1995 Volvo 850 Turbo (Noob Tries to Bring Her Back to Life)

humanlover · Post by **humanlover** » 22 Mar 2020, 17:41

Now that I have a ton of time on my hands, I am looking to get my '95 Turbo back on the road. I love this car; it took an absolute *BEATING* for close to a year before giving out due to neglect. Long story short, the vehicle started having oil pressure problems and it threw a rod thru the front of the block right by the PCV oil trap. Before that happened there were constant oil leaks seemingly coming from everywhere. Oil starvation killed the motor, so at this time I'm currently looking for a new block that I can rebuild and drop in.

I'll document my trials and tribulations here for your entertainment. I've never rebuilt or swapped or even pulled an engine myself before; the most complicated thing I've done is a PCV job on my current 1996 Volvo 850 NA daily driver which took me an entire Saturday. Feel free to post encouragement, discouragement, sage wisdom etc. What other compatible vehicles should I be looking at when sourcing an engine?

humanlover · Post by **humanlover** » 22 Mar 2020, 17:45

Sleeping beauty will ride again if I just throw tons of money and hours at her

Post by **erikv11** » 23 Mar 2020, 01:56

Looking forward to it!

For engines, the easiest is to look at 95-97 850s and 98 S/C/C70 cars, any turbo model. Here's the easy list:
The same HPT engine: 95-96 turbo, 97-98 HPT
Also compatible: 97-98 LPT (the GLT model cars)

Any 95-98 R model is just a regular HPT engine, if you run across that. The LPT engines can drop straight in to your car, just keep your current ECU and fuel injectors. Your intake manifold may need to be kept if you have EGR.

You can do more complicated things too during an engine swap, like change the emissions equipment (dump EGR and/or air pump) or move to a later year engine, but those require small modifications.

greg850r · Post by **greg850r** » 23 Mar 2020, 20:44

I have a 5spd 95 GLT wagon I'm using for a donor car for a manual swap. Motor needs rebuilt but is all there.

Post by **erikv11** » 24 Mar 2020, 11:24

95 GLT engine is unfortunately NA, not useful to OP.

humanlover · Post by **humanlover** » 31 Mar 2020, 19:59

I've been waiting for a compatible block for close to a year now haha. Not giving up tho! As soon as one comes up I am locked and loaded, ready to respond with cash money to get my project started. My search radius includes Austin, San Marcos, San Antonio, Waco, etc. Basically central Texas, if there is a rear ended or otherwise trashed 850 Turbo I am probably willing to go get that block!

In the meantime here is my current daily driver: a 1996 Volvo 850 NA that is the beneficiary of all the harsh lessons I learned while absolutely abusing her 850 Turbo predecessor. As you can see she is borrowing the wheels off my Turbo. The only "upgrade" I'm interested in at this point is a Prancing Moose decal!

My goal is to get her to 500k miles, maybe even more depending on how she holds up! As it stands she is SOLID. Major problems: the AC has gone out (who cares) and she needs a head gasket replacement. She's losing coolant however she just recently stopped losing oil after I completed the PCV job, which is what I was *hoping* for but wasn't exactly expecting...kinda weird by hey I'm not gonna complain. I keep a close eye on her coolant/oil levels daily but I haven't really been driving much due to the Corona situation. She starts right up everytime, never acts up, gets me everywhere I need to go.

humanlover · Post by **humanlover** » 12 May 2020, 09:03

Can you guys smarten me up on what concerns I should have with trying to drop in a '99 S70 T5 motor? At first glance it's hard to tell what incompatibilities exist so I was just wondering if any seasoned vets would attempt such a thing.

Post by **misha** » 12 May 2020, 16:17

'93-'98 YES...direct swap but keep your manifolds.
'99 or '00 NO....modifications needed.

Post by **scot850** » 12 May 2020, 16:27

Hey misha, why not a 99? I obviously know there are differences like the intake and exhaust mifolds, the oil cooler and 99- have VVT. But other than the move from hydraulic to manual tensioner on the timing, are the blocks not compatible? I had a friend fit a 04 S60 turbo motor into his 98 V70 AWD. Said it was fairly straight forward. You are 100% right that an earlier motor is easier as less to change.

Neil.

Post by **misha** » 12 May 2020, 16:35

Coil packs Neil....'98 still have cap & rotor.
Then...throttle body...etc.
That's why i said that it will require modifications.
'99 is not impossible to adapt....but he need to know what he is doing and what to modify.