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Damn it.

B

bitjockey

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Location
behind the drive axles... for once
Well, I was wanting to wait until I had a good solid month of time to do this rebuild right...

Pulling out of Texaco Tuesday night... gassed it a bit to merge with traffic, wasn't even making any boost. BOOM BOOM CLUNK. I made it down the road a bit, blowing a smoke screen that was worthy of a James Bond flick. I had never heard it idle that rough in my life, and when I opened the throttle, it sounded as if two cylinders were constantly backfiring.

D'oh. After further inspection (removal of the cam belt cover), the tensioner failed and let the belt slip loose. Now I was under the impression that the B230 was a non-interference head, however you should see some of the valves I'm pulling out of this thing... :(

I did a compression test:

Cyl 1: 138psi
Cyl 2: 23psi
Cyl 3: 28psi
Cyl 4: 88psi

Yikes. So I decided just to get started on pulling this thing a little early. Head is going to my mechanic on monday, he's gonna throw the V15 in and do all the shim work, port/polish, 3-angle valve job, enlarge the chambers... really work it over. He used to build 2.7l Porsche engines for the factory team in Germany so I think its gonna turn out well.

For now, pictures are here. More will be coming as I continue to tear this thing apart.

http://www.pbase.com/bitjockey/rebuild

Anyone know how to get the two bolts on the oil return line from the turbo? Good god... I don't have an extension long enough and they're blocked by the oil filter adapter if I did. :evil:
 
Bummer,
I too had a major problem yesterday. I was going Mountain Biking and was at the last traffic light from I-75 and my 740 wagon would not move anymore. The AW-71 transmission took a dump! :(
Have to wait next week to order rebuild kit. What a way to enjoy a ThanksGiving when our Tanks aint Giving anymore!
BitJockey, is your trip to Florida still on :?:

Mr. U 8)
 
What kind of oil and what change intervals have you been using? looking at the pics, the inside of the head has like baked on oil. My 91 b230f that has been using dino 10w30 for the past 151k... (just switched to synthetic)... was WAAY cleaner.

Kevin
 
bitjockey said:
Anyone know how to get the two bolts on the oil return line from the turbo? Good god... I don't have an extension long enough and they're blocked by the oil filter adapter if I did. :evil:
Click to expand...

crowsfoot.jpg

http://www.tools-plus.com/automotive-wrenches--crows-foot--metric.html

called a crows foot...what i had to use to tighten mine

sorry to hear about what happened.... how many miles did ya have on it and what signs did it show that it needed the rebuild? and how much is all te head work costing ya?
 
Hey Robin I thought you were already running the BOV & the 16g...?

either way, shiatty deal man. I've had a t-belt let go on me before but it didn't bend any valves... of course I wasn't flooring it. I had just started it after putting my cam gear on and I forgot to remove the nail I had used to hold the tensioner back...
 
Oh man that sucks bad. You think it's a non-interference engine, and then all your valves get destroyed when the belt breaks. That scares the crap out of me. Your valves were all martyrs for the cause at least. Thanks for letting us know that yes catastrophic damage is possible. Was your head or block shaved at all before this happened? Which cam did you have in when it happened?

P.S. Coming to Florida eh? I live in FL, and most people agree I'm not a bastard. Maybe you should stop by if I haven't peeved you about something.
 
[quote:01a2cd8256]What kind of oil and what change intervals have you been using?[/quote:01a2cd8256]

The previous owner, who knows what he did... I got the car with 150k on it and since then used Amsoil every 4k, until it grenaded at 189k. It may look like the oil is "baked" on, but thats just the color. Everything is spotless and very clean. Cam shows almost no wear at all...

[quote:01a2cd8256]called a crows foot...what i had to use to tighten mine[/quote:01a2cd8256]

Finally got it... had to assemble the puzzle of U-joints and extensions up in the area of the drain pipe... then attach the mini-ratchet and pound on that with a hammer. What a pain in the ass.

[quote:01a2cd8256]how many miles did ya have on it and what signs did it show that it needed the rebuild? and how much is all te head work costing ya?[/quote:01a2cd8256]

Engine had 189k on it, turbo has 50 or so. It was slapping really badly cold, and badly when the engine was hot as well. It got to the point at high RPMs where it would be enough to trigger the knock sensor. I went from a 14.6 to a 15.2 since I've had the car. I've had a blown headgasket for a few months now, but it was running fine so I didn't wanna mess with it until I had the time. Head work is cheap if not free, my mechanic owes me a favor and he kinda sees my car as a pseudo-project for him, cause he is intrigued by volvo performance... he's a porsche man.

[quote:01a2cd8256]Disconnect that lower rad hose before you pull the head.[/quote:01a2cd8256]

I did, dammit... the little bit of coolant in the cylinder was just the leftover stuff in the head... i'm not a moron :)

[quote:01a2cd8256]Hey Robin I thought you were already running the BOV & the 16g...? [/quote:01a2cd8256]

Nope, they're going on when this thing is completed.

[quote:01a2cd8256]Was your head or block shaved at all before this happened? Which cam did you have in when it happened?[/quote:01a2cd8256]

Neither had been touched... AFAIK the head has never been off of the engine before. Stock T bumpstick was in there when it went kablooie. Just glad the higher-lift V15 wasn't in there at the time.

[quote:01a2cd8256]Maybe you should stop by if I haven't peeved you about something.[/quote:01a2cd8256]

Bwahahahah... yeah, I might do that, if you promise you're not a bastard. Where in FL? I grew up in Fort Myers... I'm goin down to Miami with the woman for new years (28th-5th) and I'll be on the west coast just after that I believe to visit family. LMK where you are and I'll be sure and drop in. Unless you're out in Lake City or some BFE part of the sunshine state.
 
That sucks, at least you still ended up with a block to rebuild since it didn't throw a rod like mine :wink:

As far as the turbo, I know you got it but it was just as easy to unbolt the mani and support bracket then pull it off the head and the dain line comes out with the turbo as a unit.

Odd about the valves etc, when the piston broke the top half hit the head and its visible on the piston but no valve damage.

Good luck on the rebuild etc.

Late.
 
an easier way to do the oil return on the turbo is to leave it attached to the center cartridge, and leave it attached to the exh. man, and remove the exh man / turbo as one piece.

I've done it this way ~4 times... last center cartridge replacement took 1.5 hours, but that's only because I had to frig with the new oil feed line.

JBWeld works great on the oil return - to - block seal.
 
Robin,
Did I read that right? You are going to be in Florida around new years then you are going to the sunshine state (CA)? Ummm, bro, that is some SERIOUS driving!

Anyways, if you are coming out to Cali, give me a shout. What part are you headed to? I'll take you out to the illegals if you come up my way. There was at least 400 cars last Sat night :shock: . Getting kinda crazy, but it's cool to go watch. No use trying to race with that many people, takes over 30 minutes of waiting in line to race.

By the way, your head looked clean to me. Most of them have that golden color to them when they are clean. You should see some of the sludge monsters at pick n pull!

Looks like you will be making a custom downpipe for your turbo also. You are going to be done in 30 days or less? Then drive it from one side of the country to the other? Will you be pulling a trailer to carry your balls in? :urgod:

Later,
Patrick D.
 
no kidding. my car ain't leaving the city limits for several weeks after it's running.

I see the rad hose was pulled, doesn't look like everything drained very well though, maybe it's just the pics because the coolant passages look full of coolant.

*cough*oversize valves *cough*
 
CaptainBondo said:
I see the rad hose was pulled, doesn't look like everything drained very well though, maybe it's just the pics because the coolant passages look full of coolant.
Click to expand...

There's also the drain on the exh. side of the block, which is what I would use to drain the coolant.
 
Well, it really depends. Increasing the port volume will generally lower the air velocity at low flows, and more open valve area will do the same.

This can effect cylinder filling negatively, however, there are decreased pressure drops now which help VE, wether or not they offset each other what the net effect is depends on the work itself and many other factors.

So , you might lose a little but as long as the headwork is done intelligently with the engine's intended duties in mind it's probably negligible. I mean, even a seriously worked head is not approaching the peak flow/valve area of a stockish 16v so that's one way to look at it.

The major flow increase are going to be seen in the area of combustion chamber and bowl work though, which don't really effect low flow air speed. The valve unshroud could effect swirl, which in a really indirect way might effect bottom end, but I doubt it's significant.

I still say though if you want bottom end buy a B230f, mill the head, and put a t cam in it and have fun shifting at 4000rpm and running 18's. :D
 
Umm... Florida is the Sunshine State.

Not Cali.

:)

And I'm only driving the car to FL if its totally complete and running perfectly and I've got 500mi of break-in time with it. I'm not exactly firing the thing up and heading down I-95.

Otherwise we're taking my girlfriend's Cherokee. Blah.

[quote:a69bbe363b]but that's only because I had to frig with the new oil feed line. [/quote:a69bbe363b]

I don't even WANT to think about what I'm gonna do to that. Looks completely inaccessible once the block is back together... ugh.
 
Damn! I was looking forward to racing you! :D

We've been called the sunshine state a time or 2 also. 8)

Oh well, maybe I'll stop by on my way over there next spring/summer.

Patrick D.
 
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