32 replies to this topic

[SlapShot]

So I am driving up I-95 through Bridgeport CT, going about 75mph in the left lane, 5PM rush hour when all of a sudden I don't have a gas pedal, RPMs are falling and i have no power steering. By some stroke of luck/divine intervention I managed to coast over 3 lanes and off onto an offramp which happened to be there.

As of that moment I wasn't sure what had happened. Fuel pump was going through my mind but that soon flew out the window when i cranked it over once...ugh. Checked the belts..the timing belt was slack and I knew then and there she was done. 121k on the clock.

I had it towed to the garage where they confirmed it dead. When I bought the car a little over a year ago and around 112k, the used place I got it from stated they replaced the timing belt. Apparently they had never changed the tensioner pulley and it snapped off.

I've been looking at my options here: Stick out not having a car while i go through grad school or drop 1600 on having a jy motor put in. Other than having a blown motor everything else is fine. I have until midday Friday (tomorrow) to decide.

Anyone have any input/suggestions? All are welcome.

[shanehutton]

You may just need a rebuilt head. If you have a good mechanic you may want to pull the head and see if you can get away with a new head.
This definitely reminds me to get to the belt job I have been putting off.

[HtownTurboBrick]

You can find a new head and just swap that in, but the cost of pulling a head is almost the cost of swapping a motor cuz it takes nearly as much. It pretty much boils down to you, your budget and what your time constraints are. In any case, good luck with whatever you decide, i've been down that road way too many times myself and I know it's a suck ass position to be in.

[Chilled Man]

hi

less then 6hrs away .

If you decided to sell it as is ...

let me know

[ajhehr]

Chilled Man, on 14 August 2009 - 02:25 AM, said:

hi

less then 6hrs away .

If you decided to sell it as is ...

let me know

damm vulture... YOur the guy that only hits on his friends girlfriends arnt you...

[Chilled Man]

ajhehr, on 14 August 2009 - 02:51 AM, said:

damm vulture... YOur the guy that only hits on his friends girlfriends arnt you...

hahahah nah I am married and thats againts the man code also.

[SlapShot]

@Shane & HTown
Thanks for the advice. I was thinking it might be possible but wasn't quite sure. All my friends are Honda nuts.

@Justin
I'll keep you posted if i go down that route. But ill most likely be fixing it.

And im in Hartford CT for the next month before school starts so it's a little closer to ya.

[Chilled Man]

Cool .

If you need help getting parts and such let me know .

And I will link you where I get all my stuff.

oh wait here you go ..

call the guys in my sig
Rebuilt head - Clearwater Cylinder heads 18005721963 ask for steve

[Bah]

Don't lose hope bro...

I can give you a story which will lighten your day for sure.

So heres this 1993 volvo 850 GLT...and well one day, a owner *cough* my brother *cough* received said car into his custody. He drove it for years...had some crazy fan switches cause it was pretty well neglected and came from california. Well one day he decided to take it for a spin with his friends down to FLA where the players play hey! But dumb POSmofoto didn't pay any attention to the timing belt.

SNAP

on I-75 heading out of atlanta. WOOPS

So, in his infinite wisdom and refusal to look for a new car, he had it fixed. A 1996 junkyard engine was dropped into it supposively, the original 93 block was toast. The total bills came to around 4 grand to my knowledge...and at the same time the man replaced everything on the engine (although i've been finding out things that make me question whether this mechanic drank too many beers while he installed it...)

4 grand..on an N/A...but oh no..not just any N/A...a 1993 N/A.

This was 4-5 years ago, so take that to todays money lol....

The engine put in had 80k miles on it...and it still runs like a champ at 120-130k its got now.

The moral of the story is: your spending less money, to put a car back into excellent running condition again, and retain its value somewhat so. I learned from my brothers stupidity and spent 2500 and bought an 850R =0 the extra 1500 i could spend on the car bringing it up to spec. Fix her up. Spend what it costs, because it'll pay off (assuming the car is fine in other aspects). Just make sure the mechanic who installs it replaces everything imho...get that stuff out of the way so you dont have a rear main leak a year later =p

Good luck bro. I hope for your sake its just the head !

[Mesoam]

wow did you get lucky w/ that able to get off 95 like that...

sorry to hear abt the car

[SlapShot]

Chilled Man, on 14 August 2009 - 03:40 AM, said:

Rebuilt head - Clearwater Cylinder heads 18005721963 ask for steve

I just browsed their website, 2yr warranty isnt bad considering i would get 6 mo's from a jy motor. I'm definitely going to try to go this route. My question is, what do you do if you pull the head and the bottom end is buggered as well?

Bah, on 14 August 2009 - 05:57 AM, said:

I can give you a story which will lighten your day for sure.

Yeah that definitely did brighten my day.

Mesoam, on 14 August 2009 - 12:46 PM, said:

wow did you get lucky w/ that able to get off 95 like that...

Seriously. I was thinking the same thing when i got over. I almost got demolished in the right lane by a dumptruck considering i was going about 40 at this point. Wasn't sure if i was gonna be in one of those "Volvo saved my life" commercials...

[FCP Groton]

Sorry to here about this. Makes me what to just change my timing belt and everything even tho it was done at 160K. I don't know if the tensioner was done then, and that was 32K miles ago.

[Gilhuly]

I-95 in Bpt is one of the most dangerous stretches of road anywhere, at least it used to be before they widened it. I wouldn't call breaking down in downtown bridgeport lucky, but There is an excellent inde/Volvo specialist in Southport if you are looking for help. Euro Automotive. They may have a line on a motor or a head. Ask for Joe.

I would also be interested in purchasing if you want to get rid of it. All you need is a head, bolts, gasket set and let's throw in a set of tensioners and a water pump. Probably $600 or so in parts.

Mesoam, on 14 August 2009 - 12:46 PM, said:

wow did you get lucky w/ that able to get off 95 like that...

sorry to hear abt the car

[SlapShot]

I'm sure I'll have more questions in the coming days/weeks but I'll throw the first few out there.

Are there any special tools etc a good writeup for taking the head off? I've never taken apart a volvo motor before.

[ajhehr]

Chilled Man, on 14 August 2009 - 03:07 AM, said:

hahahah nah I am married and thats againts the man code also.

so is leg-humping someone to sell you something that isnt for sale;)

[Black Betty]

Find an 850 T5 for cheap and swap the motor, then part the car out. You'll make your money back. I've seen them for sub 1000 on CL

[SlapShot]

96850_R, on 14 August 2009 - 09:53 PM, said:

Find an 850 T5 for cheap and swap the motor, then part the car out. You'll make your money back. I've seen them for sub 1000 on CL

What about the harnesses? Aren't the ones from the B5234FT and my B5234T3 different? Otherwise that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

[rosso75]

Throw a belt on it and do a compression check first. Make sure something is actually broken before you spend a ton of money, or junk the car.

[Chilled Man]

rosso75, on 15 August 2009 - 12:00 AM, said:

Throw a belt on it and do a compression check first. Make sure something is actually broken before you spend a ton of money, or junk the car.

huh ?

The top end is toast.

Anyhow if the bottome end is buggered its either rip it the rest of the way out and rebuild or buy a junk car and dump in a used motor.

Thats about it

[JC 855 GLT-R]

sux but i would rebuild it. this should be a reminder to everyone... "do you know when your timing belt was last replaced??"