1994 850 Timing Belt Jumped-AM I Screwed?

[Rbaratt]

I can send you a water pump off my 2000 S70. You can use it for your test. It has 62K miles on it but its 14 years old. I only changed it cause I was in there replacing the belt. I haven't checked, but I am guessing that it's the same part number. If you want it, send me a PM with your address.

[erikv11]

I have a couple spare water pumps just for that testing purpose, +1 on Rbaratt I'd give it a try.

The odds are against the engine being usable but if you don't buy a ticket you can't possibly win the lottery ...

[cn90]

On the other hand, you may want to be practical too.
- Junk car value $400 (this is what you get if you sell to jy) + About $500 for parts as mentioned above (valve job, TB kit, Aisin water pump, sealant, head gasket etc. etc.) + 30h of your labor to do the head gasket...This will bring total cumulative cost to about $2500-$3000.
- Many of these P80 cars with 130K miles or so can be had for $2200 or so. But you still need to spend time/money to bring it to par.

Just my 2 cents.

[Gilly]

Thanks cn90, thats what Im wrestling with right now, to junk it or keep it and work on it.

Does anyone know will I need a new head or can I get by with milling and replacing valves in the existing head?

[erikv11]

The head will almost certainly be useable, 99.99% certainty. The valves being OK is maybe 1% though.

For comparison's sake, I would budget minimum 10 hours for any used car you can pay as little as $2200 for. There will be a lot of little, oddball things, the ones you have perhaps already done on your 94 (that is a key factor in the decision). Actually, I question if you can find one in that price range, in good condition, where you live. Closer to $2800 perhaps?

[rspi]

[quote="Gilly"

Does anyone know will I need a new head or can I get by with milling and replacing valves in the existing head?[/quote]

Yes the head can be rebuilt, however the cost would likely exceed the cost of a replacement head. The last head I had rebuilt cost me $435 with NO new valves. Can't imagine a machine shop cutting new valves into a head for a total of less than $650 but that's just my experience. It would be much cheaper buying a head or pulling one from a junk yard. Replacing a valve or two is one thing, replacing 10+ valves is a lot of work.

[cn90]

Check ebay too. Some people sell nice rebuilt head for $200-$400 range.

If I were you, I'd ditch the car for $400, buy a well maintained 850 or 98 S70 with let's say 130K or so for cheap, tune it up and go.

[Gilly]

UPDATE: decided to look for another car and found a nice 97 2.4 liter wagon for$1800. It's in good condition, better that what I had anyways. If anyone wants the 94 for parts let me know. Thanks everyone for your suggestions and input.
Gilly