Oh boy, what to do....

[ohbucks]

Well, I took a chance with a flood damaged Volvo S40. When I received it it had a cracked oil pan, started but was blowing some white smoke with a rough run. Figured it needed a head gasket, got a deal on a new head so replaced the head and gaskets (yep, oil pan too). Was getting errors in cylinder 1 and saw that there was an issue with the gasket between 1 & 2. Put it all together and had some problems timing it and it backfires and is really rough. Now the tough part is the mechanic is a friend with nearly zero Volvo experience and I gave him the timing marks for the cams and crank.

He feels like there may be too much junk in the engine from the flood that is causing it to not run well and backfire. Suggesting a new engine. Now I have always felt that an engine may be in the future. The question is do I take it to a good and expensive Volvo shop first is just drop an engine. I have a feeling that since he has none of the timing tools that I understand may be necessary, the issue may simply be getting the timing right. Any thoughts before I invest $2750?

[ohbucks]

Also, it's a 2007 S40 2.4L with less than 50,000 miles.

[JDS60R]

Take a compression test/leakdown test first. Lets see the physical attributes of the motor before we consider replacing it.

[ohbucks]

Replaced the engine with a very nice, 22,000 mile engine from an S40 hit in the rear. Runs like a champion.