LEVEL-UP: HEAD GASKET REPLACEMENT
A bit of a step up for Dale, who’s never tried to change a head gasket before. What could possibly go wrong?
list. So with the right tools, a little knowledge and a whole heap of bravado I got to work.
Wanting to keep the strip-down as simple as possible I discovered that I could simply wiggle the intake and exhaust manifolds aside to enable me to liberate the cylinder head without removing large chunks of the engine. Obviously all of the ancillaries had to be disconnected and the fluids drained but essentially I was able to leave most of the parts attached, including all of the turbo gubbins (something that would later come back to bite me in the proverbial). The camshaft had to be removed to allow access to the cylinder head bolts but the ’head itself came out with surprisingly little trouble.
The gasket looked a little shabby, which would possibly explain why I was losing coolant very slowly, but with all of the material stripped from the ’head and block I was able to inspect both surfaces fully and ensure that they were flat using a straight edge and a feeler gauge. Happy that the tolerances had been met I could then tidy up, fit the new gaskets – along with fresh bolts and valve hushers (boy, were they past it!) – and put it all back together again.
With bolts correctly torqued and all of the fittings and fixings re-connected I topped off the fluids and started the car with everything cross-able crossed. Much to my delight it fired up straight away and sounded great. It was at this point, however, that I noticed a large pool
OWNED SINCE July 2019 MILEAGE SINCE LAST REPORT 2130 TOTAL MILEAGE 218,689 LATEST COSTS £75
’It was at this point that I noticed a large pool of oil creeping towards me’
of oil creeping towards my feet. I should have known that it was all going far too swimmingly and I quickly turned the engine off to inspect the cause of the rather nasty mess that I was now standing in.
As it turns out – and obviously unbeknownst to me – the turbo oil return pipe had popped out of the block due when I’d moved the exhaust manifold, it being a press fit that’s merely held in place by virtue of everything else being bolted together correctly. Not a huge setback in the grand scheme of things but I couldn’t re-fit it for the life of me so I had to remove the entire setup to allow the correct angle for re-insertion, so to speak. This involved making a new gasket, too, because I didn’t have time to wait for delivery due to the Volvo being my only car.
Despite this blunder it turned out to be a fairly straightforward job and one that I’m glad that I attempted because it taught me a lot about the car and my own abilities. Not only that but the new hushers and manifold gaskets mean that the engine runs much quieter now.
In hindsight it was perhaps a little foolish of me to tackle such an indepth task but being the petrolhead that I am it has only bolstered my confidence and inspired me to acquire another classic to tamper with in case I ever need a back-up.
When will I ever learn?