Help! 2003/4 V70R engine has gone bang!
 

Hi there,

First post! Was hoping to join a forum and it not have to be such a depressing one but here I am.

I was driving back home Friday and on the M3 on the smart motorway section (actually broke down in the left lane as there was no hard shoulder - terrifying experience!), and I got a no oil pressure warning, followed by the engine sounding like a bag of spanners.

I am assuming internal damage to the engine and needing the engine opened and surgery performed.

I had a horrible experience part exchanging a BMW 3 series engine a long time ago for a refurb that was absolutely trash, and I am looking for advice on where to go to have the engine looked at and work performed.

I believe my options to be the following:

1. Repair the current engine by people that know what they are doing, including as it's open probably doing improvements such as the liners and also essentially rebuilding with all new seals, rings and everything else.

2. Getting an engine as a part exchange that has had all the above done by someone reputable.

Can people please advise? I am based in Fareham, near Southampton, but i'll get the car delivered via trailer to the right garage/person.

THANK YOU!!!

How many miles are on your engine?
Was it maintained during its life?
Sure sounds like your timing belt went out but your description (bang, rattly sound, oil light) could cover more than one event.
If you're lucky, the accessory belt went and effected nothing internal.

Have you even looked at the engine?

Determining the scope of damage is step one.

Glad you got off the road in one piece. Get back to us with status.

Google "Tim Williams Volvo"

I've not used him myself but I think he is recognised as THE expert in these engines.

Hi

Thanks for getting back to me.

187,000 miles.

I had the cambelt done in November last year
I had the o-ring seals done about 4 weeks ago. The engine was a little tappety and I had the sump removed, cleaned, new oring seals and new oil etc.

After the seals were done my idle oil pressure went from 2 bar to 4 bar apparently. With pressure at 5.4 bar (I think) when revving.

I have the car back at my home on my drive after the incident. I have only performed a visual external examination, I haven't taken anything apart, but the cambelt looks ok, I also cannot see any oil anywhere.

I am happy to take pictures and video if people give me pointers, but I'm half expecting if there's no external clues to the issues then it will be internal?

Please advise and i'll get to it. Thank you.

Do you have deep pockets???
 

I am also lucky to run a V70R and the scenario you are describing is my worst nightmare. The cars value to us is not reflected in the value others place on it, and the question that must be first answered is how much are you prepared to invest? If it is a major failure involving strip/rebuild one things certain it wont be cheap. How much if any work are you able/willing to do? because someone has to asses the damage before estimates and a plan of repair can be made. If it is major, perhaps its time to walk away or if you have deep pockets and want to keep the car perhaps you can justify the ££££ needed to be spent. At 187K ( playing devils advocate) I would walk away, unless repairs/replacements have been carried out to other expensive items ie Turbo : clutch : 4C suspension components: etc. If you have had the car long, you'll know what parts cost. Personally I would check the dip stick then drain the engine oil to see if any bits were washed out. From what you say there are no visual signs of catastrophic failure so the next step after this would be to dig down into the top of the engine , or take the sump off to check the bottom of the engine, seeing this was the last job done on the engine.

Which O ring seals were replaced? I hope its just a co incidence that the sump was off just 4 weeks ago- You are looking a reason for sudden oil pressure lose . perhaps the oil pickup pipe in the sumps fallen off?? It would cause oil pressure loss and no external signs. I worry about the exposed position of the oil filter, and it getting smashed off - but that would be visible.

I wish you all the best & Good luck.

Cheers Bob

Hi Bob

The car was good until this happened. It's had replacement 4C and has full service history. To be fair I was thinking of some kind of full rebuild north of 200k anyway.

I'm not too worried about the costs to repair it, within reason. I'm more worried about finding the best, most reputable people to perform the work. I want the car back with a full engine rebuild, or supplied engine that's been rebuilt. I don't see much point just shoving another 100k+ engine into it, it'll just do the same thing as everything is tired and 15+ years old.

So far I have been recommended Tim Williams, i've also been reading up about Shemtek Automotive? Any recommendations on these guys?

Thanks for all the responses so far.

Possible suggestion, there's an R engine on ebay (not cheap though), you could consider buying that and chucking it in as is, they properly strip/rebuild your original lump and swap them back when it's been rebuilt and sell the replacement lump on.

It's the quickest way of getting the car back on the road, but more initial outlay and mucking about.

I'd be getting the sump off your blown engine though as this was the last area to be worked on.

Get it straight back to whoever did the work on the lubrication system , he did something wrong ... It's pretty obvious I would think from what you say . Did he use non volvo sealant ? Did he plaster too much on and block the oil way? Inferior O rings? What oil did he put back in ? As above , did the oil pick up pipe drop off or was it broken doing the job ? who knows ... But oil light on and rattly engine is the clue . Maybe a good idea to get a diagnosis by a third party first , But talk to the people who had it apart ..

On the other hand the start of the damage could have occurred over a long period whilst you were driving around with low oil pressure ....

first thing is the sump has to come off ..

No oil pressure causing a broken rod is quite worst than a broken belt (except for Nissans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S02jzVNOJI0 )

I would think about an engine swap at this point. Try also to drain the oil see if it's contaminated with the wrong sealant, as Clan says.

Hi all

Thanks for the comments so far, appreciated.

I trust the guy who did the sump and o-ring replacement. However it has got me thinking, he did mention there was sludge in the sump. Not being a Volvo guy, it was cleaned as part of the process.

However is that a sympton of a blocked PCV system? Could this be a potentially issue for engine failure? I've gone through all the service history and I cannot find any mention of PCV cleaning or a new system being installed. It was at 187,000 miles. I have seen online that a blocked PCV system can cause engine tapping or knocking due to dragging down oil pressure?

If I go for a replacement engine, which appears to be the sensible option now as I think my engine will cost too much to repair and leave the car off the road for a considerable amount of time, is there any value to it as-is? Are any parts off it worth any value to help recoup costs after an engine swap?

If I have the engine out for an engine swap, other than a new cambelt (if I don't get a rebuilt engine), what other things do you guys recommend getting done at the same time?

Thank you,

Oliver