Well I guess at 250K kilometers and 15 years, it is probably overdue as a replacement item.

I had a misterious occasional coolant "missing" problem last week.
Also once, in EXTREME cold (-45 degrees celcius) there was a smell and when openeing the hood I noticed the engine loked like it was sprayed (mist) with coolant and/or oil everywhere. oil level was a tiny bit low, coolant needed around 1 liter to fill up.

Last night I figured I'd dump the oil and see. When openning the filler cap the underside of it showed a whitish frothy mixture. The dipstick showed nothing significant. When dumping the oil, thee was a tiny bit of white swirl in it.

Q1: Could it be anything else other than coolant in the oil indicating a slight head gasket failure? Engine as always runs great, quiet, smooth, no major smoke.

Q2: Do I NEED to install new head bolts?

Q3: The A/C low side hose runs over the top of the engine. Can I get the head off without undoing the A/C hose?

Any other words of wisdom?

Thanks!
Greg Mustang
Montreal - Ottawa
Canada

Greg,

As others have mentioned, I woudn't attribute coolant loss to head gasket failure. Make absolute sure that there are no other leaks within the cooling system. Perform a pressure test on the cooling system. This is a sure way to locate any of those pesky leaks. Just to give you an example. I had a coolant loss on my 90 BMW for quite some time, but I could never locate the leak...on top of this, it started having a slight rough idle...common symptoms of a head gasket failure. Upon close inspection....the culprit turned out to be the notorious cork gasket where the coolant pipe housing mates with the throttle body. A $.25 gasket and ~1hr was all it took.

In other words, be damn sure that it is the head gasket. By the way, the Bentley outlines head gasket replacement procedure real well....something I briefly read through while I was on the can ;-)

Cheers,
SM

--
90 BMW 325is, 98 BMW 528i, 90 Volvo 240DL

I'm Kinda with HERB, You are in Cold Country, a lot more condensation in the engine then the summer months.

I wouldn't rush into the Head Gasket.

Not usually with the Volvo Radiator but I'm getting an education with Fords Plastic tank to Aluminum Fins that when it gets really cold, they leak until the Coolant warms up and expands the Radiator. Is there any sign of leakage by the two Tanks?
--
'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwr and two motorcycles: it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

Unless you have a water-cooled turbo (and did those have a 'water-to-oil' oil cooler?) the head gasket is about the only way you can get coolant into the oil. Pulling the head is relatively easy on these, just be methodical as you follow your Haynes/Bentley etc. With the head off it makes sense to get its deck flatness checked so you're not doing this again in a few weeks! And buy the best quality gasket you can (for the same reason). No need for new bolts, Volvo allow something like 4-5 retorquings.

With the head off you can run some kerosene (or paint thinner, etc.) into the intake or exhaust ports which have the valves completely closed then see if it leaks through into the combustion chambers. Leakage means you would benefit from a valve job and this is the time to do it.

Obviously, the head gasket replacement presents an opportunity to do some other maintenance work which is made much easier with the head off...timing belt, thermostat, hoses, water pump, injector seals, throttle body, etc.

My downfall on these jobs is that I contract a big case of the "might as well's" which runs up the bill and the downtime! It takes more discipline than I've got to limit the work to just the necessary stuff.
--
Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-944 B230FD plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

I believe the 940 Turbo was the only one to use the oil cooler connected to the radiator, but it may have been on the late 700 series turbo as well. Definitely not used on any 240, turbo or non, from the factory.

sorry...

oh a few more questions:

1.. groton indicates they have a "head gasket set" which includes all gaskets/seals from head gasket up. Do I need that? As I understand, what I need to replace are head gasket, valve cover gasket, intake manifold gasket, and exhaust manifold gaskets. Is this correct?

2.. Do I put sealant on the head gasket? I though so, but the FAQ says no sealant.

Thanks!
Greg

Go with the full Elring kit from FCP Groton. It'll cost a few bucks more, but it's still cheaper than what lots of other people want for just the headgasket. The kit that FCP Groton sells is indeed very complete, the I seem to remember that the B21F kit even had K-Jet injector seals.

New head bolts probably aren't necesary, however they wouldn't hurt anything except your wallet (and judging from other not so positive posts I've seen about the other MTC brand stuff FCP sells, I'd avoid their head bolts). The Bentley manual has the max length for the head bolts, measure yours and if they've been stretched too much or the threads look messed up, toss 'em.

No sealant is needed on the head gasket itself.

- alex

Do not use sealant on the head gasket. Get everything as clean as possible and install dry. I wiped the surfaces with lacquer thinner to ensure a grease-free fit. Carefully note the location of the oil feed passage from block to head and match the gasket hole to this (obviously).

I used the FCP-Groton gasket set on our B21F head job. Quite complete. I recall the head gasket itself was an Elring which is said to be a good brand, even though they catalog the complete kit as being "Scan-Tech". Confirm with them, and also ask if valve stem seals and those noise dampeners are part of the kit.
--
Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-944 B230FD plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

Hi Greg:

Given the extreme cold, I don't think I'd start a head job without a pressure test first. In that kind of cold I'd expect to see white froth in the valve cover until the engine has been at operating temperature for a while, and coolant leaks can spring up under those temperatures can show up and disappear as soon as it gets warmer...

I have put my '92 245 on Mobil 1 10W-30, so far so good. I have also had to add coolant this week-- it's been cold here, but not as bad as Ottawa!
--
Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '92 245 w/102K mi