1997 850-R Engine Rebuild/Swap advice needed asap

sacricide · Post by **sacricide** » 10 Dec 2015, 16:41

My daily driver developed a tick after it blew a cam seal and the oil capacity dropped to like 40-50% and i had no clue for a while

i sent the head in with a machine shop, but the problem may lie in the bottom end. So at this point, where should i go? i honestly wasnt going to build a high performance engine, but at this point im not sure it makes any sense to buy a donor car or a used engine really. Im not sure if i replace rods/pistons what i should go with...i dont see much pop up online other than forged internals. i cant go too crazy anyway with an original automatic transmission in the car too.

I feel i need to get some pointers here. Should i seek another car as a donor? fully rebuild the engine?

*****EDIT******
Whoops I somehow left out that the head I sent In to the machine shop got checked out and it was perfect with no issues, I they went ahead and did valves and stem seals. So the only thing left so far is , buy a super old engine becuase all my local recyclers have a few 200k 850r blocks. Everything is about 800 bucks for just getting a engine. Out of state I found more on car-part.com (I'm in Sacramento) I'll keep an eye out for a donor but I really need a car lol. So sooner I can get started the better.

I'm not afraid to drop a different engine in the car and sell the head off or save it. if I had some clue as to what would swap in the 850 chassis with minimal or no custom wiring. Do the v70r engines from 1998-1999 work? They are seemingly identicle from the outside however I don't know internal differences.

Post by **scot850** » 10 Dec 2015, 17:47

Are you sure there is a problem with the bottom end at all? The tick may well have been the hydraulic lifters not getting enough oil when the cam seal blew out. Only real way to figure this out would be to drop the oil pan and pull the bearing caps and see if there is any damage. It may be fine.

If it is ok, take the opportunity to check over the oil pump condition, and replace the pan 'O' rings for better oil pressure to the cams.

Neil.

Post by **tryingbe** » 10 Dec 2015, 22:19

I bought me a $950 R with front end damage, running and driving car. Remove the engine/transmission, sold everything on it, made $970 on the parts sold and put that engine/trans into my car.

What is good for me doesn't mean it's good for you. Did you do a compression test before taking everything apart? Are you ok with taking the oil pan off and check the condition of bearings? Do you know how? If you do or know someone that do, I'd start there and decide if you want to reuse the short block as-is. If you don't, the finding a running engine would be the cheapest option. Rebuild is good, but it'll cost much more money.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 10 Dec 2015, 22:39

If the trouble turns out to be below the head then I would just drop in a used engine. The machine shop will eat you alive if you get into reworking the crankshaft. Any 2.3 liter turbo engine will work and you can even go to a RN engine without a ton of brain damage.

...Lee

sacricide · Post by **sacricide** » 10 Dec 2015, 23:01

The machine shop said the head was perfect had no issues with lifters. I was hoping it was the top end. But oh well.

They wouldn't even give me a price for the bottom end. I wouldn't be afraid to let them do the work , I'd rather pay a little extra for them to check the block than to go off with a old one for almost a grand . but I don't know what to expect for them to do rod beadings and whatever else is needed.

sacricide · Post by **sacricide** » 10 Dec 2015, 23:03

Ozark

Any 2.3 liter bottom end is fine? That would be great news. I won't get into RN swaps. Too much trouble for me ATM

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 11 Dec 2015, 10:56

They are all the same. The only difference with the R engine is the ECU and the exhaust manifold unless your engine has otherwise been hot rodded.

...Lee

sacricide · Post by **sacricide** » 11 Dec 2015, 11:09

so if i was to go with a 2001 s60 2.3 bottom end everything should mate up okay? or are we talking strictly the 1995, 96, 97 ,98, 99, 00 model 2.3l from 850, s70, v70???

sacricide · Post by **sacricide** » 11 Dec 2015, 13:58

tryingbe wrote:I bought me a $950 R with front end damage, running and driving car. Remove the engine/transmission, sold everything on it, made $970 on the parts sold and put that engine/trans into my car.

What is good for me doesn't mean it's good for you. Did you do a compression test before taking everything apart? Are you ok with taking the oil pan off and check the condition of bearings? Do you know how? If you do or know someone that do, I'd start there and decide if you want to reuse the short block as-is. If you don't, the finding a running engine would be the cheapest option. Rebuild is good, but it'll cost much more money.

checking the bearings is a no go, its out of my range of knowledge honestly im pretty limited, my compression was 160-170 psi , so theres a 10lb variance there. However i did have a minor piston slap noise before (went away when warm) then sound of a stuck lifter came about suddenly few weeks after my cam seals were replaced. So i just decided to give it to a machine shop. the bottom end is where im not sure where to go next but because they were unable to find anything in the head with the lifters or valves im kinda scratching my head here. Unless the noise was traveling, it was a distinctly a stuck lifter sound. maybe ill see if someone can help me check the bearings i guess thats all that i can do from here

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 11 Dec 2015, 17:47

The S60 is a RN style engine (not to be confused with the R designation). The RN is the manufacturing designation of the newer engines. The head and the block don't mate up between the series of engines post '98 but the engines whole will swap backwards. Lucky has a video on swapping in a newer RN style engine into an older P80 and I'm pretty sure it is in the repair database. If not it should be on his website at www.ardideas.com. What you do is basically ignore the CVVT.

You can use either the 2.3 or the 2.4 liter high pressure turbo engines.

...Lee