I am still struggling with whether or not to repair my beloved 82 Volvo wagon or let it go.

My mechanic tells me I need a new transmission (the 3rd) and it felt strange last night so am afraid to drive it now. When I talked to him about putting a new transmission in for $2,000 he mentioned my engine is getting old and will need replacing soon, another $3,000.

I would gladly put in $5,000 in this car that I love so much if I thought I wouldn't have another several thousand dollars in repairs within the year.

I'm wondering if there is a list somewhere that gives all the parts of the car that would need to be replaced over it's lifetime, assuming it lived a long life. I could go back over my records and see what was done and not. Does such a list exist?

If anyone could put out a dollar amount that you felt was normal to spend in a year I'd appreciate that.

I did go car shopping recently and came home frustrated. I think what bothers me the most about the new cars I saw was the terrible visibility.

Of course my Volvo fits me like an old shoe, so comfortable in every way.

I got some good feedback when I posted last November. The majority vote was to keep the car. That was before the engine problem however.

Thank you,
Ginny

 

I remember your post well. It's refreshing to see such passion about one's Volvo. In a car such as a 240, in it's lifetime, nearly everything can and will wear out. I am aware of no list per se. Suffice it to say, the engine and transmission are the most expensive. While the price's quoted by your mechanic are not cheap, they are not out of line either. My only question would be what is he swapping in? It's very difficult to find used, low miles motors and transmissions these days as the newest 240's are 19 years old. Of course, it takes very little modifications to use motors from the 740 and 940's but these too are getting long in the tooth. Given that you have already been through a few transmissions, I suspect he is not rebuilding them but simply installing used ones. He really needs to get the AW71 out of a turbo car. They are much more robust and last much longer under sane driving conditions.
I'm curious as to what tells him you will soon need a new engine. No doubt gaskets are leaking and there's plenty of old oil grunge on the engine...but that doesn't affect performance. Perhaps it's using a bit of oil. Again, a quart per 1000 is about right for an older, high miles motor. Not the end of the world. What he needs to do is run a compression test on the engine to see how worn the rings and valves are.
A realistic budget to keep these cars on the road IMO is 1-1.5K. Still much cheaper than car payments. I spend quite a bit less than that, but I spend it up front as I generally rebuild them before driving them.

 

Nice to see someone so loyal to a car. I personally think the prices quoted are quite high, "retail" level... Of course if you know someone who can source a decent engine /tranny you can get away much cheaper. Both good engines and trans are still plentiful on the used market, therefore no one is rebuilding them as it is cost prohibitive and frankly I prefer a good used unit to a rebuilt one--they seem to last better, in my experience at least. My advice would be to find another mechanic who can assist you in finding parts.

 

I do have my work done at a Volvo shop and they have cared for it for the 20+ years I've had it. They came highly recommended.

I looked back on my parents records and see they had a new/rebuilt? transmission when the car was 8 years old. The two I put in were done at Aamco and one at a transmission shop. My mechanic will take it to a transmission shop he uses. I will talk to him about your recommendation to get the AW71.

It was recommended to add MAO or is it MOA? with oil changes about 15+ years ago. I do have to add oil before my every 3 month oil change.

He said he would run a compression test on the engine.

I gather your $1,000-1,500 budge is per year. That gives me something to go on and as you said it is cheaper than car payments.

With your encouraging words and my feelings tonight, I'm going to have it towed in on Monday and have him get to work. I'll cross my fingers the engine will be ok for a while. I am having the car towed in because when I drove it last night it didn't feel right; I don't want it to die in the middle of an intersection.

Thanks so much!! Ginny

 

our 87 240 has about 400K miles on it, is on the original engine (still going strong), the AW70 transmission was rebuilt once at about 300K miles due to slipping bands.

unscheduled services recently have been A) fuel pump. B) camshaft seals. C) center driveshaft bearing. I replaced the radiator about 5 years ago.

this car has been driven hard its whole life, but maintained reasonably well, although I can't say we've been religious about oil changes, sometimes its gone 10k between them.

 

btw, I regularly see complete B230F engines on the local CL for well under $1000, some of these are completely rebuilt ready to go engines. there's one on there for like $400 now that was bought as a full rebuild for a car that was totalled before it could be installed.
*1995 VOLVO 940 ENGINE ....................................SUPER CHEAP

 

Well, your biggest problem with the transmission is those rebuilts. NEVER do that. I certainly doubt that you even needed a rebuilt after 8 years (unless you had 500k which I doubt). Get a good used transmission (mechanics should be able to know, and stay away them if they try to talk you into another "rebuilt".

What you need is a Volvo shop that doesn't want to charge $5,000 repairs on a $1,000 car...
I'd seriously look for one, never mind how highly recommended this one is...

 

our indie volvo shop rebuilt *our* transmission rather than swap out a generic rebuilt... it was slipping on heavy-footed shifts, but was otherwise in OK condition. If I remember correctly (this was about 10 years ago), they replaced the bands, clutches, cleaned out everything, replaced a few o-rings and seals, and its been good ever since. it cost us about $1500 (almost all labor). next time, I'll probably do the swap-for-used thing, as the car is now 25 years old.... but my daughter loves it so we'll keep it running as long as we can tolerate 25mpg.

 

The good news is that my car passed the engine compression test so I don't need to worry about that! Pierce, I would have driven the couple of hundred miles to buy that engine you showed me on Craig's list!

My car is currently in the shop having the transmission "overhauled" at a small transmission shop my "Volvo Shop" has used for many years. They will also put in a "rebuilt torque converter."


I appreciate all your help with this, mostly the support to keep this car I love, at least for a while longer.

Ginny

 

My favorite response to a similar question I had about my 850 was simply, "NEVER let a Volvo die." That statement has made me a forever volvo lover. I dread the day it's time for a transmission or engine in my 240, but after surfing this sight for a few years, I have learned with regular maintenance it will be a while before I get there. Good luck.