I have no idea where to post this so if I'm in the wrong place let me know. My husband is a mechanic. Last night they towed in a little white Volvo with a broken timing belt. The car is a 97 850 GLT, but it has a 2.0 in it. That's all the engine says is 2.0. We don't get many foreign cars in our little garage so we aren't entirely sure how to identify whether this engine is interference or non-interference. My short research seems to indicate that if it were turbo it would be interference, but I don't know how to tell if it's turbo because it doesn't say how many valves it has, and if its not turbo I still don't know if it is or not. We just need to tell this customer if he needs an engine or not so he can decide what he's gonna do about it. Any help is appreciated.

 

to the forum Leeli

I'm not sure on a 2.0L
Where are you located and can you post a photo of the engine.

 

Thanks for the welcome. We are in Mingo County WV. I'll try to get a pic of it tomorrow, we've been fighting 2 days on a Buick with vacuum issues, while trying to get a transmission put in a Pontiac, 6 more jobs lined up, while my personal vehicle sits on the lot waiting for an engine swap. (All this during a management transition) My laptop isn't working, my cell phone is acting like its on drugs and I have to do all my research on this little $40 tablet. It's been a long week.

 

2.0 is probably 20 valve. The spark plug cover has a big 20 on it but it says valve right below it.

The bottom line here is that the Volvo 850 engine is an interference engine, meaning when the belt breaks the valves are going to hit pistons. Until you get the head off the engine you will not know the extent of the damage or cost to repair. You may get lucky and only need head work or replacement.

 

Was thinking you might be overseas.

It's likely a 2.3L 20 valve 5 cylinder. If you post the VIN or the numbers on the timing cover we can figure it out.

Looks like this ??

 

Look around for an engine designation either on the manufacturing plate on the firewall or a label on the cowling top the radiator - if you see something like "B5402T2" that will tell you which specific engine you have. If you can't find the plate, there's a stamping on the block - on the firewall side near the #1/2 cylinders - sometimes hard to read... And yes all the 850s and subsequent "white block" (double overhead cam design) engines are interference.

 

The customer needs a new engine.

Unless you're in Italy or Japan, you have a 2.4L engine.

Turbo would have TURBO written on the air box, along with a turbo charger on the exhaust manifold, an intercooler, lots and lots of pipings/hoses.

 

I would not jump to that conclusion until the head is pulled and a good assessment can be made. If there is not material that broke off and there was no damage to the edges of the pistons or cylinder walls then they are only looking at head repair/replacement.

 

Exactly how I got my 1st 850R. From personal experience I say piston and cylinder wall damage happens about 10% of the time. IIRC the valves didn't break, but just bent. Meaning I would give it a 90% change that you can rebuild the head and be good to go. It's not a terribly hard job on that car. Hardest part was the exhaust manifold and a cooling line to the turbo. Anyways, pull the head and you will know where you stand. I had my head done at a local machine shop for $650 I think it was. Might as well do the timing belt while you are in there, along with the water pump. It's easier when the head is out. I would also consider replacing lifters while in there. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

Alex

 

most likely the exhaust valves are bent, so the cost to rebuild the head will depend on how damaged and how "professional" you want to go. To note, you can shop for a used head (check out car-parts.com for yards) but I'd suggest getting a head from a running car with no head gasket issues (and after a compression test). If you do decide to simply replace the bent valves and reuse the lifters, mark where they came from to preserve the clearance. There's a set of good vids on Youtube on some how to's to help you judge effort, tools and skills required.

 

The '97 GLT's are LPT engines.