Hey all, I have my base 96’ 850 wagon going into a shop here on the 29th for an engine swap, and I’m just seeking a little more advice/opinions/answers here before the time comes. The donor is a base model, 1995’ 850 sedan and waiting for an engine is a base 1996’ 850 wagon. now it may be a stupid question being as far as I am, having already purchased a mint donor vehicle (upside being I can use the donor if all else fails). After speaking over the phone with the mechanics in town, I am now wondering if the 95 engine is compatible with the wagon? from my newbie understanding, they are the same engine with the same transmission. Only difference being the year. Is there any more specifics I should be aware of? And if they aren’t the same 1:1, what should I expect to change or have done so it would be compatible in the wagon?

like I mentioned above, I do not have much automotive experience at all. I’ve held onto the wagon for 4 years already in hopes of finally completing the project I currently have in my hands. Any help is much appreciated! Attached are the pictures of both vehicles



1996’ 850 Wagon Gutted/ waiting engine

1995’ 850 Sedan - Donor

 

most likely they are interchangeable with no issues. Quick way to tell is to look at the engine code on each car. Look for a sticker on the timing belt cover for the engine code that looks like B5254S or B5254FS. These particular examples decodes as a gas 5 cylinder 2.5 Liter four valve naturally aspirated engine. You can also decode the engine model from the 6/7th digits of the VIN. Not sure of the exact differences between the S and the FS but they both use the same version of engine management (ie Bosch Motronic 4.3?). There may be some subtle changes to management components so you probably want to keep the original harness and may need to check sensor part numbers (ie cam/crank sensors etc). Both cars use the same Aisin four speed automatic transmission. You can also use a web site like car-part.com to see what they list as interchange years for a long block.

 

A little late for this but - how much is this going to cost (realistically) and how much is the finished product going to be worth? (i'd guess less than what you will have spent trying to make a 25 year old car run again)

I understand this is your "project/baby/dream/other adjective" but realism has to come into play at some point. How much disposable income can you spend on this "dream"? Not trying to burst any bubble that might exist but my parking lot filled up - at least 15 Volvos a year with cars that were not worth fixing. Customers would simply leave them for me to have towed to the crusher. (and not pay the Towing bill that got the car there to begin with!)

And why not just drive the car with the good engine? Put the 16" 740 turbo wheels on (add some air to that flat) and drive away smiling! I understand - years ago I spent way to much on cars that would never be worth what I spent on them

 

curious of what is going on that you need to do an engine swap? Hoonks right in that the book value on these cars isn't that high so unless you are doing the work yourself as a hobby project, there's not a good ROI here. If the "bad engine" has a good lower half you can consider parting out the donor and use the head in the keeper car. Swapping in the head is something you can do at home where an engine swap usually involved dropping the engine out of the bottom with the car on a lift etc (not sure if you can easily pull it out of the top). Plus the NAs are only 160 HP or so - where a 850 turbo model has 220 plus a lot of upside if you want to build it up.

 

They are extremely compatible. The engine management systems may actually be different, but any shop that has the tiniest bit of competence will be fine.

 

In response to - mt6127 : curious of what is going on that you need to do an engine swap?

it all started with a mechanically inclined friend saying we can do it, like you have mentioned in my driveway and save tons of money with his knowledge. Long story short, we started in March, got it 1/2 way done ( the engine and trans were quite easy to lift all together out from the top actually) and then buddy cannot be reached whatsoever. I have all tools & everything required except the knowledge, if I could’ve done it myself it would’ve been done in March lol. I can’t stand the thought of the engine-less wagon being exposed to an albertan winter without a garage now that we’ve started /:

value is of no concern, the last engine went at 480K exploded 1/5 of the pistons. So I am very optimistic with the current engine at 210. my intention is to continually swap/fix up the car when the time comes, and baby it till whichever one of us dies first. And then fix er up again. Convert it to a day-day camper. Realistically, getting ‘other vehicles’ are going to cost the same, you can fix an engine for 1000+ or buy another car for 1000+ , I understand there may be some unexpected challenges that may dramatically change those numbers but, at the end of the day you get the same thing - a running vehicle. I am more than willing to take this gamble on such a unique vehicle. I have 4 vehicles including those 2, being the project. It took me 3 years to find a good condition 850 within 2 years of my wagon, when I purchased the sedan there were 8 running volvos for sale in Canada. That one being the only 850.
I’m going with 3K in in hand, and I spent less than 2k on both vehicles.

here’s a photo of the bad engine, and the gutted bay after we lifted it.

 

good luck with the project! Keep posting the pics. One suggestion is to service any hard to reach components such as the PCV and evap systems prior to the install of the replacement.