Hello,I'm a new member and I've owned my "96 850 for a couple of years.This weekend my car started losing power,then the temp gauge went up and the car stalled.I couldn't restart,had it towed.The shop said it blew a head gasket and has no compression.Do you think it is worth fixing just head gasket and hoping for the best, or does it need complete teardown and rebuild?Any idea of cost for either option?

 

If it really just blew a head gasket, then the head gasket is the way to go Big thing here- have the repair done by a reputable shop that specializes in European cars or just Volvos. There are a number of things about these cars that the average "everything" shop might not know about and could cause damage if they don't carefully read repair procedures on first... and a head gasket job is one of them (I can just see some flunkie take off what he thinks is the "valve cover," all the while wondering why it has 40 bolts holding it on, then uses a screwdriver between the sealing surfaces at one corner to pop it off, warping it and damaging the sealing surface and the cam thrust surface...)

Anyhow, figure on $200 or so for the parts and about 10-14 hours labor, at the shop's usual rate.