What to do with a 275K '97 850 GLT LPT motor?

Post by **Chuck W** » 05 Sep 2018, 07:25

We recently pulled this thing from the wife's '97 855 GLT because it had a tiny HG leak. (Replaced it with an '01 XC70 LPT RN motor).
In addition to the HG leak, it developed a bit of a tap on the bottom end when cold. Went away once the engine warmed up a bit.
It's middling on the "glove test", as an earlier quick crankcase ventilation system refresh only partially fixed that. (Granted it was not the "high-mileage" update of the PCV system, and I suppose it's possible that the tiny HG leak also went into the crankcase).

I'd like to drop a whiteblock into my 240 (Have all of the big conversion parts sitting here), but I'm not sure if it's worth it to mess with this and refresh it a bit, or just hunt down a lower-mileage RN motor. I'm not trying to build a 500hp monster for it.

HG isn't that big of a deal, and the tick might just be o-rings in the pan, but the motor just may be tired.

I suppose I could do a leak-down test and pull the pan, but in the end, is it worth it?

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 05 Sep 2018, 07:42

With a head gasket leak, a leak-down or compression test is going to read low on two adjoining cylinders. It could be a good engine, but you have made it clear it needs top and bottom-end work to refresh it.

Is it worth it, well that really comes down to how much do you value your time? It is likely more economical and faster to source a low-mileage engine than to partially rebuild this one. I can't tell you what to do, but if you have to ask if it's worth it, than it's probably not (unless you value the satisfaction of rebuilding an old engine).

Post by **Chuck W** » 05 Sep 2018, 07:51

The HG leak was tiny enough to push combustion gases into the coolant, but not enough to push any coolant into the combustion chambers. The coolant system would just hold a few psi of pressure, after things had cooled down. Engine never puffed smoke, of any color.

Might save the head, at least. Could be a useful thing to refresh for the future, seeing as we're probably going to have 3 whiteblock cars in the household at some point.

Post by **Clemens** » 05 Sep 2018, 08:17

Keep it as a spare engine if you can source a running one easily and cheap. Otherwise fix it