Cooked B200FT Wentworth Estate 86k

[Steve 940]

Normally I like my better half’s cooking, but this morning she borrowed the car to drop some furniture to her sisters some 15 miles away.

Just had call, and stranded 1 mile from home, car had cut out….. on getting there, even from 10 yards away there was a very distinct ‘cooked engine’ smell.🙁🙁. One very empty expansion tank, and signs of a major leak somewhere on the left front side as water sitting on main chassis rail

On having a ‘full and frank’ discussion about what had happened, 😀😀she said an orange light appeared on dash, heater went cold then some odd noises around 10 mins later, 10 mins later!! Well the light was orange not red was the response. On checking, it was the lambda light.

Oh well, now what to do?? as I have rather foolishly grown fond of the old thing since joining Volvo ownership a few years ago.

1. Source a replacement engine, and fit myself. Gulp, have no prior experience on doing these. Always a bit of a lottery I suppose, as all spare engines will probably be described as good runners.

2. Get my garage to do a swap for me.

3. Cut my losses and look for a 245/745

4. Just forget all about this messing around with motors of a certain age.

Any guidance or suggestions most welcome, and any pointers of how to assess if the actual engine has managed to dodge a bullet and survived also most welcome.

Cheers
Steve


PS just poured some water in to see if an obvious leak source, and almost immediately a lot of water coming from bottom hose/ outlet. As it’s a new rad probably not even a year old, I had to shut the bonnet and walk away🙁🙁

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Steve 940

Normally I like my better half’s cooking, but this morning she borrowed the car to drop some furniture to her sisters some 15 miles away.

Just had call, and stranded 1 mile from home, car had cut out….. on getting there, even from 10 yards away there was a very distinct ‘cooked engine’ smell.🙁🙁. One very empty expansion tank, and signs of a major leak somewhere on the left front side as water sitting on main chassis rail

On having a ‘full and frank’ discussion about what had happened, 😀😀she said an orange light appeared on dash, heater went cold then some odd noises around 10 mins later, 10 mins later!! Well the light was orange not red was the response. On checking, it was the lambda light.

Oh well, now what to do?? as I have rather foolishly grown fond of the old thing since joining Volvo ownership a few years ago.

1. Source a replacement engine, and fit myself. Gulp, have no prior experience on doing these. Always a bit of a lottery I suppose, as all spare engines will probably be described as good runners.

2. Get my garage to do a swap for me.

3. Cut my losses and look for a 245/745

4. Just forget all about this messing around with motors of a certain age.

Any guidance or suggestions most welcome, and any pointers of how to assess if the actual engine has managed to dodge a bullet and survived also most welcome.

Cheers
Steve

Whip the head off and get it skimmed and bung it all back together !! It's a redblock Steve

[Steve 940]

Hi Mark,

Well I wish I had your optimism 😀😀 I have vowed not to look at it any more today, but from her description of mechanical and metallic noises I do fear major issues, perhaps with the bottom end/pistons/bores……

Cheers
Steve

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Steve 940

Hi Mark,

Well I wish I had your optimism 😀😀 I have vowed not to look at it any more today, but from her description of mechanical and metallic noises I do fear major issues, perhaps with the bottom end/pistons/bores……

Cheers
Steve

They are tough as old boots Steve. Turn over by hand once fully cooled. Find leak,fix leak and try to start

[john.wigley]

Steve, nil desperandum. As 'griston64' said, 'it's a redblock!

I once had the bottom hose to rad clip break on my 940 and although I caught it in time, the resulting leak resembled the Niagara Falls. As yours is a new rad, were the clips and hoses replaced at the same time? If you are lucky, it may be just the clip.

If you do need a new engine, a RWD redblock engine, especially a manual, is one of the most straightforward that I know to remove and refit. It is heavy, yes, but not difficult. Hire a robust engine crane or hoist and ideally also recruit a couple of mates around for both moral and physical support. You also have the collective wisdom of forum members to call upon if you find yourself in need of technical advice or assistance.

Take a step back, deep breath, and tackle it is you would approach any other mechanical problem on the car - it's only a question of scale; in some ways that can make a job easier.

From your past posts and what you have done on your car, I have every confidence in your ability to tackle and successfully complete the job. Stop procrastinating and go for it!

Regards, John.

[Paulk]

I agree with John it is a simple engine - I stripped down and rebuilt a b21a engine myself many years ago - quite a straightforward process!

(With the radiator and front panel removed I was able to sit on the front bumper in comfort while refitting various parts to the engine!)

[Moomoo]

Bloomin eck, you could have done without that mate!☹️

[mister grimsdale]

You have my sympathy! This has happened to me twice now, and the good news is that I'm still driving the same car.

First time, I had no working temperature gauge and the engine got hot enough to melt the cambelt cover. The car was recovered to my driveway by the AA and wouldn't start, and I just assumed it had blown the head hasket. My local independent garage had a look at it, and they did skim the head and replace the head gasket but they reported that it had actually looked OK. The non-start seems to have been down to stuck rings, and it spent a week or so sitting in a corner at the garage with diesel in the bores before they managed to get it running again.

Second time, the metal pipe from the back of the water pump failed on the motorway. Car still driveable after recovery, but overheating and pressurising the coolant, so clearly this time the gasket had gone. The same garage declared the original head too warped to recover (given that it had already been skimmed once), but Andy from this forum saved the day with a replacement head.

All very depressing at the time, but I'm glad I didn't torch it at the roadside as I was briefly tempted to do. And it may be, as others have already suggested, that you'll have got away with it. With hindsight, I might have got away, the first time, with diesel down the bores and trying to start it up. Good luck, whichever course you choose!

[classicswede]

Originally Posted by Steve 940

Oh well, now what to do?? as I have rather foolishly grown fond of the old thing since joining Volvo ownership a few years ago.

First thing to do is get it holding coolant.
Turn teh engine over by hand

Try runnning it and see how it sounds

You might find it just wants the coolant loss sorting, and probably a new head gasket and skim

[baggy798]

Why does it always seem to be women that ignore warning signs or anything to do with an engine?

+ YouTube Video