1999 S70 - Transmission Needs Rebuild

mynamemongo · Post by **mynamemongo** » 23 Apr 2014, 23:10

An all of a sudden breakdown landed me in a transmission shop with this current diagnosis:

Needs transmission rebuild, likely problem is the oil pump or torque converter.

Shop's quote is $3185 with 2 years or 24,000 miles warranty.

The car has 155k on it. I'm the second owner and I have all the repair records. Although the shop says that the car's engine sounds good and typically this Volvo will easily go to 200k, is this repair a wise investment?

And if you are familiar with this car, what other major repairs may come up in the next 2 years or near 170k?

I've appreciated this site's information and advice in the past, but have never posted on the forum. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Post by **abscate** » 23 Apr 2014, 23:53

You should look at a good used one from a pick and pull or broker.

I guessing 1/2 that price in total ?

I see parts listed at 500-700 usd with 6 month warranty, for reference

Post by **E Showell** » 24 Apr 2014, 08:02

In my neck of the woods you can likely replace the entire vehicle for that. Whether it is worth fixing depends on what kind of shape the car is in generally, whether you have kept up with the maintenance along the way, and what your budget for a vehicle is.

Things that can/do need attention around that age/mileage in no particular order (and most would be considered regular maintenance):

PCV service;
Suspension rebuild
possible exhaust replacement
front axles
tires
motor mounts
starter
radiator
heater core
seat covers (leather)
coolant reservoir
engine coolant temperature sensor & thermostat
front door check straps (mostly driver door)
both oxygen sensors if not previously replaced with OEM (Denso)
brake rotors/pads/ebrake along the way.

(All this is for a non-turbo, non awd vehicle -- I do not know what additional repair items/expense you might face for turbo and AWD)

Those are just a few that come to mind. Bear in mind if you are uncertain of the maintenance history, have neglected oil changes and used cheap regular gas, you may be set up for a burned exhaust valve around 200K miles.

If I were inclined to keep that car, I'd find an independent shop and have them swap in a known good used unit for probably around $2k including parts.

If you have the space, I'd consider saving your current vehicle as a parts car and obtaining an exact replacement used as far as model specification goes -- that way, you have handy spares available.

Post by **chexny** » 24 Apr 2014, 08:24

everything said above eshowell. Plus what are you using the car for? How long do you plan on keeping it.

Post by **E Showell** » 24 Apr 2014, 08:39

At this age, it is also a good idea to replace all cooling system hoses (with OE quality hoses or better) as preventive maintenance. Nothing will kill these engines faster than a severe overheat. Pretending 15 year old hoses still have their original integrity is false economy.

instarx · Post by **instarx** » 24 Apr 2014, 09:32

abscate wrote:You should look at a good used one from a pick and pull or broker.

I guessing 1/2 that price in total ?

I see parts listed at 500-700 usd with 6 month warranty, for reference

Used transmissions at my local yard are $600 - $800 depending on mileage. It should not cost $2,500 to put it in so you can save a lot going to what used to be called the junk yard.

mynamemongo · Post by **mynamemongo** » 24 Apr 2014, 15:26

chexny wrote:everything said above eshowell. Plus what are you using the car for? How long do you plan on keeping it.

I use the car currently as my one and only car. At this rate, no more than 2 more years.

Post by **tryingbe** » 24 Apr 2014, 15:37

If you are not able to do the work yourself, I would dump the car and find another working one.

You can buy a working 850/S70 for less than 3k or other cars.

Post by **wheelsup** » 25 Apr 2014, 12:01

OP your situation is exactly what prompted me to go out and just outright buy another 850 with a bad motor but good transmission. I bought the whole car for $250, then sold the hulk of it after stripping everything I wanted off of it for $130, making it cost $120 for the thing. I got a transmission as well as tons of relays, sensors, new Valeo radiator, etc. Awesome deal.

I had called around and shops were quoting around $2700 or so in NC for the rebuilt AW50-42LE transmission. It's unfortunate it costs so much for those things, because a lot of otherwise good cars end up sent to the scrapper because of it.

If you ever have an inkling to do it yourself, and you have a garage and a basic set of tools, it's totally do-able by one person in 2-3 days time if you don't want to spend the $3k on the car (I personally draw the line at around $1k, anything more and I'll just put it toward a newer car).

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=53437