Greetings,

I was told by a mechanic that to do a valve job on any head will very likely result in ring failure and smoking in short order. He advises against doing a valve job along with the head gasget for this reason. My Brick is an 8 valve B230 non turbo with 134K and was not well maintained before I got it. It is now spotless under the hood with most everything replaced with quality parts.

I am considering buing a rebuild head that has already had a valve job done, been pressure tested, and machined mating surface for about $250

Are all the B230 heads the same for the 8 valve motors?
Is 5-6 hours realistic for this job for a first timer with a good array of air tools?

thanks

In the days of soft rings and engines that wouldn't run over 65,000 miles that was an accepted practice, so he probably has been misinformed by his Grandpa. Putting on a new head should only improve the performance.

Regards,

I grew up with the understanding that 100,000 miles was a good life for a vehicle...this is from my Dad who driving around in the 50's as a teen.

As soon as I started to drive Japanese cars I realized the standard had been raised. And so it goes with Sweden as well..
--
Norm Cook Vancouver BC; 1989 745T 204,000KM

I doubt that your car needs a valve job. A valve job, good or bad, will have no effect on the pistons and rings in your car. Find another mechanic, this guy is full if it.
--
john

Your mechanic is an idiot and you need a new one in short order.

A "valve job" consists of re-seating the valve faces and seats so that they seal against combution pressures, making sure that stem and guide wear is not out of limits, and installing new valve stem oil seals. At 134k, I am not really sure you need a valve job, but it can't hurt to have the machine shop do a slight lapping of the faces and install new seals. Almost certainly your stems and guides are in good shape. While you are at it, install new valve tappet "husher" pads that reduce valve noise before you reinstall the head: this requires removing the cam.

See the 700/900 FAQ under "features" button above for many more details on all of the above.

your mechanic is full of crap. i did a valve job and head gasket on my car at 330,000 miles over the summer....no issues yet. he is thinking that the increased holding power of the valves will force blow-by of the pistons. this is gonna occure to a limited extent in any car with these kinds of miles. i would say that a valve job is unnecessary now, but is not a bad idea anyway. do the valve job...replace the seals (USE VOLVO and not immitation seals) and the guides and put a good graphite head gasket on and plan on never fooling with the top end untill you hit half a mill on the odometer. good luck

Well, there appears to be a consensus. Why would you let a guy (I edited a stronger word out) like that work on your car, let alone bend your ear?

Yes, a consensus of shade tree mechanics.
Unfortunetely, the "old" mechanic is dead right....

I don't recall seeing too many (any) oil burning Volvos on the road. Hondas, Toyotas, domestics all the time. Volvos no. I do not think rebuilding is too often necessary. But then again, I do not talk to any shop mechanics anymore, or pay to experience their successes and mistakes.

I was referring to the issue at hand, not necessarily as
it pertains to VOLVOs. To do the job right, one needs
to rebuild the head, and put in at least a new set of piston rings.

I assume we are talking about the original engine.
If you rebuild the head, or get another one, and leave
the rest of the engine the same, you will not accomplish
much. Meaning, it's like taking a shower and putting the
same underware on....

Pistons and cylinders are worn out, and there is certain
amount of blow-by. With rebuilt head, there will be a loss
of balance, and blow-by will increase, resulting in smoking,
and oil consumption.

If the head gasket needs replacing, go ahead and do it.
No need to rebuild the head.

I picked up a car with a blowen head once, i purchased a refurbed head threw it on and it has been running since, other then piston slap which is normall for an 87 turbo thats my only beef with the whole car, id say go for it unless there is something else to the story here

And I'm quite sure that Bubba taught him that when he went to mechanic'n skool around a 12 pack of bud in someones driveway.

Old wive's tale.
--
-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '82 Mercedes 300SD

I would ask him why it would happen on a volvo but not a honda or a toyota? I have had to put new heads on those cars and never had a problem with the rings. Sounds like he might be smoking something of his own.