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S70 Engine Swap Questions

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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jarnkm
Posts: 2
Joined: 1 May 2007
Year and Model: 1998 S70 T5 GLT
Location: Alabama USA

S70 Engine Swap Questions

Post by jarnkm »

I have the following cars:
1. 1993 850 GLT B5254S Engine 120K, w/ new factory Auto trans., totalled in rear, motor runs excellent. Timing belt, etc. were replaced when trans. was replaced.
2. '97/'98(?) S70 T5 B5254T Engine 180K, had blown the oil cooler in the radiator, it was replaced and then the head gasket blew.
3. '98 S70 GLT B5254T Engine 142K, owner knocked a hole in the oil pan(driving over speed bump) and ran the car until it started knocking. When he pulled over, it seized up. I pulled the oil pan and #2 rod cap was half off of the crank. I assume that the piston probably hit the valves and possibly damaged the head.

All 3 cars are basically complete.....

QUESTION 1: What are the possibilities of putting the 850 non-turbo engine into the S70 T5, either with the new 850 auto trans. or using the T5 auto trans.?

QUESTION 2: IF the above is possible, what electricals will need to be swapped?

QUESTION 3: What other parts might need to be changed?

any suggestions are appreciated.
IF it ain't broke........don't fix it!!!!!

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erikv11
Posts: 11800
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Year and Model: 850, V70, S60R, XC70
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Post by erikv11 »

The transmissions are all completely interchangeable.

Definitely get more opinions, but here is mine: Unfortunately, putting the non-turbo engine into a turbo car is not realistic. If you really really want to do it there is a long list of steps that I can not provide, but basically everything has to swap - wiring harness, ECU, exhaust to the cat, radiator. Plus 93's are a little quirky, I don't even know the quirks, but there may be some more issues there.

Best bet might be to rebuild the head on the T5, take the radiator from the GLT and go. Pillage the GLT for parts as needed, now and down the road. Will cost you $1k though. The bottom end should be fine, bet you will see cross hatchings on the cyinder walls ... Or find a non-turbo with a blown head gasket for $300, and move the guts over from the 93.
'95 854 T-5R, Motronic 4.4, 185k
'98 V70, T5 tune-injectors-turbo, LPT engine, 304k, daily driver
'06 S60 R, 197k
'07 XC70, black, 205k
'07 XC70, willow green, 212k
'99 Camry V6 :shock: 153k
gone: '96 NA 850 210k, '98 NA V70 182k, '98 S70 NA 225k, '96 855 NA 169k

jblackburn
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Year and Model: 1998 S70 T5
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Post by jblackburn »

Turbo-non-turbo swaps are unrealistic. Especially with the change in wiring, etc between the years. Things just won't want to work with each other.

I agree, a head gasket job on the S70 wouldn't be all that bad for a working car.
'98 S70 T5
2016 Chevy Cruze Premier


A learning experience is one of those things that says, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

mercuic: Long live the tractor motor!

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