2006 XC90 2.5 Camshaft Failure

teamcrossworks · Post by **teamcrossworks** » 11 Sep 2011, 16:13

WOW! Does this suck!

My wife called me Friday at work to inform me she was stuck on the side of the road after hearing a grinding noise before the engine stopped. Long story short...my trusted mechanic informed me the exhaust camshaft broke. I went into shock as he informed me of a potential $6,000 bill.

Over the weekend, I was able to calm down and start digesting this aweful news. I never heard of a camshaft breaking. $6000 seems very high for a repair bill even though I'm sure it's alot of work. I've seen used engines for sale around $1,400 and can't see installation being more then another $1,400. Should I pursue that direction?

Any ideas?

It's our family vehicle (thank goodness my niece is in college and lent us her car) and needed back asap.

Thanks for any advice.

Post by **MyVolvoPartsOnline** » 13 Sep 2011, 11:20

That is very uncommon for sure. I have never heard of that before. I would go with the used engine to keep the car running. A new factory unit is gonna run $6500 plus the install. The 5 cyl XC90's have been pretty damn good so if it was my car, that is what I would do, call up the wrecker.

teamcrossworks · Post by **teamcrossworks** » 26 Sep 2011, 22:18

Update:

I thought I would keep everyone informed (if just for entertainment value) as to my progress in resolving my unexpected engine failure.

I found an engine (45,000 documented miles) from Tom's Foreign Auto Parts on E-Bay no less. After almost 2 weeks of searching and talking to endless internet "brokers" and salvage yards, I felt the most comfortable with Ed at Tom's. So far it has been a very good buying experience...I hope the engine arrives as described and my luck finally turns around. The shop doing the work already has the failed engine out... although vows to never take on this job again (not my fault Volvo engineering).

Because I'm "in there" and the new "used" engine doesn't come with a turbo, I decided to have my original rebuilt. Charlie at Evergreen Turbo in FL is the "go to guy" when it comes to this kind of work. I've become familiar with him and his business through the classic Porsche I own and can't say enough good things about him.

Since we all love pictures, I'll try and document the swap with some and post asap.