1998 V70 Timing belt, cylinder head work 330k miles!

[cn90]

A 98 V70 with 330k miles is worth the same price as junk yard, which is about $400. Remove anything you need (MAF etc.), then sell the car to junk yard.

These days, another V70 with 100k miles can be purchased for $1500-$2000, so it does not make much sense to buy another engine to do the transplant.

Buy another V70 for cheap, just make sure the TB is up to date. I understand the emotional issue many of us have with our cars, but at 330k miles, time to buy a "new" car...

[j-dawg]

I kinda disagree with that. If your car makes it to 330k, it's because it's been well-maintained, and you probably know its history pretty well. But a 150k car and you're inheriting all of its issues with potentially no knowledge of what's wrong with it.

One of the main reasons I like these Volvos is that they clean up so nicely. The whole never-rusts thing and the resilient paint mean the cars will look good and drive well if you replace all the squishy bits - belts, bushings, suspension parts, etc. All that gets expensive, but at 150k most cars need all those parts replaced anyway.

If you've been feeding the car a steady diet of consumables, I don't think a well-maintained 330k is any worse than 150k.

[Ozark Lee]

I think Irv Gordon kinda agrees with J-dawg.

At 330k it is only 10% there. My '94 is closing in on 300k and I need to redo the top end when I get some time. I just really like that car so I'm going to do it. I really want to get at least 500k out of it.

...Lee

[cn90]

Don't get me wrong...I have rebuilt engines before. I used to enjoy it, but not any more because it takes some 30 hours of labor etc. Plus I have work, family, kids to take care of, so my view about engine rebuilding has changed as I get older.
I have learned to be practical...

Option A: keep the car.
- Used engine is about $500. OK, some sellers warranty it, some don't.
- Now you spend some 20-30h transplanting the engine. How much is your time worth, just curious?
- What if the new engine does not work?
- Blood and sweat for nothing!

Option B: "new" car.
- Sell the junk car for $400. Remove all the goodies first (MAF, ignition coil, any new parts you put in recently etc.).
- Buy a let's say 1998 S70 with 150K for $1,500. So you spend only $1100 for now (vs spending $500 for a used engine) and you have some peace. Of course, you have to do some work to get a good condition car.
- Plus you have a "newer" car.

A 300K car is a lot of miles. A 300K car, in general, is a worse car than a 150K car. The bearings, axles, steering racks, seats take a beating from 300K miles...


Irv Gordon's car had a different engine, less prone to burned exhaust valves etc. It was very well built engine.

In the BMW E39 forum, it is not unusual for M52, M54 engine to reach 300K w/o issues, why?
(I have a 1998 BMW 528i with 150K, and have none of these issues)

1. Because BMW used timing chain, not timing belt (in a Volvo, an ignored TB is a killer).
IMHO, TB should be phased out, it was a terrible engineering idea from years past but still used now.
Many car makers already switched to timing chain (Honda, Toyota to name a few).

2. BMW engines had fewer cases of burned exhaust valves.

If the Volvo engines didn't have the TB breaking (which is owner's fault) and burned exhaust valves (not the owner's fault), then it would easily reach 300K w/o incidents.

[erikv11]

- Any 98 you can buy for $1,500 will need another $ 1,000 on average, in short about as much as the 300k car, to be near stage zero.

- You can't generically compare "a 300k" P80 to "a 150k" P80 strictly on miles, this point has also been beaten to death here and elsewhere. It depends on service history, current state of maintenance, etc.

- An engine swap is not a rebuild, and a swap doesn't need to be a 30 hour bloody weekend ordeal, with planning it can be 15-20 moderate hours spread across a couple weeks. And all the resources for planning are at MVS and other sites. An engine swap is in fact much easier than an actual rebuild, you just take stuff out then put it back in. The only detail is with respect to safety and being organized, no machining to figure out, so a swap is a very DIY-friendly job.

My points are also not immutable - in short the right answer will always differ for different people.

[j-dawg]

- Any 98 you can buy for $1,500 will need another $ 1,000 on average, in short about as much as the 300k car, to be near stage zero.

...

My points are also not immutable - in short the right answer will always differ for different people.

The first point is kinda what I was getting at. At 300k you've probably cycled through every wear item at least once, and you know when the last time was, and you know (if you're here!) that you've done it right. At 150k you need pretty much all those same wear items, but if you've just bought it you've got no idea what the history is. The devil you know, right?

The second point is also true - it'll depend on the person and the car - but I don't think a 150kmile V70 is necessarily a much easier thing to take care of than a 330kmile V70 if it hasn't been cared for. And I don't mean if it's been beaten to death, I mean just given the typical levels of care that a well-meaning but clueless owner might offer.

Maybe I've just psychologically painted myself into this corner where I have to believe what I'm saying because I'm getting ready to drop some pretty heavy bank and wrench on mine, and it's old as balls.

[5rivers]

The discussion here has brought up quite a few important points and I appreciate the time (knowledge and experience as well) you all have devoted to making those points and I thank you for that. I have considered another "newer" volvo but I am not particularly interested in repeating the repair process right now. Plus, I have limited resources at the moment, so the least expensive route is my mission. The V70 has been well cared for under my ownership, and its history over the last 130,000 miles is what I am most familiar as I have performed 99% of the needed repairs. In the process, I have learned a great deal about the car and with this latest round of broken parts, it continues to serve as a learning tool. I believe the car has many more miles to go...and now you know what my next course of action is going to be!! This may be a mistake, but I will keep you posted on the outcome, and possibly prepare myself for the "I told you so" claims. I continue to keep my chin up!

[abscate]

You will be fine KM.....if you can do the labour fixing an old car is almost always cheaper than getting another.

[cn90]

In my area, I have seen a few S70/V70 cars with 250K-300K miles, they were worth about $400, the price at junk yard. Wheel bearings were noisy, steering rack leaking, alternator on borrowed time, AC compressor gone, axles boot cracks, front seats are all torn, steering wheel peeling off, transmission on borrowed time. Just awful, awful and awful!

In contrast the 150K cars were not decent. This was exactly what I did, got a 150K car and rebuilt it back to an excellent condition.

Many of us are "emotionally" attached to our cars and find it difficult to part it. But sometimes parting is the right thing to do. The time lost playing with a 330K car, to me, is not worth it.

My 2 cents.

[abscate]

Here is another look at the knicks....

camshaft cover3.jpg

camshaft cover 4.jpg

There is a thread on compression test results where the poster shows the exact same nicks on the head, so I suspect these aren't unique. I'll find link.