Offered a cheap s40- worth it? Any pit falls of 1.8?
 

Hi Everyone,

I have the chance to buy a 03 1.8 s40 for £200 quid and after reading wonder if its worth it. Mot runs out month end but it has elderly owners and has 100k. Apparently no known issues at all.

The car has had a advisory on the past 2 mots for engine noise so im guessing this is the vvt solenoid? Can i disconnect the plug to see if it goes away as i have read? Anything else to watch out for?

I also need to check the engine numbers a gdi engines do not run e10

Surely for the price if i dont like it i can give it a full service, mot, sol repair, valet and move it on for a little profit?

Either way my intention was to use it as a run about for a few weeks while the d24 head is rebuilt by me. We have a little yaris but its well a yaris so neither me or my lovely lady like the drive. The sadest thing is the yaris is probably faster than the d24 at the moment haha

Mick

I don't know anything about the S40, 'ukvolvo', but at that price I wouldn't have thought that you could go wrong. £200 is not much more than scrap value, and any car with a year's ticket has got to be worth £500, surely?

Even if it costs you a ton to get it through an MOT, you're still onto a winner! :regular_smile:

Regards, John.

First if all, for £200, you can't go wrong.
With regards to the noise, yes, it can indeed be the VVT pulley. It is a usually, but it always a cyclic noise and if it goes when you unplug the VVT solenoid, then it is definitely that. However, you mentioned something about the GDI and E10. If the car is the 1.8i with the Mitsubishi GDI engine, then it will NOT have a VVT pulley and the problem is not that.
If it is indeed the GDI, then you can use the premium petrol98-99RON, and you will be fine

Thanks for the reply. So its usually the pulley itself that causes issue? They are not cheap from what i saw online sadly, about £300. Is there any cheaper alternatives as its no viable at that cost.

And it sounds like it does not have a gdi engine afterall then. I still have not viewed it yet as i would not be interested in a 300 quid bill and servicing to do on top. Ive just sold a v70 for 500 so it wouldn't not be worth it.

Mick

VVT is a pricey repair, yes. Cheaper if you can do it yourself. If you were to keep it for yourself, you could bypass the VVT system, by unplugging the vvt solenoid and plugging in the VVT connector to a spare VVT solenoid, to fool the ECU that there is a VVT. And by doing this the Boise disappears. Unfortunately you cannot do that if you want to resell the car

Just read a little more, are these vanos units?

Don't know. Never heard of this term

I remember vanos units caused big issues on some Bmw's mainly e36 m3 evo.

Do you know if the pulleys can be repaired etc?

watch out for rust around the rear underside and front wings and brake pipes behind the fuel tank .

As others have said the VVT pulley can be an expensive repair. Rust around the rear arches and at the rear of the sills can be problematic. Sill rust is an MOT failure due to the proximity of suspension mountings and rear brake pipes are not an easy fix, if done properly. Given that S40's are not as desirable as the V version and most likely Fred and Doris specified poverty spec when new, I would walk on if you are looking to make any profit out of the refurb. Could be a nice little project as a keeper.