Is a V70 Turbo repair realistic for newbie?

kr9600 · Post by **kr9600** » 13 Jun 2010, 15:50

Greetings,

I recently acquired a 1995 850 Turbo and have fallen in love with Volvo. I did have to put a fair amount of money into it and am pretty well tapped out at this point. So here’s the question:

There is a V70 GLT for sale locally at a very reasonable price (asking $1200 but would probably take $950). The car is in great condition despite its 190K miles (runs great; new tires, looks great in and out, etc.) but has one major problem - it burns oil by the gallon. When he turned it on, it looked like you would have to file an environmental impact statement with someone before leaving the driveway. The place that has done all the repairs on it over the years stated it is the turbo leaking oil and it will take $1500 or so to fix it.

I checked in the 850 Haynes book (which is the only one I have at the moment) and it does not seem like that big a deal to remove the turbo and apparently there are rebuild kits on Ebay for less than a $100.

I am someone who is mechanically inclined and can read and follow instructions - I simply do not know that much about cars. Is it reasonable to think that I could fix this kind of problem or am I just fooling myself? How difficult is a repair of this type? Is there detailed info somewhere on this procedure? I am trying to decide whether or not to buy the car.

Thank you all for any assistance you can provide.

Post by **pkc303** » 13 Jun 2010, 16:05

I'm willing to bet against your getting it working. I'd recommend turbochargers.com to do it correctly. Just my 2 cents.

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jun 2010, 16:18

Just get a used turbo and put it on there. I'm sure you can do it yourself with some fighting with it...I've found most anything on one of these cars can be done by yourself if you're willing to stick with it

Heck, while you're at it, get a 16T from a T5 S/V70 and put it on there, then have the ECU software upgraded. You'll have gobs of power from the higher compression ratio of that engine that the 2.3 doesn't have at the low end.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 13 Jun 2010, 17:44

To answer your question: although I can't tell you for sure that rebuilding your turbo will solve the leak, the actual rebuilding can be done very easily yourself. Take a look at this and see what you think -> http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=48611

Scroll down a little bit.

- Marcin

Post by **boosted5cyl** » 14 Jun 2010, 13:33

Best buy a used turbo, take your time rebuilding that and install it. That said, like the others, im not convinved that the oil consmuption is entirely down to leaky turbo seals..

kr9600 · Post by **kr9600** » 15 Jun 2010, 04:37

Thank you all so much for your considered and timely replies. I have decided to pass on the V70 and concentrate my efforts on the 850 I currently have. As someone who has little experience working on cars, my fear is that I might find myself in over my head and after spending X amount of money, still not have something that could be used or is perhaps worse off at that point.

Thanks again for all your help and advice.

Dave

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 15 Jun 2010, 16:22

As you work your way through the 850 feel free to post questions, the board is well populated and amongst the population there is always one of us who has done virtually anything you might be trying to repair - mechanical or electrical. The responses usually won't be instant (We need to work for a living too) but it will be fairly quick.

...Lee

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 15 Jun 2010, 18:57

A part of me is glad you stuck with the 850. The V70 could have ended up being a bigger headache and at least you know what is wrong with the 850.

That said, you mind me asking what is still wrong with the 850? It sounds like you have put a good amount of work into it.

kr9600 · Post by **kr9600** » 16 Jun 2010, 19:47

Hi Andrew,

Thanks so much for your post and it's nice to hear from someone else in CT. I am up in Plainfield.

It wasn't a matter of getting rid of the 850 - I love it - in favor of the V70. I was thinking I would replace my older Subaru and have two Volvos. That said, what else is wrong with the 850? Small things, so far. Odometer broken (I have the gears and just need to put them in), rear wiper works intermittently, needs work to pass emissions (what, I don't know yet), backup lights may not work, cruise control doesn't seem to work (not that important), check engine with PO137 code and perhaps some other things I can't think of right now.

Other than that, it's fine and drives really well. Except of course today when I was on 395 south and all of a sudden the car started to slow down even though I was still on the accelerator. Seemed to pass quickly but it was a little disconcerting. I suspect a lot of my problems are due to the fact that the car sat outside for a year before I bought it. Heaven only knows what is oxidized or rusted at this point.

Sorry to drone on for so long but that's where I am at this point. Thanks again for your interest and suggestions. Dave

Post by **jblackburn** » 16 Jun 2010, 22:37

There are plenty of em out there in decent or good shape, just keep your eyes peeled for a good one.

I must have gone and looked at 15 cars before I finally found the "right" one.