Engine has died!

It went a few weeks ago Volvo C70 2.0 convertible 53 plate, was absolutely gutted! Took it to an engineer garage and they suggested replacing the big end bearings and chlinder two had totally gone and 1 had minor damage can't remember about the rest. So I got that done, had a phone call yesterday that it was done they had tested it and there was no knocking. So I was relived.

Picked her up and went to pick s friend up in newcastle, start knocking realy bad oil light came on and I knew it was bad news! Could tell as turbo didn't really want to come in.

Would it be cheaper for a full rebuild or to buy a new lump and stick it on? I'd be much appreciated for any help.

Paul

New lump

As the price of a rebuild would be very expensive

Yea I knew it would be, but it would be like a new engine then wouldn't it? I was toying with the idea of putting a t5 lump in

You won't get it to take a T5 lump without a lot of software work.

Why not take it back to the garage that "fixed" and get them to do it properly?

Their was no guarantee from them that it would only be the big end bearings but that's all they were able to see by taking the sump out they did say the crank might be damaged but was no way of telling unless we tried the big end

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Originally Posted by M-R-P

You won't get it to take a T5 lump without a lot of software work.

Why not take it back to the garage that "fixed" and get them to do it properly?

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It may be cheaper just to buy another car (same one) and transplant good from bad, then sell the rest on ebay.

You'll get a lot more money from the parts than you will scrapping one car on it's own!

Otherwise you have the risk of buying a second hand engine with no confirmed mileage and no guarantee that the transplanted engine won't have any running issues. At least if you buy another car, you can see the mileage AND more importantly, drive it and check the running of it before buying it.
Also, your dead car will be off the road for a very long time, depending on how quickly you can get an engine and how quickly the garage are prepared for the transplant.

Not to put a dampener on things, but a mate of mine blew his V70R up in February when the oil pump failed. Totally ruined the shell bearings and crank journals before he had a chance to stop as he was on a motorway.

His car is still on a ramp as we speak as he just couldn't buy a used 2.5R lump with confirmed mileage and confirmed running ok. Not a single scrapper would guarantee it. So he ended up buying a used S60R with a knackered gearbox for £2300 and trailering it down the country.
A new engine from Volvo is about £7000 and as Tim has already told me, even Volvo were sometimes fitting the wrong piston rings from factory, so it would still need the head and sump removed to confirm or replace the rings.

Obviously a new 2.0 5 pot is not £7k, but I doubt you'll get little change out of £5500.

For the complete lack of aggro, time off the road and cast iron guarantee that the end result will be a good one, I would kiss goodbye to your C70 and just buy another one mate, only this time, buy a C70 T5 :wink:

Oh, to answer part of your question about rebuild.....A new Crankshaft is over £1000 from Volvo and that's without a set of shell bearings, piston rings, timing belt kit, etc, etc, etc....:( Unless you have more money than sense, a total rebuilt is out of the question and totally not worth it on a 2.0l engine.)

Oh god, the kind of rely I knew was coming but hoped not to read lol. I love my
C70, it's my little baby and she's in amazing Nick! Even the engine still looks new apart from the obvious! :(


but but thank you very much for taking the time to give me a reality response!

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Originally Posted by LeeT5

It may be cheaper just to buy another car (same one) and transplant good from bad, then sell the rest on ebay.

You'll get a lot more money from the parts than you will scrapping one car on it's own!

Otherwise you have the risk of buying a second hand engine with no confirmed mileage and no guarantee that the transplanted engine won't have any running issues. At least if you buy another car, you can see the mileage AND more importantly, drive it and check the running of it before buying it.
Also, your dead car will be off the road for a very long time, depending on how quickly you can get an engine and how quickly the garage are prepared for the transplant.

Not to put a dampener on things, but a mate of mine blew his V70R up in February when the oil pump failed. Totally ruined the shell bearings and crank journals before he had a chance to stop as he was on a motorway.

His car is still on a ramp as we speak as he just couldn't buy a used 2.5R lump with confirmed mileage and confirmed running ok. Not a single scrapper would guarantee it. So he ended up buying a used S60R with a knackered gearbox for £2300 and trailering it down the country.
A new engine from Volvo is about £7000 and as Tim has already told me, even Volvo were sometimes fitting the wrong piston rings from factory, so it would still need the head and sump removed to confirm or replace the rings.

Obviously a new 2.0 5 pot is not £7k, but I doubt you'll get little change out of £5500.

For the complete lack of aggro, time off the road and cast iron guarantee that the end result will be a good one, I would kiss goodbye to your C70 and just buy another one mate, only this time, buy a C70 T5 :wink:

Oh, to answer part of your question about rebuild.....A new Crankshaft is over £1000 from Volvo and that's without a set of shell bearings, piston rings, timing belt kit, etc, etc, etc....:( Unless you have more money than sense, a total rebuilt is out of the question and totally not worth it on a 2.0l engine.)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by MaxiSNK

Oh god, the kind of rely I knew was coming but hoped not to read lol. I love my
C70, it's my little baby and she's in amazing Nick! Even the engine still looks new apart from the obvious! :(


but but thank you very much for taking the time to give me a reality response!

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Wow! She is stunning mate. You really do have a dilemma on your hands.

Give Braydon Motor Company a call in London (one of the biggest Volvo breakers in the UK) and see if they can help you.

If they cannot confirm Engine mileage and running correctly don't buy!

Good luck with your search.

I would deffo start the search for a donor car , that is too perfect to scrap .

Exactly, she's a real head turner so been looking at options. First engineer company have quoted me £2400 for a full rebuild that's basically everything looked at and done. But still going to shop about as you guys say she's to good to scrap and it's quite upsetting lol

By the time most drivers decide to finally switch off after the slight tapping, and then the knocking from the bottom end and finally the piston hitting the head the cranks are scrap. It's quite hard to accurately measure the crank on the thrust side whilst in the car, as a general rule if the shells are deformed the crank will be damaged.

If you want to keep the car you could get a secondhand engine and have it rebuilt with hopefully just a crank regrind, bearings and new piston rings and then you should be fine for 100k.

If possible you ought to find out the cause of the original failure or you might do the same again. Also your oil cooler will of been heavily contaminated.

Thanks everyone for the help, I used to be a meme we on here many years ago when I had a C70 2.0 lpt blue, and then a C70 t5. But kind of got lost with lots of work on and drifted away. But thanks for all the feedback I'm still unsure what my best option is as I really want
to keep my current car

Where would be best to get a front engine I could just replace it with? Or can I buy a crankshaft seperately. Was toying with the idea of butting a T5 lump in, how much would I be looking at for full conversion.

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Originally Posted by MaxiSNK

Where would be best to get a front engine I could just replace it with? Or can I buy a crankshaft seperately. Was toying with the idea of butting a T5 lump in, how much would I be looking at for full conversion.

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Didn't I already answer this question?

Braydon motor company, London.

New crankshaft is circa £1000 plus all the other bits you'll need, ie shell bearings etc.

Yea about the crank, but I'm looking for a rough ball park for whatever else would have gone my big end would have gone again wouldn't it? I'm not sure I'm very unsure what todo only one company has got bsck to me so far £2400 for a engine rebuild, 2 companies said they wouldn't touch Volvo engines because of the compression or something related

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MaxiSNK

Yea about the crank, but I'm looking for a rough ball park for whatever else would have gone my big end would have gone again wouldn't it? I'm not sure I'm very unsure what todo only one company has got bsck to me so far £2400 for a engine rebuild, 2 companies said they wouldn't touch Volvo engines because of the compression or something related

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Your not going to be 100% certain of that until the engine is stripped down again and tolerances measured, which is time consuming and can be expensive.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't waste my money on trying to find out if this that and the other is knackered. Your just going to have to bite the bullet and source another engine or donor car with confirmed mileage would be better.
I can't comment on what the first garage did or didn't do, but sounds to me like they didn't do a very good job and took risks.

I would source another garage that will do the transplant for you. You might have to transport both cars via trailer....but those costs are small in comparison.