1993 850 GLT engine swap compatibility

cohomology · Post by **cohomology** » 14 Oct 2015, 09:29

Hi y'all, I saw a 1993 850 GLT N/A with a bad engine for sale cheap. Before go buy it, I want to make sure it is not too hard to find a replacement engine for it. However, my search turned out that 93 is very different from other years with many parts unique to 93 only. Does this apply to the engine? Can I just drop in an engine from 94~98 850?

Post by **misha** » 14 Oct 2015, 09:33

Yes you can,but you will need to keep the manifolds and sensors from original engine.

cohomology · Post by **cohomology** » 14 Oct 2015, 09:37

Thank you for the quick reply! Which sensors in particular do I need to keep? How different are the wiring?

misha wrote:Yes you can,but you will need to keep the manifolds and sensors from original engine.

Post by **Ben850** » 14 Oct 2015, 11:08

Up to '94.5 is a direct swap. The intake manifold is specific to '93-'94.5. The intake ports are different from there on, so saving the manifold will do no good.
It is called a VVIS, or Volvo Variable Intake System.

cohomology · Post by **cohomology** » 14 Oct 2015, 11:24

Ben850 wrote:Up to '94.5 is a direct swap. The intake manifold is specific to '93-'94.5. The intake ports are different from there on, so saving the manifold will do no good.
It is called a VVIS, or Volvo Variable Intake System.

So engines from later model years will not fit? That means '93 850s should be avoided I guess. Thank you for chiming in.

Post by **misha** » 14 Oct 2015, 12:00

Ben850 wrote:Up to '94.5 is a direct swap. The intake manifold is specific to '93-'94.5. The intake ports are different from there on, so saving the manifold will do no good.
It is called a VVIS, or Volvo Variable Intake System.

Engines,mechanically,are ALL the same and interchangeable from '91-'98.
'99 and on are a bit different.

Again...Yes you can install na engine which is max '98 as long as you keep original manifolds and sensors.
The only difference between '91-'98 engines is engine management and wiring.

Wiring will not be a problem since it will remain the same.

cohomology · Post by **cohomology** » 14 Oct 2015, 13:21

I am a bit lost now. Two apparently great minds are in disagreement here?

Post by **misha** » 14 Oct 2015, 13:58

Ideally....you would need an engine from '91-'95 na 850.
But...you can also use na engine from '95-'99,excluding '99,with some minor modification like both manifolds and sensors from original engine.They need to be transfered in order to match wiring and engine management...because different management have different type of sensors,especially the 1st generation up to '95. '96,'97 & '98 are give or take copy/paste under the hood regarding sensors and engine managements.

cohomology · Post by **cohomology** » 14 Oct 2015, 14:04

misha wrote:Ideally....you would need an engine from '91-'95 na 850.
But...you can also use na engine from '95-'99,excluding '99,with some minor modification like both manifolds and sensors from original engine.They need to be transfered in order to match wiring and engine management...because different management have different type of sensors,especially the 1st generation up to '95. '96,'97 & '98 are give or take copy/paste under the hood regarding sensors and engine managements.

So VVIS in no issue?

Post by **misha** » 14 Oct 2015, 14:33

Shouldn't be a problem since vvis is integrated into intake manifold,which you will transfer onto a "new"engine along with coresponding sensors and valves for that engine.
So,practically you will have the same engine after transplantation.

Different story would be if you would just install newer engine without modifications.

I've never performed swap like that personally,but i saw with my own eyes the engine from '98 v70 which was installed into '92 850 which had 2.5 20v engine in it and the car ran beautifully.