B234FT freeze plugs

Dear RWD volvo gurus.....

I've found a 1992 volvo 745 turbo that supposedly has a rebuilt motor caused by a burnt piston( new rings, pistons, etc ). The car was sold to a friend of the owner, somehow a piston got burned, and he bought the car back. After having the motor work done, The car started overheating due to what the owner thinks is a leaking freeze plug. Trouble is, its the plug that lives under the exhaust manifold. The car has not been driven in about 4yrs, seems to have been maintained, and was only driven for about 4k since the motor rebuild. The guy is tired of putting money into it and wants the car gone for what I think could be a little over scrap value.

Has anyone had any experience replacing freeze plugs after having the block machined and with the engine in the car? Mr Internet suggests using OEM volvo plugs and possibly something like a permatek(sp?) aviation sealer or jb weld but I havent found anything that could give me an idea of how hard a job this would be with the motor in the car?

Is this something that can be done in an hour or two? Or is it better just to pass on this since it has overheated in the past?

Head gasket, cooling lines to turbo, oil cooler lines,or frost plugs have water in them on that side of the engine. The water pump usually runs down the front.

There was a change in the style of plugs somewhere around 92. The early ones used a flat plug sitting up against a machined edge, the later ones were smaller diameter traditional cup style. If its the early style, and they were inch sized instead of metric, they are close, but not close enough.

Turbo increases the degree of difficulty. Other than the rear one, I think you are fighting mental health to try changing them without removing the manifold. If you do, buy the OE exhaust manifold gaskets, or you will be back here in about a year bitching about exhaust leaks.

For a little over scrap value I would buy it no matter what.

B234ft, like someone put a turbo on a b234f or put a 16v head on a b230ft? Either way the freeze plugs like to pop out with high rpm and obviously freezing... lots of people use pins or screws to keep them in. Its easy to get to and takes me maybe 20 min to pull my turbo and manifold. Same for the I take side im sure it needs both side gaskets

I may have gotten the engine code wrong, but its the 1992 745t motor. From memory, the side of the engine in question is against the right wheel well / firewall area and there isnt alot of room. Is there a trick to pulling a turbo and exhaust manifold w/o breaking studs? I've never been able to pull a turbo and/or exhaust manifold w/o breaking something.

Edit: Apparently, I should have bought first and asked questions later. The car is gone. I'd still be interested in the right way to pull a turbo / exhaust manifold at say, a JY where you dont have time and tools that you would have at home.

I promised my wife years ago that I would only have one project car at a time( or two for atleast for a short period ). Buying this will require me to selling my non-running gti and my 850.

@chiodos -- How are you able to pull your turbo so quickly? Did u install special studs or something? And how would I approach this the first time?

Lots of penetrating oil, and a small impact wrench to cycle them on/off/on/off etc. The 8mm studs are a bit fragile, but they will generally come off with some help.

Getting the oil and water lines and drain tube out of place is actually a bit more time consuming than getting the manifold off. The oil filter/cooler housing blocks access a bit too.

B230FT is what it is.

gotcha. I've been using breaker bars w/ a cheater and I break more than not. Usually, I can get the stud out. Sometimes not....

Ive never had issues pulling manifolds on these cars where others like to break. I think it's a combination of the thick washers and I believe stainless nuts, they arent normal nuts like come on the b230f. And yes that was a b230ft the b234f is a 16v non turbo only in the us other versions came turbo. These cars are amazingly simple and straight forward to work on. I still have a b230f+t that I daily drive in a 88 245

chiodos wrote: Ive never had issues pulling manifolds on these cars where others like to break. I think it's a combination of the thick washers and I believe stainless nuts, they arent normal nuts like come on the b230f. And yes that was a b230ft the b234f is a 16v non turbo only in the us other versions came turbo. These cars are amazingly simple and straight forward to work on. I still have a b230f+t that I daily drive in a 88 245

Ok. I'll have to keep looking then. Maybe I can find another "free" or close to free volvo.