1997 Volvo 850 GLT Engine Swap

BrickyardCustoms · Post by **BrickyardCustoms** » 10 Dec 2019, 09:54

Hello all,
I have a 1997 Volvo 850 GLT (2.4 LPT) that recently had the motor go. I picked up a 95 turbo wagon parts car (2.3 HPT) for some performance gains as well as it being a good deal. My GLT is currently on an ARD OEM R tune which from what I have gathered should run this new motor just fine. My question is what all will be involved in this swap. I’ve heard it’s pretty much bolt in (manifolds will still be from the GLT motor and no EGR). Also the wagon came with a decent ammount of trick parts like IPD sway bars, bilstein struts/ shocks. I understand I can’t switch the sway bars over, but the struts I have heard will work. I guess what I’m trying to ask is what all will swap over, and are the brakes on the wagons any bigger/ an upgrade. If someone has some used 850 sedan IPD sway bars they would trade straight up for used 850 wagon sway bars. Thanks all in advance. Also I have heard of various AC issues with changing up the GLT cars ECU, but I’m not too worried about AC.

Thanks,
Nick

Post by **scot850** » 10 Dec 2019, 10:07

Most parts should swap over. Not sure why IPD swaybars won't swap over. Turbos are often thicker but not sure in this case. If you move over the front IPD sway bar, you may want to look at the polybush the use. They are supposed to be greased frequently. Can't recall the brand name but there is a version that comes with a built in grease nipple.

You may want to check with Lucky at ARD on the tune compatibility. Your Volvo at 97 I believe may use a different software revision to the 95.

Neil.

BrickyardCustoms · Post by **BrickyardCustoms** » 10 Dec 2019, 10:35

Well I just got off of the phone with IPD, they said the sway bars should work fine since the wagons FWD. I do plan on getting new mounting bushings and probably endlinks. As far as lucky goes with ARD, everything I’ve gathered says it should run it just fine, especially as I’ll be using the 97 manifolds and sensors, it shouldn’t have a problem running M4.4. The more I dig around on this parts car the happier I get at all the upgrades the previous owner did that will carry over and how good of a deal this was.

I bought the 95 wagon for less then I could buy a used 2.3 motor, and it came running and driving. A tree had fallen on the back of it and smooshed the roof in. The car is on some 5 spokes with that appear to be some aggressive summer tires, allowing me to now have winter and summer wheels. The car also has a straight front end which I need some parts from to clean mine up. Will a front fender off of a wagon bolt up to my sedan? The wagon also has some good brakes on it.

Post by **matthew1** » 10 Dec 2019, 10:39

Front fenders will swap.

This sounds awesome! Following.

Post by **Chuck W** » 10 Dec 2019, 11:33

Was the AC working on the '97 GLT with the ARD tune? Was it actually an M4.4 upgrade?

When we were doing an ECU swap in the wife's '97 GLT (Which is actually M4.4) using the VolvoSpeed 98MY M4.4 flashable bins, there were AC issues (As in it didn't work). The '97 GLT AC routines were different from the 98MY cars.

EDIT - Nevermind, I found your original post on the subject

Going back to that. I never did try an M4.3 ECU in the '97 GLT, as we were staying with the M4.4. There are no external wiring differences in the AC controls between the M4.3 and M4.4 850 cars, so it could probably work if it's an M4.3 tune. The AC controls on the '98 S/V70 cars was different. If you don't care, it's a moot point. We cared about the AC, so I chased i around.

The car honestly won't care what engine you put in it, as long as all of the stuff is basically the same. The tune will be off, but both are N motors with the same stuff bolted to them, save for the turbo. I prefer the higher static compression of the LPT motors, personally.

BrickyardCustoms · Post by **BrickyardCustoms** » 10 Dec 2019, 12:15

I’m glad to see others are as excited as I am. I really loved my GLT back when it was running but have always wanted to have more and this parts car find is the perfect thing for me. The car should make a significant more amount of power, and the ARD ECU should run it fine, especially after some time to learn it, although I won’t be keeping it for long. And I’m really excited for those sway bars as I’ve always wanted to stiffen the thing up. The swap in general will also give me good time to give the car a good look over and clean up/ fix some things. As far as the AC it didn’t work ever since I owned the car due to a line leak, so I can’t comment as to wether or not it still works. AC has never been a massive issue to me, and I may try and sort it out in the future. According to most my sources the ARD tune should work fine.

Post by **Chuck W** » 10 Dec 2019, 12:28

BrickyardCustoms wrote: ↑10 Dec 2019, 12:15 According to most my sources the ARD tune should work fine.

Unless the sources are specifically referencing a '97 GLT, don't bank on it. Everything I read when we did the engine and ECU (M4.4) swap let me to believe it would be "fine", but no one had an answer to why it didn't work.

Like I said, I will hazard a guess that an M4.3 OBD2 (96-97 HPT) would work in the '97 GLT and have working AC. We wanted to stay M4.4 with that car, and I'm very happy with the M4.4 conversion I did in my '97 T5, even at a base-ish tune compared to the M4.3. Quicker starting, smoother idle, better mileage. Who knows, perhaps that ARD tune is an M4.3 version.

BrickyardCustoms · Post by **BrickyardCustoms** » 10 Dec 2019, 13:15

I’d get ahold of them to check but they are currently (only selling wholesale to other company’s more info to come) which basically tells me their going out of business.

Post by **erikv11** » 10 Dec 2019, 14:04

Chuck's T5 tune may work in your car if the ARD ECU doesn't play nice with your A/C? Keep in mind it's only the A/C here, so it is fair to assume it works since you were running it before. However the fuel map may be for the GLT engine. Anyway, not sure where in Iowa you are located but I'd be willing to help set that up for you, if it comes to that. PM me if you want to discuss.

Just do the swap! As mentioned absolutely everything mechanical will swap over either immediately (suspension, brakes, doors, front body metal, etc) or with minor adjustments (e.g. keep the manifolds then almost everything else in the engine bay swaps).

BrickyardCustoms · Post by **BrickyardCustoms** » 10 Dec 2019, 17:41

PM sent, thanks!
ARD’s website had claimed it made 12psi on LPT and 14 on hpt, with the only options being transmission so I’m assuming it should work fine. Also I have their adjustable wastegate I’m gonna throw on but I have never set one up before.