1999 V70R possible burnt valve?

[HWG09]

I'm in Omaha. Have taken the car to a foreign motor shop locally but they may not get to it this week. I appreciate all the suggestions but pulling the head is way above my knowledge and resource base.

What am I looking at if the head is coming off cost wise?

I'm seriously looking at buying a newer car this weekend and just saying the hell with fixing the V70R and selling it as is.

Someone talk me off the ledge.

[erikv11]

If the head has to be pulled, it is probably not worth it to pay a shop to do it. DIY it is minimum $500 more typically $850 to do it right. Will be at least $2k for a head pull-rebuild-reinstall at the shop, and you can't just take it anywhere you would need a shop that knows what they are doing. The $3k quote you scoffed at up above is not that far off if they do everything and do it right. This is a very costly job at the shop.

Wish I was looking for an R, I would throw you a lowball offer and do the head later, this spring or something.

[socompsp]

yea a head job is quite expensive on these cars. you may want to ask how much they would charge you to do a motor swap, it could be cheaper. shop around for the swap price. if you ask the same shop they may give you a higher then actual price in an attempt to corner you into doing the head work. and this is just my opinion, but if the rest of the car is in good shape, as well as the rest of the motor, id have it rebuilt. i did when my c70 burn both exhaust valves in cyl 2.. but im a nut for volvos.

[rspi]

Sad to say that if you sold it AS IS, you'll likely get about $1,500 for it. You'd be better off fixing it and selling it.

The head is not a bad job, just time consuming. If I were you, I'd do the job, then take it to a shop to time/load the exhaust cam. They might charge $100 - $200 to do that.

[erikv11]

An engine swap is a much easier job but still a lot of book hours, you might get a slightly lower quote for the labor. The thing is, any 15 year old white block engine is susceptible to burnt valves, why put in a time bomb. Rebuilding the head is a much better route in the long term unless you are just trying to get another year out of the car or something. Hard to justify for that kind of expense.

Most shops would be reluctant to do the timing after a DIY head swap. Way too many things can go wrong before the timing so if they are doing the last step only, then they know better than to get into that kind of liability situation. But it is possible, sure, just you would want to ask around first.

[socompsp]

you make a great point about the exhaust timing. i completely forgot about the VVT on the 99+ models. one of the reasons i grabbed the 98 when i found it. now that im reminded of that detail, id say go for a motor swap if the cost is substantially lower, just to get more money out of a sale. if the two quotes end up being within $200 or so of each other id just have the head job done and keep the car.

[HWG09]

I hear you but I don't have the time or know how really to do it myself.

Here's a question for you. Assuming we don't want to spend the $ to fix what do you think would be a reasonable price for the car (not your lowball)? It's got about 110k on it. Silver with black leather/suede interior in good shape. Newer JVC stereo. Everything else works perfectly.

[rspi]

Here is a question for you... how much would you pay for a 15 year old Volvo wagon with no motor?

I might pay $800, if I'm nuts about the car, $1,500.

Not sure how bad it runs but I would consider disconnecting to fuel injector and seeing how long it would run like that.

[erikv11]

Your target market narrows dramatically now that the engine is shot, I agree with rspi's estimates. You could list it for like $2200 and see what happens. It can be tough however, to sell a broken car in the winter. Parking it in the meantime but running it on 4 cylinders when needed is not a bad idea.

Has the ETM (electronic throttle module) been replaced yet? It is the achilles heel of this car, would be a key factor on the pricing for someone considering to take on the engine work.

[kcodyjr]

"target market" is really the key here, not the technical concerns.

* Although I wouldn't consider head skills necessary, you will need to understand your car more and more as time goes on starting right about now. It's already 14. Almost time for its own learners' permit. I'm not trying to push you one way or the other, but you should evaluate your commitment to the lady before you sink money into marriage counseling.

* By trying to sell it as-is, your target is either a small operation looking to refurbish and sell, or someone that specifically wants a P80 V70R. If the former, only a company that specializes in Volvos would realize what it's worth, so expect an even lower lowball. If the latter, you're basically looking for someone on this site that lives close enough to pick it up with a tow truck.

* By repairing it on a budget, whether it's a swap to an unknown used engine or a half assed head job, you're looking to unload it on an unsuspecting buyer. I'm not going to get into the ethical concerns, but the numbers are kind of tight. You'd have to pick a firm price and leave it parked by the street for as long as it takes. Not too many average joes will be interested in paying a premium for a performance station wagon, and only a naive buyer would pay a premium with a history like that.

* By repairing it properly, which would be a complete professional head job, the goal would be to keep the vehicle yourself for the foreseeable future. See bullet point #1 above.

If it was my car, it would be either the proper head job if I had the funds, or I'd try to sell it as-is to someone that knew what it was and what it needed, i.e., a member of this site.

I agree with rspi; it's worth $1500 if it's otherwise perfect including meat on the tires and brakes, $800 if it has ALL the usual signs of wear from dings to chips to leather rips to malfunctioning accessories, and negotiable in between. It's only worth that much because it's an R. My cousin picked up a 98 S70 t5m with A- appearance for about $800 on account of just needing all its motor mounts done.