1999 V70 XC engine swap

[cohomology]

if you can get a look at the exhaust valves on you dead cylinder (inspection camera or pull the head) then you should know whether that is the issue. Sounds probable with one cylinder totally dead, and it is not rare on these motors.

Keep in mind, the XC's need a bit of torque to get off the line, you may not be happy with a low compression B5234T3 motor in there

Just don't want to waste time opening the head and find a bad block or sth.

[Ozark Lee]

Re-working the head is WAY easier than yanking the whole engine You need to budget for new seals, head gasket, head bolts, and some machine shop work. I agree that you will not be happy with a 5234T3 but a 5244T3 is pretty much the same as what you have. Mike (Precopster) is a member here and you can try to PM him. He tends to just find stuff like this and answer directly on the board.

Lucky is at ARD Tuning (503) 681-8767 or there is a contact email at the website - www.ardideas.com.

What background can you give us on the history of the engine? Was it severely overheated, as in wire looms melted, etc? If it wasn't then chances are very good that it is a burned valve but pulling the head off of an engine is kind of like opening a Christmas present - you never know for sure what is inside but you can scope it through a spark plug hole and get a better idea. I have trouble seeing exactly what condition the cylinder walls are in but a burned valve usually jumps right out with an inspection camera.

...Lee

[cohomology]

So long story short, the engine has about 220k miles on it. I would say it has been taken good care of by PO. However, digging into the service records, I found about 1 year ago at around 210k, there was a real bad oil leaking from the cam and crank seal. When PO hit the shop, there was barely any oil left. The shop fixed the leak but of course did not pull the head to inspect. Then about 2 months ago, PO noticed the misfire and rough idle and the car had been sitting there from then on. PO did not notice overheat or anything(if I want to take his words) when that happened. I am not sure if the bad cylinder was caused by the leaking but that might be the cause.

So I guess it is hard to tell what the condition of the engine would be in. So I just went ahead and ordered an inspection camera from amazon. Will keep you guys posted on how it goes.

Do you think I have the skills do either replace the engine or do the head job? I am kindda new to these volvos but I have worked extensively on my miata so far. I have done timing belt, water pump, timing gear, head gasket and other minor things on it.

[precopster]

If it's a true 99MY it will have a B5254T engine with VVIS on exhaust. The 2000 engine will go straight in however model is B5244T with non hydaulic lifters which was in use until end of 2002 from any XC or 2.4T. Until end of 2002 it's still single CVVT on exhaust.

The only difference on 2002MY is the thermostat housing however the original from the old motor can be fitted.

[zhenya]

The condition and symptoms of yours sounds remarkably similar to the '98 V70 AWD that I recently picked up in a similar state - bad oil leak, rough idle that led to misfires and eventually no compression on one cylinder. It was just a burned valve and my mechanic had it apart and to the machine shop and back in one piece in under a week for a reasonable amount of money. Mine does have about half the miles of yours, so that might sway the decision somewhat, but from what I gather from this Volvo specialist, they do about one valve job a week on these cars (and hold it to that - I had to wait a couple of weeks for a slot in their schedule). More than likely a refreshed head on the well used block will be fine for the remaining life of the car, and a LOT easier to deal with than finding a new engine unless one happened to fall in your lap.

It certainly sounds like with your experience you can handle it so long as you have the time. I don't have the time so I paid the money...