940t bad headgasket.. worth buying?

[dartheyeball]

I was looking a 1993 Volvo 940 turbo w130k. The head gasket on the engine is blown. The guy wants $600 for it. I was interested in buying the 940, but I have never dealt with a vehicle with a blown head gasket before. I did own a 83 Volvo 240 turbo a few years ago and I enjoyed the car minus the less than stellar gas mileage. I have read the buying a used 700/900 buyers guide as well.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/3134859961.html

Thanks for your help.

[whispacloud]

IMO I don't believe that HG's go bad without reason.
Time and abuse are the causes.
The car isn't that old and there aren't that many miles so I would profile the car as having been abused.

I would inpsect the coolant and oil condition and pass on the car if they're not in good shape.

Edit: The reason why I say to pass is because you won't be able to drive/inpsect the car as normal. So you have to be more stringent with what you can inspect. Maybe the HG fix goes well, but when you start driving it something else may break or be broken that you couldn't inspect. That additional break might be the real reason why it's being sold and not fixed..

IF you do buy the car, be prepared to have it parked for a few months..

Headgaskets aren't that bad on these cars, but what's important is to take proper measurements to make sure the head/block surfaces are in spec.
If they're not you might have to spend more money and it can become a big headache.

[dartheyeball]

I'll make sure to check out the oil and coolant when I go to look at the car. The head gasket did concern me considering the mileage. I haven't had the best of luck when it comes to picking out vehicles that don't turn out to be money pits.

[harribert]

It's not uncommon for head gaskets to go bad after 100k, actually. It's got to go with the different thermal expansion rates of aluminum and iron that eventually wear them out.

Buy it, car's cheap. If the head is completely borked, plop in a $30 junkyard head and enjoy.

[gottarollwithit]

Originally Posted by harribert

It's not uncommon for head gaskets to go bad after 100k, actually. It's got to go with the different thermal expansion rates of aluminum and iron that eventually wear them out.

Buy it, car's cheap. If the head is completely borked, plop in a $30 junkyard head and enjoy.

This.
Get the guy down on the price b/c it's got a blown HG. Few buyers will be willing to deal with it and the seller will probably work with ya on the price b/c he knows that it's gonna cost him 500-1000 bucks to get the car fixed.

And... yea, the HG coulda let loose for a reason other than normal wear. Block could be cracked, but it's pretty unlikely. Buy a HG, intake, exhaust, and water pump seals. Take the head to a machine shop and get it decked. After ya get the car running, figure out what might have caused the HG failure. Maybe a bad radiator or water pump?

[945ti]

Originally Posted by harribert

It's not uncommon for head gaskets to go bad after 100k, actually. It's got to go with the different thermal expansion rates of aluminum and iron that eventually wear.

Only on abused or badly overheated ones usually. I've had many where I could still see the edge of the original Volvo gasket and measure the head that I'm pretty confident had never come off and where no one put a socket to the head bolts any time recently or likely since the car was new.

I've done a bunch on b230fts. Not quite so many on b21fts, though many are pretty old and cracked by now.

If you use decent coolant and keep the car up, 3-400k miles is not uncommon. Plenty also came off wih very low miles and some reason for an oil or coolant issue.

Ideally find the nicest na head you can and very carefully rebuild it with turbo exhaust valves. A bit of work, but I'd the fluids are solid and it drives ok otherwise, likely a reasonable risk if you plan to drive it a while. It isn't uncommon to find many coked turbo heads not reusable.

[tryingbe]

Buy it if you know cars and can fix it.

Don't buy it if you have to rely on other to fix it for you or have no idea how to fix it yourself.

[dartheyeball]

To be honest, I have never done a head gasket before. However I have done some engine work before in the past like ac compressors, alternators, starters, brakes, rotors and things of the like. I think I could do the labor to R&R the head gasket. The plus for me is that I do have a car that I could drive while I am working on the Volvo. I am assuming that replacing the radiator and waterpump would be wise. I'll check it out and see how well it was cared for. Thanks for all the help!

[FE 89]

You are also going to want to ask him how long he's been driving it with the gasket like that, or how long he's known about the problem. If he's been trying to drive it (if he'll even be honest and tell you that) or if it seems like he was experiencing the symptoms before he had the cause diagnosed, there could be some serious engine damage.

It's probably not quite that bad from the way you make it sound, but I had a car once with similar seemingly minor HG problems that ended up being totally F'ed because the problem was ignored. Driving a car with a leaky HG or overheating problems is a bad idea! I will be forever experiencing anxiety about this for the rest of my life...

But hey, if you want the car, and can get it for $600 or less, go for it! It would be a great project and sounds like you could learn from it/have fun with it. Good luck.

[dartheyeball]

I had a 1986 Chevy Nova that had a blown head gasket. We had it repaired and the car always had problems running hot. It was a nightmare. It is one of my concerns with buying this car. I have learned a lot about cars in my path as a reluctant mechanic and after watching a few Volvo head gasket replacement videos and doing some research, I think I can tackle replacing this one. The key to this adventure is that I have another car to drive..lol. WE'll see what happens when I talk to the seller!

[Ryan_R]

I'd question the head gasket diagnosis if overheating is the only symptom.

-Ryan

[TrickMick]

*COOLANT IN THE OIL* = NOT GOOD
(the bearing surfaces get "etched" and then the bearings shed metal....)

CHOOSE WISELY.....

[dartheyeball]

Originally Posted by Ryan_R

I'd question the head gasket diagnosis if overheating is the only symptom.

-Ryan

I am thinking that there has to be something that caused the head gasket to fail (ie. waterpump, thermostat, or radiator, ect) . It's hard to say until I actually look at the car. I will definitely ask the seller how long they drove the car with this condition. And I'll make sure to check the cooland and the oil as well.

[ziddey]

I bought my 1990 760 wagon for $200 with a busted head gasket. Of course, it also had the cat stolen and over 100k more miles than that one.

Funny he talks about the front passenger side having damage but doesn't show pictures of it. That'd be a much bigger factor for me. Of course, if there's no structural damage and everything is still lined up, it's not that bad to get a few fender, bumper, and hood. Don't know how common these cars are in your area, but finding the right color in good condition may be tough. There's always ebay or the forums, but shipping would be rough.

As far as the head gasket goes, pulling the head on these motors is a piece of cake.

There is an underlying reason though. Mine was from a leaky water pump, leading to an overheat. Or at least that's what I'm assuming. I took a straight edge to my head after removing it and found it was warped enough to slide my drivers license in between. $100 for a machine shop to mill it down. May be less in your area. May be easier / better / cheaper to find a good head candidate from a junkyard depending on the condition of that one. Mine seemed newly rebuilt, so I had it worked on.

After putting it all together, a few days down the road, I found that the heater core leaks. This is most likely the result of all the excess pressure from the exhaust gases blowing into the cooling system. Unfortunately, changing out the heater core is a major pain. I'd much rather do head jobs on these cars than heater cores. Of course, I haven't done it yet, so maybe it won't be that bad :p


All in all, a bad head gasket may mean you need to get a new head or it worked on. So figure in $100 for that. Then figure in $100 or so for a gasket set, and potentially new head bolts (I haven't had problems reusing, but you're rolling the dice unless you measure the bolts) and water pump (if necessary).

The heater core is a big issue. I've heard of places charging more than $1000 for it, but I might have not been looking at the right places. Of course, you might be lucky here.

Make sure the thermostat works or get a new one. It's definitely important to figure out why the head gasket blew.

$600 isn't too bad, but again, the body damage would likely be reason enough for the price to be $600 in my opinion.

[dartheyeball]

I called the seller today and it seems that the 940 was sold. I'll keep my eye out for another 940! =)