2012 S60 T5 blown engine, replaced under Volvo Goodwill Topic is solved

bkw1962 · Post by **bkw1962** » 19 Jan 2016, 09:01

I was just informed that my 2012 S60 T5 with 118k on it is junk due to cyl 3 having 15psi compression. The only option I was given was to get a rebuilt engine for roughly $8k (P+L). Please tell me there is something else I can do other than that (or run the vehicle on 4 cylinders for its remaining life. I have had ZERO issues with this car until it started misfiring intermittently last month and then consistently 2 days ago when I took it in to Volvo to get it resolved. Any and all help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

Post by **tryingbe** » 19 Jan 2016, 22:04

Find an independent shop and get a used engine instead?

http://car-part.com

You'll never pass emission with the engine running only on 4 cylinders.

Post by **jimmy57** » 19 Jan 2016, 22:56

The fix could be a set of rings or replace a bad valve. Low compression on one cylinder can be from things minor or major.

Post by **precopster** » 20 Jan 2016, 05:56

As above ^^^^

If you can access the fuel injectors try to unplug cylinder 3 so there'll be no unburned fuel damaging the cat converter and you can still drive around though it will be unbalanced.

See if you can get a boroscope to view the valves through the spark plug hole.

If you have a burned valve it would be a far cheaper repair than a replacement engine.

bkw1962 · Post by **bkw1962** » 20 Jan 2016, 11:11

precopster wrote:As above ^^^^

If you can access the fuel injectors try to unplug cylinder 3 so there'll be no unburned fuel damaging the cat converter and you can still drive around though it will be unbalanced.

See if you can get a boroscope to view the valves through the spark plug hole.

If you have a burned valve it would be a far cheaper repair than a replacement engine.

Thanks for the tip. I am worried about the potential for cat damage and shutting off the unburned fuel sent to it would stem that. It's unbalanced already on 4 cylinders, I can't imagine just shutting off the injector to a dormant cylinder would change that at all.

Post by **matthew1** » 20 Jan 2016, 11:24

I think you misread precopster's post:

If you can access the fuel injectors try to unplug cylinder 3 so there'll be no unburned fuel damaging the cat converter and you can still drive around though it will be unbalanced.

bkw1962 · Post by **bkw1962** » 20 Jan 2016, 11:35

matthew1 wrote:I think you misread precopster's post:
If you can access the fuel injectors try to unplug cylinder 3 so there'll be no unburned fuel damaging the cat converter and you can still drive around though it will be unbalanced.

Perhaps I am confused...doesn't "unplug" mean preventing it from injecting fuel into the dormant cylinder? And I took unbalanced to mean "rough" (as it already is). Am I off-base?

Post by **matthew1** » 20 Jan 2016, 11:47

Unplugging the fuel injector would prevent it from spraying fuel into the cylinder, yes.

As far as I can tell, you understand everything about this.

The engine is already unbalanced, with or without fuel entering that cylinder. What precopster is saying is to stop the fuel. Unbalanced before, unbalanced after. The difference is no raw fuel will be getting to the catalytic convertor, which is good because too much fuel on that will destroy it.

Max Cherry · Post by **Max Cherry** » 20 Jan 2016, 12:25

What I would do:

Has the car been maintained properly, by the book, for the life of the car? Do you have all the service records to back it up? If so, I would go into the dealership, present all of that and try to work something out. A properly maintained motor shouldn't be losing compression at that mileage. If they won't do anything, I'd make a call to Volvo North America and discuss it with them. If nothing happens there and/or you don't have sufficient service records on the car...

Then I would check out car-part.com. Find a used engine in your area with good mileage and find a good independent mechanic to install it if you are unable to. I just checked around in my area and turned up one from LKQ with 22k miles for $1650. So with a motor at that price you should be able to find someone to install it and be driving again for under $4,000.

bkw1962 · Post by **bkw1962** » 20 Jan 2016, 12:31

matthew1 wrote:Unplugging the fuel injector would prevent it from spraying fuel into the cylinder, yes.

As far as I can tell, you understand everything about this.

The engine is already unbalanced, with or without fuel entering that cylinder. What precopster is saying is to stop the fuel. Unbalanced before, unbalanced after. The difference is no raw fuel will be getting to the catalytic convertor, which is good because too much fuel on that will destroy it.

Is there a specific way to "unplug" it? I've not worked on FIs before. I want to do it safely.