Caffiend Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Hello! I'm new to the forum. I've had a 1997 850 AWD with 5-speed manual for about 9 months now. Cosmetically a little worse for wear but the pre-purchase inspection told me that it was mechanically sound and had some recent work done. Before Christmas I noticed that my oil was starting to look like milky coffee and a web search along with a convo with my mechanic suggest that it is coolant leaking in to the oil through a blown head gasket. Losing a bit of coolant over time seems to confirm that. I drove it for a bit like that since the coolant temp gauge showed normal but ended up putting the car in storage since I didn't want to damage the motor and couldn't afford to fix it right away. I've thought about just selling it but I'll have the money to fix it soon and I do like the car; it's comfortable, space for days, looks kind of funky and I know Volvo wagons with stick are rare as hen's teeth. Ultimately if I did keep it and fix it I would like to swap out the low-pressure turbo and squeeze some more juice out of the car. I'd likely get at least a slight 'friend discount' from my mechanic but at this point I don't know if it's just the gasket or if the head or block are cracked. I've thought about running come sealer through the coolant and seeing how that goes but that doesn't bode well for long-term integrity of the motor. I could try to track down another motor or even swap in an HPT motor but I'm worried that would be even more expensive and possibly run in to transmission mating issues. What would you suggest? Should I get it fixed, swap the motor, or sell it and run screaming? Thanks for the advice! - Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRoc Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 How many miles does it got on it? And does your coolant look kind of off colored from oil contamination? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caffiend Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 About 245000 km (ish, I had to fix the odometer so who knows what it actually is). The coolant itself looked fine when I last looked at it directly, the level is just low. The oil on the dipstick howver almost looks like a latte and is more goopy than oily. I'll also add that I get smoke out the tailpipe even when the engine is up to temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volvoguy23 Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I doubt it's the head gasket. short trips or not allowing the engine to warm up properly will cause this milky look on the dipstick. have you drained the oil? compression check? does the car feel low on power? your heater core could be slowly leaking or you could have a small coolant leak under the hood. as for the smoke it could be the turbo leaking a bit or valve stem seals... i wouldn't jump straight to the conclusion of the head gasket being blown....if it's really blown your coolant reservoir will boil and have smoke/steam pouring out of it after 10mins of running. you have a really rare Volvo and even if your head gasket was blown i would replace..or swap in a 2.3 like you said...all up to you. by the way that transmission will bolt up to any white block Rn or N...meaning get any motor you want...if you think it needs replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRoc Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Yeah if you do a lot of short trips like he said the system doesn't have enough time to burn off the moisture in the system. The low coolant might just be a coolant leak somewhere. Check the little rubber pipe that runs behind the top of the engine. Do an oil change and while you are at it throw a new dipstick o'ring in, yours could have a bad seal after all these years. Mine had the problem of milky oil when I was doing a bunch of short trips to work and I just changed the oil and replaced the o ring. No more milky oil. I also used synthetic oil which might have helped with that. You should run it too if you are not already doing so, better for your turbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caffiend Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I've had it in my friend's yard for the last two months on storage insurance, starting it periodically (which would only exacerbate the issue from what you are telling me). It didn't particularly feel low on power when I parked it, though I was really babying it to avoid risking any damage. I haven't checked compression yet, do you know what the figures should be? Boy am I going to be pissed if all I needed to do was change the oil and drive it MORE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keaton85 Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Storing a vehicle in the cold is one thing, but if you start it every once in a while, your just putting added wear and moisture into the engine. When stored in cold weather just leave it be. Pull the battery and keep it on a trickle charger. If mice are prevalent then use some moth balls in the engine bay and air filter housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caffiend Posted April 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 I haven't had a chance to do a compression or other test yet but I did an oil change today and topped up the coolant and the oil I drained looked fine, completely unlike the latte-ish look of the oil that was on the dipstick. I'm going to put it back on road insurance ASAP and drive around for a bit to see if it recurs with longer driving. I am still getting a white smoke/steam from the exhuast and I want to see if that goes away. I'll drive around for a bit and keep an eye on my coolant level. If I'm still getting smoke/steam/whatever I'll run a bottle of irontite through the coolant system and see if that helps. So that's that, I'll let you know what I find! Now to figure out this p0243 Wastegate Solenoid A code that's popped up. Thanks again for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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