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Finally got my car back from repair after the core plug incident. They also found that the gasket for the thermostat housing were faulty, which could explain the minor coolant loss I were experiencing earlier. They were concerned that the engine might’ve suffered serious damage since I have potentially driven the car 6km (4-ish miles) before I stopped. Everything checked out good, so no damage done thankfully.
Anyhow, on to the main topic regarding the tapping noise. The workshop pulled out and checked the shaft and found no significant wear, not really worn at all. They double checked that the flame arrestor/crank case ventilation doohickey is the correct part, which it was. It was also found that the valves were really loose, so those got adjusted. Guess the dealership actually didn’t adjust the valves then, 600 bucks well spent… Several people had looked into the noise while troubleshooting. No one could figure out the cause. However, the engine is a lot more quiet now after the valve adjustment. Quiet enough so that people don’t rise an eyebrow when the engine is running. There are still some of the tapping noise left, but it disappears once the engine start to warm up.
Yes, I would think it would have oil consumption and such, but it doesn’t. It did use oil the first year or so, but only because it were leaking past all gaskets/seals while they settled in. Had to top it up maybe once before the next oil change. The engine looks like a mess and I probably should degrease and clean it a bit for aesthetic purposes. Half a year ago or so, it stopped. The oil level stays the same. The vacuum is better after the rebuild, compression is good and all that. Just that annoying noise…
I guess the coolant issue is just a pure coincidence and bad luck. If combustion pressure is leaking into the cooling system, then the coolant should be contaminated? Haven’t ever seen any evidence of contamination, nor any abnormal fumes from the exhaust that would indicate coolant leaking into the combustion chamber.
Spoke with someone else today. That person said this sounds very much like I have something called “piston slap”. Since the noise is best heard when cold, and almost gone when at operating temperature. Can’t really be that oil pump shaft that has gone bad, since it isn’t really a part that is exposed to high wear. It would also need excessive unrealistic wear to, if at all, cause such noises. I’ve even looked at a couple disassembled shafts from engines that have run around 400.000km (250.000 miles). Wasn’t really any wear at all on those. I used some calipers to inspect and found the slotted end to still be flat, no uneven wear.
If it is “piston slap”, then the workshop have messed up big time, since the pistons are too small for the bore used. I were told the only way to fix this 100% is to change pistons and new bore again. Really hope it isn’t that serious…. Either way, that person also suggested the engine should be disassembled and checked. Just listening to the engine with a stethoscope isn’t enough to conclude what’s wrong.
Just to top it off, one of the core plugs popped out the other day… Not sure if it is related, but I’ve had issues with the cooling system too after the rebuild. Had to change the radiator as it got a oval shape and started to leak, all the gaskets on the water pump blew earlier this summer and now that core plug popped out.
I don’t see how it can drive the distributor. Perhaps you’re thinking of the older engines that have it in the front? My engine have the distributor on the back on the cam shaft.
Anyhow, I do see your point. All they did were to listen around with a stethoscope. I did pay a small fortune for the rebuild and did request that I wanted it as good as when it left the factory. Doubt it had knocking sounds when it were new.
Perhaps I should pull out the shaft and inspect it. I guess any wear would be rather obvious to spot, even if I don’t have experience.
I’ve been in contact with the engine workshop now. I drove to them and they listened more thoroughly on my engine. They concluded that a shaft going to the oil pump assembly is the culprit. The slot it fits into gets worn and it will rattle around. I just got a bunch of disclaimers, so basically they wouldn’t take any responsibility for this since they just put back what they took out… They said it is really easy to replace, I just had to pull out the flame arrestor/crank case breather and pull out the shaft from the hole.
Now comes the not so fun part… The engine workshop insisted that I could buy this part at Volvo, but it turns out it is discontinued. Now is the big question, what to do now? I’m going to ask around and see if it is possible to machine and “rebuild” this part. If not, I guess I’ll have to kiss a frog and buy a second hand one and most likely end up with the same result. Not uncommon these engines have run at least 400.000 km, or about 250.000 miles, which is the estimated milage of my engine when it was rebuilt.
Guess I’m not so lucky with cars. 😛
The culprit is part number 15, which the arrow points at.
Yes, I were a bit surprised about the oil. The guy at the shop explained that these older engines have larger clearance between parts in general, which makes fully synthetic oils not recommended. He did a listen to my video and concluded that it isn’t anything critical with how it sounds, so I could continue to drive my car while waiting. He said it shouldn’t sound like that, but it were only annoying and not harmful.
I am a bit unsure how much I can demand. My experience is that I am now considered an expense from the shops perspective. Would it be too much to ask for the engine to be taken out and completely checked? I paid a lot of money for this rebuild, after all.
I would’ve done a replacement, but taking into consideration how rare this engine is and the risk of replacing junk with junk, I opted for rebuild instead. I could have put in a different engine, but the strict vehicle regulations we have here can make it very challenging. A legal engine swap involves written requests to the authorities, documentation, time and money.
At least I have done what I can do on my own.
Thought I’d update this thread. I’ve had my car at the dealership and burned off around 240 USD on valve adjustment. The result wasn’t what I were hoping for. The noise is still there… I then drove to the workshop that did the engine disassembly/install and had them look at my car last week. They confirmed the noise and said it sounded like it came from deeper inside the engine. They had contacted the workshop that did the rebuild and informed them about the sound.
I were told to contact the engine rebuild shop directly, which I did. The guy I spoke with said I should not drive the car and wait for him to check it out. Now comes the bad news, at least for me. He can’t look at the engine until around the middle of August since he is going on vacation now. He did however ask me to change the oil to 10W-40 semi-synthetic, since fully synthetic oils apparently are too thin eventhough they’re the correct viscosity. If the noise went away, I could continue to drive the car. I’ve now changed the oil to what he recommended, but the tapping/knocking sound persists. I were also told to smell and feel the oil I removed, and collect a sample for him to look at. For me it smells like engine oil and it has that slippery feel to it.
Since I can’t be without the car for a month, would it really be dangerous to continue driving it until he gets back from vacation? It has been like this for 1,5 years now already…
Hopefully everything was done correctly. I’ve at least done exactly as I were told to do during the break-in. Changed the oil (and filter) when I were supposed to. The driving instructions were a little bit vague, though. Were told to drive normally. Not sure what normal is, but my driving style is not to go past 3000 RPM during the first 10 minutes, or reached operating temperature. I didn’t push in the throttle enough to get positive pressure from the turbo either during that period. During the break-in I didn’t really drive with boost in general as I didn’t want to put unnecessary stress on the different components. I drove long trips every day, so it was at operating temperature the whole time. No short distance (and cold engine) trips.
Not sure if this can be related, but I found it a bit odd that almost every oil seal on the engine were leaking (or sweating) a little bit too. I were told that they haven’t seated in properly because they were brand new and should give it some time. After a year the oil stopped sweating around the different places. So guess the workshop was right about that. The oil level would decrease, but never enough for for it to be necessary to top it up inbetween oil changes. Now after the sweating stopped, it doesn’t decrease at all. I can’t see any oil droplets on the ground or hanging from the engine anymore. Probably should give it a good clean. I need to apply new paint several places too as it is flaking off because of the general engine heat.
I see. The sound is anyway louder than it should be. It wasn’t like this before the rebuild. I wouldn’t even bought the car if I heard something like that. I’ve been to a couple of Volvo car meetings and listened to other peoples engines and can say none sounded like mine. Even the older B20 engines with pushrods were a lot more quiet.
I’ve used a stethoscope and listened around the engine block. The sound is originating from the top of the engine. I could buy a set of feeler gauges that are what the spec should be and at least measure if something is too loose or tight. Since the gasket is fairly new, it shouldn’t be a problem to reuse it?
I would like to try and avoid buying parts from abroad. Anything above $30 or so (including shipping) is taxed with 25% VAT + handling fees.
The climate is fairly mild. Rarely goes below -10C in the winter and rarely above +20C in the summer. Not exactly siberia. I were told it is still acceptable to use the oil. Judging from the chart, is does look like it is acceptable. The reason the oil were used, according to the workshop, is because it is better suited for a turbocharged engine.
Did some research regarding valve adjustment, and get the impression the different workshops is right after all. At least very expensive to buy the needed equipment and require some knowledge and skill within valve adjustment. From what I found out, I would need a full set of different feeler gauges. Can’t use regular ones either as it could give wrong measurements. Need some that are called offset feeler gauges. Also need (or at least highly recommended) a special tool to help release the valve shims, as well as an expensive shim set. Well, the valve adjustment at the dealership is like $200, so not exactly cheap either. Though, I do suspect they don’t know what they’re doing since I’ve done it twice within a year and the noise is the same. I can be quite handy when working on the car, but have neither the skill or equipment needed to do the adjustment my self.
The tapping sound is quite loud. You can hear it without problems inside the car and outside it. Someone told me once it did sound like a two cylinder diesel engine.
There should be a warranty on the rebuild. I recently got the water pump replaced on warranty as it failed. I’m at least covered by laws regarding the purchase of services. I’ll contact them again before I start involving the Consumer Council. I just get the impression no one really wants to look at it unless I can provide proof something is wrong. I just wanted to make sure I’m not crazy here and get confirmation that something is out of order with my engine.
Yes, 4×4 would also have a middle drive shaft. One of the dealerships I spoke with said they had a 4×4 vehicle a year ago with a drive shaft that was out of balance. They just ordered a brand new one for the customer and scrapped the old. I’d say that at least here in Norway, drive shafts are disposable items. I’ve bought used ones earlier, but none were good. One had a loose piece stuck inside the tube (probably due to abuse), while the other ones arrived split in half with no marking on which way they go together. The vibration have varied a little bit with what position on the splines I connect the shaft. I simply don’t want to buy more used drive shafts, I will most likely exchange junk with another piece of junk. People are just too dishonest with used car parts. They’re also rare, so can’t find them locally either. The best would be to test drive a potential donor car personally to ensure it is not vibrating. That is of course almost impossible to get done.
Sweden is a good option, the only catch is that I live on the west-coast of Norway. It will be quite a long trip, a day driving just to get to the border. I would have to track down a workshop that have proper equipment to work on these cars. The workshops here in Norway don’t have the tools anymore to check angles and such, balancing, etc.
Thought I’d update this thread a little bit. The issue is still not resolved, but have made a new discovery. I recently got new summer tires for my car. The guy at the shop told me one of my rims have a dent in it that cannot be balanced. I know very well that I have not driven into any potholes or anything that would damage the rim. Its been like that the entire time I’ve had the car in other words. Probably the reason I got informed of it is because the guy working that day actually spoke the language… This is the type of business where the workers don’t speak the native language and most likely don’t care to inform about damages in general. Still haven’t found new rims, as these are quite rare. Only came on the turbo cars.
I still suspect the drive shaft is the culprit. The vibration doesn’t feel like wheel imbalance to me. Have tried to find a company that does drive shaft balancing, but no one offers this service anymore. I even asked several different car workshops and dealerships, and they confirmed that no one does it anymore. They just buy brand new axles from the original manifacturers if they’re out of balance. RWD cars just simply is too uncommon and not used anymore. Trying to find a company in another country that might accept a drive shaft sent through mail or someting, or produce one and ship it.
Have done the break-in of the engine now and all going well. The new flywheel helped a lot, don’t have the vibration when engaging the clutch now. But still have that odd vibration that occur around 1500-2000 RPM. Also still feel some vibration at around 70 km/h (43-ish mph). I suspect the culprit might be the drive-shaft. The tyres are balanced and the rims are round, so that isn’t the problem. The drive-shaft is basically the only thing I have not had checked out professionally. I’ve replaced it 3 times or so, and had vibration worse at the same speed with previous drive-shafts. The problem is that it is too long to have shipped in one piece. Everyone I’ve bought one from have pulled it apart at the middle (it does have splines) without marking the orientation. So I have no clue which position is the correct one, and have 20 possible positions or so… A lot of work to pull it apart trying to find the correct orientation. Would like to have it professionally balanced, but it seems no one does this service anymore in my country. Have to ship it out of the country to balance the drive-shaft. Not sure if I should pull everything apart potentially 20 times or find a company abroad that could balance it. Either way is a big hassle.
Have done the break-in of the engine now and all going well. The new flywheel helped a lot, don’t have the vibration when engaging the clutch now. But still have that odd vibration that occur around 1500-2000 RPM. Also still feel some vibration at around 70 km/h (43-ish mph). I suspect the culprit might be the drive-shaft. The tyres are balanced and the rims are round, so that isn’t the problem. The drive-shaft is basically the only thing I have not had checked out professionally. I’ve replaced it 3 times or so, and had vibration worse at the same speed with previous drive-shafts. The problem is that it is too long to have shipped in one piece. Everyone I’ve bought one from have pulled it apart at the middle (it does have splines) without marking the orientation. So I have no clue which position is the correct one, and have 20 possible positions or so… A lot of work to pull it apart trying to find the correct orientation. Would like to have it professionally balanced, but it seems no one does this service anymore in my country. Have to ship it out of the country to balance the drive-shaft. Not sure if I should pull everything apart potentially 20 times or find a company abroad that could balance it. Either way is a big hassle.
Quick update: The engine is now sent to the workshop. The estimate is a couple of weeks. Hopefully the rebuilt engine and brand new flywheel solves the RPM related noises and vibrations.
Included a picture of the current state of the car:
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