Cost of repair vs. value of car - when to call it quits?

[Chris_Rogers]

What made you think there was anything wrong with the turbo in the first place?

If there is little play in the bearings and there is not evidence of excessive oil loss via the turbo I'd leave it alone.

You may only really need a new exhaust manifold gasket.

[S60 Alex]

Hi Chris,

Two things -

1. There was some oil usage and oil present in the intercooler pipes
2. Under boost I would get a fluttering noise, which sounded like a slipping fan belt at low boost and turned into an odd screech at high boost. It was definitely linked to the spool of the turbo, rather than engine speed. Russell @ RT test drove it and determined it was the turbo.

Am I naive to hope that a turbo rebuild kit will fix it? I would love if this was all that was required, rather than a new turbo..

Originally Posted by Chris_Rogers

What made you think there was anything wrong with the turbo in the first place?

If there is little play in the bearings and there is not evidence of excessive oil loss via the turbo I'd leave it alone.

You may only really need a new exhaust manifold gasket.

[Bernard333]

I wouldnt want to urge you on to dismantle the turbo if there was a chance it was ok but after all it is a T5 you have and not a D5 and even an old dodderer like myself would probably grow little horns if I got behind the wheel of one of these instead of my D5 so it is more likely to have been redlined for longer and more often than one of the more sensible models and with 143k miles on it . The main bearing surface will show the wear and possibly ridges in it but obviously you are not going to see this until its dismantled . Provided the turbine blades are all intact and you use a good quality rebuild kit it should work but dont be tempted to rebuild if you find any metal missing from the rotor as it will be out of balance and the vibration will quickly put you back to square one .

[RaVolvoR]

[QUOTE=oilburner;454343]Alex, I spent £14k on my S80 14 months ago. Now, just 13,000 miles later it's worth maybe £6k.
QUOTE]

Cheers for this comment, buying a replacement car is expensive and depreciation is a hidden cost a lot of people don't understand or simply ignore.

I used to do a lot of miles and for that I wanted zero hassle, depreciation was balanced by convenience. Now I do maybe 5k a year so now I wantot fiddle and try things and its a heck of a lot cheaper. I regret getting rid of my 850 for my current V70, simply because the money spent really hasn't been repaid and doubt it ever will be!

The whole replace v repair equation depends on circumstances, temperament (yours) mileage, ability to do it yourself etc etc etc no one can say its better to replace or do fix it, its too complex. I'm convinced my 940 was better built than my 850 and inturn that was better than the V70.. what will I buy next? Dunno, stuck with V70, don't like its complexity can't afford to change, don't feel its good investment so right now I'll stick with what I've got and see what happens.

Fix it and see! If you're feeling flush, buy a new one!

[S60 Alex]

Hi all,


Good news!!! I am writing having just completed a 100 mile test drive in my newly revived S60.

In the end, I decided to tackle the job myself and to try and refurbish the turbo charger.

The list of work that I did was:

• Exhaust manifold gasket (luckily only the gasket was cracked)
• eBay turbo rebuild kit
• Injectors cleaned
• New PCV system - trap and all pipework
• All new vacuum pipework
• New power steering pipes & resevoir
• New eBay exhaust repair brackets
• Intercooler removed & flushed, new boost hoses fitted
• ECM cleaned

I made a point of ordering new bolts & studs for everything that I removed - an eBay copy of VADIS and Simon (FRF Volvo) made for easy going on this.

I still have the front suspension to tackle at some point - but for now, I'm just enjoying being able to drive the old girl again!


Many thanks to everyone who offered advice and for the many posts that I read for information during the work.


Cheers,

Alex

[Chris_Rogers]

Well done,

How difficult did you find the turbo refurb?

[S60 Alex]

Originally Posted by Chris_Rogers

Well done,

How difficult did you find the turbo refurb?

Hi Chris,


The turbo refurb (& removal of the turbo/exhaust manifold) were the two easiest bits.

I of course had the help of forum member Dooby's excellent guide - everything was pretty much as he'd described. I found a Park Tools torque wrench (bicycle tools company) that did 0-7nm for £29.99. The only slightly tricky bit was realigning the two compressor/turbine wheels when tightening, to preserve the turbo's balancing.

The only swine, now that I think about it, was the large circlip that holds part of the turbo together. I'd bought a set of circlip pliers from Screwfix, and they were very slightly too small - you really do need very wide opening ones. They still worked, but I did enjoy the circlip pinging off into low orbit a few times.

I also bought myself a 3/8" 10-80nm torque wrench, which I've found much more useful for engine use than the typical Argos/Screwfix/Laser £18.99 1/2" version.

The trickiest bits of the job were actually round the front - my engine has a rigid PCV pipe that connects to the intake manifold (underneath it, with a hollow screw that is a bugger to tighten), the PCV box and the side of the engine block - I found this quite a challenge to do.

I just took the car for a spin around Hampstead's many hills and nothing has blown up - still happy!!

Cheers,


Alex

[Chris_Rogers]

Thanks for that, very useful info.

I expect it's a good feeling to have succeeded!

[valerneVolvo]

Now I face the same dilemma.
I love my 1987 Volvo 740 GLE Automatic Gearbox.

She needs apparently a replacement or rebuild of
The automatic gearbox and torque converter..looks like an expensive job relative to what I bought her for £2500, but what else am I going to find for
that amount? Any recommendations for mechanical repairs garages for the 1987 Volvo? Good luck all of you Volvo Enthusiasts. Hehe I get it!