AQ 145B timing belt and shattered valve shim now what

"I have a pair of 1989 AQ145B

"I have a pair of 1989 AQ145B and one blew a timing belt and shattered one valve shim. Factory parts are not available, is there another shim that will fit? More important how did the shim shatter? Did the belt break and cause the damage or did the damaged shim jam the cam shaft and break the belt? Could there be more damage?"

"My guess is as good as yours

"My guess is as good as yours regarding why the shim broke, but I don't think a broken belt can cause a shim to shatter. In any case, you should be able to get the shims from an automotive parts store. Tell them that your engine block is a B230, which are installed on Volvo 244 85-93 cars.

Make sure the cam lobes are in good condition, and that the affected valve is moving freely if pressed down with a hammer handle or large screwdriver. The engine head is non-interference, so the pistons should not have touched the valves."

"Thanks, I will do that. One

"Thanks, I will do that. One more question I found the timing marks on the cam and the intermediate pullies, but can't find any timing marks on the Crank as per the shop manual. Could I just find TDC for cyl #1 by rotating by hand and checking with a dowel thru the spark plug hole and then set the cam mark at 12 o'clock?"

"Francis,

I had got my volv

"Francis,

I had got my volvo AQ151B from a guy that attempted to set the timing and distributor himself....he put the valves right through the piston.

Blowing the belt will cause the shim to shatter. Yes,there could be damage to the piston and head combustion chamber,and or valves,as it was in my case.

Find the right timing marks before attempting to start it,or it will likely break again.the crank and cams have to be aligned correctly then u move to the distributor.


Hope this helps"

"Brian, to the best of my know

"Brian, to the best of my knowledge the AQ151B is a non-interference engine and the pistons should not hit the valves if the timing belt breaks or is installed incorrectly. The AQ171 (DOHC) is another story...."

"El Pescador,

With all due

"El Pescador,

With all due respect,

The boat that i currently own the AQ151B,i got from a customer at the marina where i work because he had changed the timing belt himself and had the distributor installed incorrectly.

When he tried to start the motor,it backfired sending the valves right through the piston. I purchased the boat ( very cheap ), put a new piston,and head on it....and drive it today,so don't tell me it can't happen.

The valves were in pieces in the cylinder."

"Brian,

You may want to rea

"Brian,

You may want to read my post again. I am not questioning the facts of your problem, and I am not saying it cannot happen. I said "<u>to the best of my knowledge</u> the AQ151B is a non-interference engine and the pistons <u>should</u> not hit the valves if the timing belt breaks or is installed incorrectly". And even when I make an affirmative statement, remember it is just my opinion or my own experience, and I am not always right.

From my perspective, there are a few reasons why a piston could hit the valves in an otherwise non-interference engine, and one of them would be installing a very aggressive cam that opens the valves further than they were initially designed for. I don't know if that could be your case.

The other question is, when you mention "the valves were in pieces in the cylinder", was it in just one cylinder or in more than one? If it was an interference engine, I would expect that more than one cylinder would show some sort of damage.

Also, I would like to state that I strongly disagree with the statement you made on another post "That's what Volvo's are famous for, blowing timing belts that wreak havoc, and cause damage". In fact, I strongly believe (and I believe most people will agree with me) that Volvo is actually famous for the opposite of what you stated.

http://www.marineengine.com/discus/messages/12487/289686.shtml"

"El,

I'm not trying to

"El,

I'm not trying to give you a hard time,and remember mine is just an opinion as well. I work for a living as a marine mechanic and see these same timing related issues on Volvo's on a regular basis.

It's not just a hunch,i speak from my experience in dealing with them. I have seen more than my share of shot Volvo's because someone thought they knew how to fix one.

I happen to love mine. But at the same time, i do feel that they are prone to damage due to incompetence by their owners."

"El,

I'm sorry, i see a

"El,

I'm sorry, i see above you had asked me if it was just one or more cylinders with damage. Damage was only on # 2 cylinder, and only the intake valve had snapped, gouging the top of head and hammering a hole in the piston."

"I feel tempted to 'chip i

"I feel tempted to 'chip in' a comment.
The B230 engine is one of the very few non-interference engines on the market. You may remove the belt and crank the engine until your battery gets flat, without the pistons hitting the valves, but! If you for some reason gets water intrusion into the cylinder, you are doomed!
Install the belt wrongly and miss your timing, that risk is considerable. The 'main' problem I had in my time with those engines connected to 'broken' belts, were that water entered cyl 4 without being noticed. After some time, all of a sudden the rod went through the block, killed the starter and finished the most off. But pistons knocking the valves I have never experienced unless another reason, mainly water, have been present."

"Morten,

I have to agree wi

"Morten,

I have to agree with you on the belt issue and the risk being considerable. That has been my experience working in the marine industry as a mechanic ,with those motors as well."

"Hi Brian,

If only one valv

"Hi Brian,

If only one valve had snapped and it was in cylinder #2, my initial reaction would be to thing it had sheared and/or dropped into the cylinder for whatever reason, thereby causing the damage you have described. However, I would not blame the problem on being a Volvo OHC engine. Valves can drop or shear due to many reasons, but if you see the damage that is caused in "interference" engines when the belt breaks, it is seldom (if ever) limited to one cylinder and one valve. The beauty of most Volvo OHC engines is that they are non-interference and there is no damage to valves or pistons when the timing belt breaks (usually due to owner's neglect). A notorious exception is the AQ171, which is a DOHC, "interference" engine.

Anyway, this is my view."

"El,

The motor had backfire

"El,

The motor had backfired from the distributor being installed incorrectly...and i'm sure the cylinders were probably filled with some fuel too ( it orig came with 2 down-draft Solex Carbs ) and when it did fire the belt broke and sent valve into the cylinder.

Perhaps fuel buildup in cylinder?"

Perhaps.....

Perhaps.....

I've been driving B230 OHC

I've been driving B230 OHC Volvo cars on the road now for many years. I have broken 2 timing belts (in different cars) on the road with no internal engine damage. One timing belt I actually replaced in a parking lot in about an hour with only a box full of hand tools.

There are some circumstances where valves can crash into pistons on these motors but it is extremely rare to see it with a simple timing belt breakage under load.

"Bob, my personal experience w

"Bob, my personal experience with the OHC VP engines is similar to yours.

Now, it occurred to me, perhaps the engine in question had the head planed, the shop took too much material away and someone forgot to use a head gasket of the appropriate thickness. But again, I would expect more than one cylinder showing damage if it was due to an interference problem.

"