2.3T engine swap with 2003 XC70 2.5T?

[daninater]

Recently I had a complete 2.3T engine from an 850 fall into my lap for $100. With original wiring harness and sensors, turbocharger with no shaft play, sitting in a nice crate after a rental house foreclosure. I really like the non-vvt setup the engine offers. It produces more power, but maybe won't accommodate AWD because space constrictions. The motor is already out, so performing a rebuild over the winter is quite appealing to me. How big of a cluster would swapping this engine into the XC70 be if I completed the rebuild?

I feel much more equipped to perform this job now as far as the literal engine swap. But unlike last job it's not identical stuff- I'd have an older engine in a newer vehicle. VVT cam adjusters and vvt solenoid wiring, some differences in the oxygen sensors, ignition and computers are all different, angle gear, CV axels likely won't match tit for tat. The ignition wiring would be different, cooling fan module...throttle, just shooting from the hip.

Is the easiest method to wire 850 sensors, ignition and components from a donor car into the 03 XC70 or adapt the newer engine platform to work on the older engine?

[yanga001]

Brother, that timing belt burned through the cover... did it jump time? Thats what mine looked like after it threw a belt. Turn the crank carefully and listen for bad noises...

I dont know if the head has mounts for VVT exhaust or intake solenoids. The distributor needs to be plugged and you need the newer harness for that. Throttle, IAC, fuel pressure system changed. Injectors would likely require a remap as the tranny changed and it would be accustomed to a different gearing. I recall something about oil coolers being different and mounted elsewhere.

You would pay dearly for a tune as ME7 is way way way different from ECU used in the pre 98's. That alone may cost thousands and is custom to the ECU due to volvo locking down the later models.

What you do have is a 2.3L turbocharged engine that could probably be put in a number of cars as it uses much simpler electrics then other models. I think i have seen these swapped into 240's or hooptie cars on 24 hours of lemons.

[daninater]

I'll update tomorrow and let you know. For what I paid, I could scrap it at no loss worst case.

[vtl]

Convert your 2003 XC70 to 2003 V70 T5. It has B5234T3 of similar displacement and Bosch ME7. VVT can be ignored. You would need to add coils, fuel rail, intake manifold from your engine, as well as exhaust camshaft position sensor (because it is expected to be VVT). Perhaps knock sensors, too.

[vtl]

PS pump, alternator, A/C compressor and their mounting plate as well.

[vtl]

A few folks did a 2.5T to 2.3T conversion, since 2.3T is much more sturdier and can take loads north of 500 HP. If you manage to convert your old 2.3T to a new 2.3T - it will fly.

[daninater]

Brother, that timing belt burned through the cover... did it jump time? Thats what mine looked like after it threw a belt. Turn the crank carefully and listen for bad noises...

I dont know if the head has mounts for VVT exhaust or intake solenoids. The distributor needs to be plugged and you need the newer harness for that. Throttle, IAC, fuel pressure system changed. Injectors would likely require a remap as the tranny changed and it would be accustomed to a different gearing. I recall something about oil coolers being different and mounted elsewhere.

You would pay dearly for a tune as ME7 is way way way different from ECU used in the pre 98's. That alone may cost thousands and is custom to the ECU due to volvo locking down the later models.

What you do have is a 2.3L turbocharged engine that could probably be put in a number of cars as it uses much simpler electrics then other models. I think i have seen these swapped into 240's or hooptie cars on 24 hours of lemons.

Firstly - you are correct regarding the timing belt and probably the whole situation. But play devils advocate here. Yes water pump failed, threw belt and I'm assuming bent valves, not even going to bother checking unless I rebuild the head. I could feel it scraping when I spun it by hand. My $100 purchase is still insured by scrap metal prices if I abandon it. No loss.

BUT, BUT BUT BUT

This came with a wiring harness, and from the comment thread, I'll need to be swapping components anyway for it to work on a P2 vehicle. If I buy a T5 2.3T engine head/intake/exhaust and that's compatible on a white block would that resolve it? Basically what if I updated the engine block to a 2.3 T5? I feel a lot more ambitious that the motor is already pulled from the donor car. If the cranks are compatible with the same displacement, that just might work yeah?

[yanga001]

My pump shot out its bearing and threw a belt. The top end is toast most likely. I am a little confused by what you mean by update the lock to a 2.3 t5. If you mean update your own engine then you are still looking at a number of tunes. I tried cracking into that area once and their is a bit of a learning curve if you don’t got the cash for it. What we are theorizing is dumping more money into a bad motor to make something potentially cooler. It’s a tough prospect but maybe the money and time is better spent on a project cad itself or making small improvements to your current car. Go take a car ice racing for the thrill or do a demo derby. The 850 did not utilize a can bus in the same way as these cars do. You might be able to get it all to talk to one another but any errors would mean you would have to fix it as normal mechanics won’t normally work on something that custom.

[dikidera]

Yanga were there any noises before the water pump died?

[yanga001]

Yanga were there any noises before the water pump died?

The pump leaked a tiny bit from the weep hole. Had scheduled a meeting with a mechanic but a funeral came up and my cars time ran out.

No audible noises though.