So far, I have replaced the fuel door hinge, turn signal switch, parking brake shoes and clockspring, AKA steering angle sensor and the engine air filter and cabin air filter. It got new Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires and tire pressure sensors last week. The parking brake still needs more attention in that I need to get the cable properly adjusted as the parking brake as it is now is barely functional but better than the day I bought it.
I originally envisioned dropping the engine from the car and just doing a complete engine reseal and “while I’m in there” repairs in one go, but as I was pricing all the parts and then thinking of the labor involved, I decided to break it into smaller pieces, so the timing cover is the first phase. During this repair, I will also be replacing spark plugs, fuel injectors, the PCV valve, fuel pressure sensor, water pump, serpentine belt with tensioner and idlers and thermostat. I got all the parts from FCP Euro because I like their lifetime warranty and I have had good results with parts for my other cars from them, so why change?
I started on the timing cover part of the job a little after 9 am after replacing the fuel filter, draining the oil and emptying the cooling system while I was under the car. The fuel filter had been replaced at some point previously but I feel better resetting all the maintenance repairs with my parts so I can get on a schedule to follow from zero.
You all know what the XC90 looks like with a V8 under the hood, but I like this picture as my starting point.
After getting the engine covers off, I went for stripping the serpentine belt drive components off. I sucked out as much power steering fluid from the reservoir as I could so there would be less to spill once I open up that system. Then it was out with the airbox and disconnecting the hoses and such that are necessary to remove the upper intake manifold. Everything going smoothly so far and before I knew it, the upper intake manifold is off.
Getting the fuel rail out is next. Since I am going to be installing a new fuel pressure sensor, I may as well remove that while I’m here. Also, that PCV crossover hose will be replaced. That is part of the timing cover reseal kit that FCP Euro put together to make buying the parts for this job easier. The fuel rail was not coming easy – it rarely does – so I decided to get the power steering pump off. Unsurprisingly, it seems the power steering pump was leaking into the valley like it is known to do. I have a kit to reseal that too and stop that leak.
Back to the fuel rail. I had been careful to disconnect all the injectors but as the fuel rail was coming out, one of the connectors – at cylinder 2 – broke as it was smashed against the lower manifold. I was surprised it broke so spectacularly because I was being as gentle as I could be. I will attribute that to old, brittle plastic. Probably 2/3 of the connector broke and a piece of it went into the intake port, luckily caught by the mostly closed intake valve.
What is left of the connector is the locking tab and the remaining 1/3 of the connector, so it will lock securely on the injector. I think I’m going to be OK with that.
So now with the lower intake manifold off, I’m going for the rear valve cover. I know this is difficult because of the 2 ignition coil ground wires attached to studbolts on the back of the valve cover. If you try to take the upper nut off to free the eyelet for the ground, the studbolt will break loose before the nut does. Luckily, I have a thin set of combination wrenches just for this. The problem is that there is not a lot of room back there to maneuver a wrench. The easier option is to cut the wires and repair them when you are going back together. I would rather not cut my wires, so I fought with it and after what must have been 30 minutes or so, I got those 2 nuts off to free the grounds without cutting the wires. Now getting the valve covers off would be pretty simple. The valve cover gaskets were not as brittle as I expected but the VVT solenoid seals were very brittle. My kit came with VVT solenoid seals as well, so I removed all 4 of those before I threw each valve cover into the parts washer.
I was a little disappointed to see carbon buildup on parts of the camshafts and inside the engine. It certainly is not the worst I’ve ever seen, but I was hoping for less. I had considered doing an engine flush prior to draining the oil but I decided to wait and see inside the engine first. Now that I see, I think next oil change I will run a flush through it before I drain the oil.
I hope the new PCV valve (and my better maintenance schedule) will help mitigate any worsening of this. I am not terribly concerned with the golden colored engine internals, as every Volvo V8 I’ve been in looks like that. In contrast, the W11 engine in my 2003 Mini Cooper, which I’ve owned since new, was beautiful, clean aluminum colored and sludge free when I pulled that valve cover after 155k miles.
When I was pulling the harmonic balancer off the crank, I sure wished I had a ratcheting 27mm wrench. Since I did not, it was removal 1/4 turn of the forcing nut at a time. With the harmonic balancer off, it’s just 23 bolts and the timing cover can come off. I appreciate the abundant space in the XC90 engine bay to remove the timing cover. Having done a couple V8 balance shaft jobs in chassis, the words “abundant space” do not apply in the context of that job. I learned that balance shaft replacement it better done when you drop the engine from the car. It’s a much less frustrating experience when you have all the room you need to do your work. But I digress.
After 5 hours, here I am.
I never call this stage the halfway point because it is so much easier to disassemble an engine than assemble it. Valve cover and timing cover need to be cleaned along with the engine sealing surfaces. Cleaning the engine sealing surfaces is not something I enjoy but I always do the best I can because I would rather spend the time now to clean well than to half-ass it and possibly have to redo the work.
I stopped working a little after 3pm because we had to be out of the shop by 4pm. Tomorrow will be a half day, so I just need to make sure my XC90 is in condition to be pushed outside Monday morning – that means the timing cover must be on so I can get the right side motor mount back on to support the engine. I would prefer to have the engine sealed up before I push it outside, so as long as engine cleaning goes smoothly, I think it is not unreasonable for me to have my engine at that point by time we leave tomorrow.
I will try to update this thread tomorrow afternoon and I will keep the updates coming until the job is done. Once the engine is sealed, I’m not sure how much longer until it is running. The X factor in this job is resealing the power steering pump and cleaning. If I’ve got 6 hours in it so far, I might guess 8-10 more hours to finish, perhaps?