36 replies to this topic

[Domo]

Hi there,
I am a long time honda fan, and love the ability to swap engines between cars and years with ease. I have been interested in volvo's for a couple of years now, I finally bought one for my wife. a 98 v70 xc awd. I love the car, but I'm looking for more power, I fear the engine is tired and changing the turbo/injectors/ecu would just blow the motor.

My question is can I swap a motor in from another v70/s70 or s60r with ease

If so what are my options from mild to wild

Thanks for your advice

[wizzard_al]

Other motors swap easily, but if you put in a '99 or later engine, you run into the newer engine having VVT on the exhaust cam, and you have to account for that. The ME4.4 in your car doesn't have the faintest idea of what the VVT is, and you have several choices, put in spacers in the head for the the VVt to keep it from moving, block off the vVT, or have a controller to run it independently from the ECU. Otherwise, the engine will fit and run fine. Note that you have an LPT (low pressure turbo) engine, and there LPT and HPT (high pressure turbo) options. LPT has 9.0:1 compression, HPT has 8.5:1 compression, but other than that, the only other real difference is cams. V70 engines are a bolt in if they are '98 and earlier, after '98, any engine has VVT on it, and the swap is that much more difficult.

[Domo]

So, My best choice would be to find a 98 or older v70 t5 hpt, would I have any issues with the ecu/computer in my car, Or do I need the ecu that goes with the engine? Also is they any transmission issues I should know about, or awd issues.

[Big Will]

If you find a '98 B5234T3/T6 motor which are the HPT variants for the US market then your ECU would literally work but it would be better if you used a matching ECU so that it provides proper boost for the bigger turbo and deals with the slightly lower compression.

You can also send your current ECU to any of a number of tuners to convert it to a stock HPT ECU or put whatever tune you want converted for the HPT ECU. '98 ECUs aren't mated to a car's vin # so you have lots of options.

The engine has nothing to do with the AWD so you don't have to worry about using an R motor vs. a T5 motor since I assume you are keeping your current AWD transmission which will bolt up just fine.

[Domo]

thanks

[Korruption]

 wizzard_al, on 06 January 2012 - 04:49 AM, said:

put in spacers in the head for the the VVt to keep it from moving, block off the vVT, or have a controller to run it independently from the ECU. Otherwise, the engine will fit and run fine.

Completely irrelevant information. If you want to run a VVT motor... dual or single... you do not need to do anything more than leave the VVT unplugged.

Example... I have a 98 V70R with an 07 2.5T dual VVT motor in it. Left unplugged.

the 01+ turbo motors are the way to go. There are some modifications to make them fit, but it truly is pretty much an easy swap. You need a front engine mount from a 99-00 motor, modify the timing cover to accept the older serp tensioner, modify the cam shaft ends to accept older accessories such as cap/rotor.

All in all... it's worth it to source a newer motor if you can afford it. Many advancements made in the 01+ motors.

[Domo]

 Korruption, on 08 January 2012 - 05:58 AM, said:

Completely irrelevant information. If you want to run a VVT motor... dual or single... you do not need to do anything more than leave the VVT unplugged.

Example... I have a 98 V70R with an 07 2.5T dual VVT motor in it. Left unplugged.

the 01+ turbo motors are the way to go. There are some modifications to make them fit, but it truly is pretty much an easy swap. You need a front engine mount from a 99-00 motor, modify the timing cover to accept the older serp tensioner, modify the cam shaft ends to accept older accessories such as cap/rotor.

All in all... it's worth it to source a newer motor if you can afford it. Many advancements made in the 01+ motors.

Good to know I just found a 99 s70 for sale this morning hpt so I could use the whole motor with the same mod's?

[okoye]

make sure the etm has been replaced on the 99+ engine. you'll know white is from the factory, yellow means its been replaced underwarranty.

you wont be able to use the ecu from the 99 as its tied to that specific vin< might be wrong but its what ive been told. also ME7

[jnderr]

 okoye, on 11 January 2012 - 04:51 PM, said:

make sure the etm has been replaced on the 99+ engine. you'll know white is from the factory, yellow means its been replaced underwarranty.

you wont be able to use the ecu from the 99 as its tied to that specific vin< might be wrong but its what ive been told. also ME7

He's talking about swapping this motor into a 98' ETM issues aren't relevant since to do the swap you would need to swap the intake manifold and tb from the 98' motor on to the 99+. Along with the other mods that need to be done that Korruption touched on. You'll want to get a T5 ecu from a 98, to go along with the injectors and turbo that the 99' hpt motor has.

Edited by jnderr, 11 January 2012 - 05:02 PM.

[okoye]

ah so half my info was correct!

[Jardim]

To the OP:

Whats the mileage on the current motor you have? These motors can handle bolt ons pretty well...

[Domo]

 Jardim, on 13 January 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

To the OP:

Whats the mileage on the current motor you have? These motors can handle bolt ons pretty well...

247,000km

[Jardim]

247,000 Km = 153,000 miles.

Assuming this car was cared for before you, it shouldnt need a new engine for bolt ons. These engines are known to last way longer, 153,000 miles is nothing really. My cars at well over 280,000 miles (450,000 kms) and still going fine without any hesitation.

What i would do is go for a complete Stage 0, check all hoses, connections etc and swap the turbo and ECU to have a fun daily driver.

[AdirondackVolvo]

Stage zero. Make sure your Boost controller is operational. Common thing to fail, and you'll notice it. Honestly, the 98's are WAY easier to modify than the 99-up's due to ME7. With M4.4, There are plenty of tuners out there i.e. ARD. and you can do plenty of upgrades with that. ME7 is almost untunable from todays standpoint. Although Lucky at ARD is finally cracking into them.

[burnout8488]

Yeah, I really don't see the need for a new engine either unless you know something is physically wrong with it.

Do what they said, bring it up to stage 0 and it should accept modifications nicely.

[Domo]

there is nothing wrong with the engine other than a p0455 code which I am chasing the cause right now, I didn't think these engines were this strong

Boost control valve? do you mean the valve above the rad connecting vac from intake to actuator?

Looks like if the engine is strong and healthy, I need high pressure turbo injectors and the correct ecu

[Jardim]

These engines are good to go if your run the right fuel and change the oil regularly. The boost control valve otherwise known as the TCV is located right next to your intake box between the box and the engine (looks like a sensor plug with 3 vaccum lines coming out of it)

You have the LPT motor, it has a higher C/R than the T5 series (9:1 vs 8.5:1)

A basic "T5" upgrade (T5 turbo and ECU) will make a huge difference from the stock 190 hp you have right now.

If you wanna go crazy and maximize the potential of these upgrades, read around to see what you can do with a stock motor.

[Domo]

the 99 did not work out, however a found a 96 850 turbo can I do the same with this car swap the turbo injectors and ecu?

[burnout8488]

I believe you can use the 15g and the injectors from that car. However, you should just get an affordable ARD tune for your current ECU rather than swapping in a T5 ECU which still won't be as much power as a tuned XC ECU.

[Jardim]

Yeah, what he said above me.

If you put a 96 Motronic 4.3 ECU into a 98 Motronic 4.4 car your going backwards in ECU advancement. Your ECU can be more fine tuned then the older 4.3 ECUs. even though your car will run the old ECU id just get a tune, then you'll really like the XC