Here's my situation. I just sold my old car and have about 1k. I wasn't really sure if I was going to buy a car right away but saw this...

A '92 Volvo 960. Inline 6, automatic. Pretty clean inside and outside. The car has about 245k on it and I don't know what that exactly means for this car. But the deal is it's only $600. The catch is the timing belt broke so it doesn't run. Now the shop told the owner (not me) that it just needs a new timing belt. I don't think the guy needs the car anymore because he's had a new one for a while now. I understand that the car was in fine shape before this. This is where I need some advice...

* Assuming the shop was right, and it just needs a new timing belt, how much more mileage could I get from the motor after it already has 245k on it? Highway miles.

* Okay, let's say the engine took some damage when the timing belt broke. And I would need a new engine. How much would the motor cost? And whats the engine code name?

* I see these cars still sell for a nice dollar (on average about 3-4k) with fair mileage (150k). If I only get the car for 600 andget a motor job done, would I still have saved a significant amount from what they usually go for? Or am I underestimating the price of a motor job? In my mind I had a number of 1000-1500 for the whole deal after looking around at different shops.

I get the idea that since I have enough money for the car the way it is now, I'd really be getting a awesome deal on it if I could get it driving again for not a lot of dollar. The car is in lovely shape inside and out. It was maintained well before. It just seems that it's likely I could have this nice car but for the price that I sold my car. What do you think? Or is the better play to pass on this idea, buy a beater and save my money until I have enough to buy a good car (the original plan)?

 

Ok heres the story.
There is Damage in the head. I will bet all valves are bent. Depending on how fast the car was going is how bad the damage will be.

A head job with replacing the Valves will be about $3000.00 or so.
The engine might be a little more depending if you can find one.

It would be all about how much $$$ you want to spend. I have seen these engines with well over 300,000 miles on them.

Here is what the head will look like if it is removed.
This car was at highway speed when the belt broke.

 

good pics. I looked into this a little deeper and i've heard what you said. I was told it would be about 60/40. 40% being that the timing belt would be the only thing to be fixed. But the car was going at highway speed so those percentages may not even be that good.

A mechanic told me that likely this would be the case. And to do the job would cost about 1500-2000. I think it was to rebuild the head. A whole new motor sounds absolutely not worth it. Volvo dealership said a new motor/labor would cost around 8k.

I think this is the deciding factor. If the timing belt was all it needed, I could get the car. But after looking into it and reading what you had to say. It seems unlikely that just a new belt would be the problem. Head job seems to be the case. I would probably do that except I don't have all that money right now. I'll probably pass on it for the moment.

Thanks. That helped a lot. I might offer him a couple bills but I can't go higher than that for a gamble like this.

 

Greetings from Vermont.

It is unnecessary at this point to repeat Tech's advice (Moderator Tech is the top-dog on this forum), but the 60/40 in my personal opinion would be something like 99.999/0.001, if the T-belt went at highway speed.

You may be able to find aused motor for approx. $3,000 or less, I kind of rememberreading it somewhere on the forum, do a bit of search and you might be able to find a used motor for a fair deal. No, you do not want to buy a new motor from a dealer.

I wish you the best of luck,


JPN

 

As others have written in this thread, the valves are likely toast, and maybe a piston or two as well. Why buy a dawg when you can get something that drives *now*?

My advice. Go to autotrader.com or another on-line used car place and find another Volvo to buy.

Recommend: A non-turbo 240 or 740 with 4-cylinder, SOHC engine. These are non-interference engines which will not destroy themselves when a timing belt bites the dust. Also, non-turbo because at your price range you don't need to be messing around with turbo issues. There should be plenty of these available. It's only a matter of price.

 

yeah for real. I have a little more money now so I am going to go to some local auctions and check out what they have. I like the 240s. I guess I was hoping that it was just going to be a quick fix but that's not going to happen with the 960.