Timing belt failure sound like?

[abscate]

It usually just means a few bent valves. Head off, to shop for cleaning and evaluation. Good time to decoke and do the valve stem seals on high mileage cars.

if you can source a good used engine locally, that is even cheaper.

[mar601]

That puts a knot in my stomach. Another engine is cheaper? ouch.

[mar601]

What is the proper cost of having the head rebuilt please? -- thanks for all the help.

[erikv11]

If there was engine damage it has one or more (likely more) bent valves. The cylinder head has to be removed, rebuilt and reinstalled. To fix it at a shop would be up toward $2k here in the US. I think the labor charge is about 15 hours. 90k is not like a death sentence for the timing belt but yeah it was overdue.

If you DIY the head work it is around $600 - $800, depending on what all you do.

Replacing the engine is about the same labor time for you or the shop, but much less technical. Unhook engine, pull out, put in new engine, hook up. You have to pay attention, do all the steps and mostly be safe but it's nothing like head work where you must be much more meticulous and are more likely to run into snags. Finding a good used engine can be very difficult these days.

[mar601]

THANKS. That has helped my stress level. Wouldn't be the first time I made a 2 thousand dollar mistake. It so pisses me off because I had all the parts together for the belt and some other work and had planned to take it next week. Well maybe if I have to pay to have them rebuild the head, they won't charge much more to do the other work. New belts, water pump,idlers etc. I'm original owner and I love the car. Just 160K on it.

[Sveedy]

My engine is in the shop right now. If you pull the head yourself, then I'd figure on $ 400 - 500 just for the shop to rebuild it. That is what it is costing me, with no new valves needed. Going to go up from there depending a bit on if you need new valves and how many. Then the assorted gaskets etc you will need to reinstall it. In my case, the labor to rebuild the whole engine is running $ 1900. That includes everything ( boring cylinders, turning crank, milling head etc ) Parts on top of that. Looking at between $ 3500 - 4000k total inc new pistons when all done ! So if you could source a GOOD engine from a yard for $ 200, you'd be better off going that way. You could do the timing belt etc on that engine and still come out ahead. Assuming yours is a N/A engine, there are lots of them out there. Since yours is toast anyway, you could pull the head and take a look inside and see what damage there is. If a valve hit a piston and damaged that as well, then your looking at a replacement engine instead of a valve job anyway. If you have access to a bore scope, then you might save yourself that labor, and not have to pull the head, and just put that energy toward the engine swap.

I feel your pain.....

[mar601]

Ok thanks. Should hear from him soon. These guys do great work and are always fair. So it sounds price can dramatically increase with a piston damaged. -- fingers crossed.

[rguzz]

It's almost Christmas. Perhaps the Volvo gods will be kind. Maybe something minor happened to it, though it's good to be prepared for worst case. A compression test would not require removing anything, essentially, and might tell you a lot. But sounds like the shop will treat you fairly, good luck.

[abscate]

If you were just starting it the pistons will be fine. Worst case , 2 exhaust valves bent.

[scot850]

With the exception of maybe the water pump, most of the parts you have bought should not cost to fit as they have to be removed in the first place. I would check with the shop though as many repair shops don't like to fit supplied parts as they can't warrant the parts as they did not supply them.

Strangely, my local Volvo dealer is more helpful in this respect where my local indy does not fit supplied parts (they make money on the parts they supply).

Neil.