrating.

Mike

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by dklap on Fri Apr 11 09:05 CST 2003
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last visit: Sun Feb 3 10:59 CST 2008

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I have a used engine(actually a whole car) that I am trying to sell. It is a wrecked 1985 740 with 39k miles on it. I am located in Erie, Pa. If you are interested, you can email me at dklaproth@hotmail.com.
Dane Klaproth

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YES! 700 1988

posted by weezy on Sat Apr 12 02:05 CST 2003
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Hey, I tried emailing you but I haven't got a response yet.

I am interested in the engine... if you could post back here or respond to my email I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

Mike

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by VolvoSteel on Fri Apr 11 05:46 CST 2003
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last visit: Sun Mar 23 21:28 CST 2014

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Before you do anything, first off, is it white smoke or grey white or black ETC, if its pure white smoke that's water, is its grey white that would be oil ETC, if its just white, how long did you have the head off? was the exhust portion covered? really it sounds like you have a lot of water in the exhust system and just around the areas of the car that now when hot are buring, in order to have a cracked block or head including gasket you will see a drop in water over a period of whats say 10 min you might find that it burns all off. Also keep in mind white smoke is caused by rich or lean engines. and or you can get white smoke on a cold day.lots of items to take into consideration here.

If the engine running hot, do you let it go to the normall spot and see if it continues past that? Did you in your eyes seal the head gasket properly, Did you toqure the head bolts down to the exact lbs? smelling antifreeze shouldnt set you off to a engine probly right off, remember how much actually leaks out when you start pulling an engine apart, i would start it up let it just run until you either see the water lvl go down or the engine starting to get hot then you will have a place to start, right now youll be chasing what ifs.

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by weezy on Fri Apr 11 06:10 CST 2003
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Hey, thanks for the reply.

I wasn't the owner when the head was off... that was about 8 years ago...

The smoke looks white... I've started teh car about 8 times and let it run till for about 10 minutes each time...

The steam coming off the block seems a little suspicious though... there's no way for it to get wet... so I guess my question would be how the water (or whatevery) got there for it to steam off in that quantitiy.

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by VolvoSteel on Fri Apr 11 06:41 CST 2003
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last visit: Sun Mar 23 21:28 CST 2014

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i would say you live in a cold climate and i am just guessing because most volvos tend to live in cold climates, but if the head was off for whats say a year, theres a lot of places for condensation to form and if you live somewhere where it freezes ice forms everywhere and will stay there if the hood is down and not evaporate until the engine is run again, this includes the exhust pipes where water will sit in the pips and unfortunally the catty which can hold a lot of water, reeevvveeeeee the engine and see if anything changes and let us know so we can point you in a better direction.

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by weezy on Fri Apr 11 06:47 CST 2003
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Dude, the head was NOT off for a year...

I drove this car continuously until November 2002... then the hall sensor failed.

I got the car running again two weeks ago.

When I rev the engine, LOTS of white smoke comes out the tailpipe.

Yes, I live in a cold climate, but it doesn't explain why antifreeze steam is coming off the side of my engine.

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possible cracked block and or head and or head gasket... advice needed 700 1988

posted by VolvoSteel on Fri Apr 11 08:25 CST 2003
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last visit: Sun Mar 23 21:28 CST 2014

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Thers 2 sensors on that side of the engine that can leak fluid, the ECT and the temp sendor ( to the guage ) if one of those isnt screwed in right or theres a threading problem they will leak, not sure if you checked those. have you also checked the underside of the thermostat houseing. Sorry i was trying to figure out by what you were saying how long the head had actually been off for

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