I am in the market for a good used engine for my 97 T5 wagon. Found one on Ebay for 1075 through JDM engines in which they claim all of their engines are imported from a Japan and have between 30 and 65k on them. It all sounds good on paper, any opinions?
Volvo 850 S70 T5 JDM B5234T Turbo 5 Cylinder 2 3L Engine V5 Motor 2 3L B5234T3 | eBay


All the ones in the local bone yards are high millage and or damaged. Any other suggestions for a low millage source? Thanks for any help.

 

RUN!!! I lived in Japan for 4 years and let me tell you, 10,000 miles in Japan is like 50,000 miles in the US. Also, if the Japanese had a T5 they raced it as often as they could. Again I say RUN.

My motor has 244,000 on it and is in great shape, a little dirty but great shape, pulls real hard in my T-5R. I like to believe that a compression test will tell you what condition a motor is in. If you can get your hands on a motor and check the compression before installing it you should be fine. My numbers at 205,000 were something like 178 / 176 / 174 / 178 / 176. The correct range is 156 - 186. These motor can go 500,000 miles so I wouldn't worry about a motor with less than 300,000 on it.

I purchased a motor from a Pull-A-Part for about $175. Kept the turbo for another $75, then sold the turbo for $150. So the used motor with about 196,000 on the odometer cost me $100 and is as strong as any that I've had. So, in my opinion, "low mileage" is over rated. Compression is most important. Others may have more information.

 

I would have not believed there was such a thing as a JDM Japanese takeoff T5. I mean, who in Japan has a T5?

I don't think people with 20 year old cars are pulling the engines out with 50,000 miles on them, but that is just my opinion.

 

In Japan, a car has to meet more and more standards as they get older. I purchased a 6 year old (it may have been 4 years old) Mazda 626 (Copella) for $1,500, out of the junk yard. It had about 17,000 miles on it. The citizen owner would have had to do so much work to it to keep driving it, it was cheaper to purchase a new car. The non-citizens do not have to meet those registration requirements so I could just buy it and drive it.

Cars like Volvo's are so high dollar there, they go through a lot to renew registration for another 4 years. My guess is that those cars are military owned and they keep them within the military until they can't get parts for them any longer.

I was toying around with Google Maps about 3 years ago and was looking on the streets of Japan near Yokota Air Base and actually seen a 850 R wagon on the streets. I flipped out, it was nuts.

 

The more I thought about it last night I would agree that I just don’t know what I am going to get. I have my eye on one in a bone yard about 100 miles away. Long story on the current engine but let’s just say my ex wife had it while we were finalizing our divorce and she ran it out of water, oil, and fuel multiple times. She drove it with a cracked over flow tank and only put water in it when it over heated. She took the time to unplug the sensor so that pesky light would come on to remind her to put water in it. Who has time for that? Cam has more copper showing than the plumbing in your home. Sad really. I installed this motor 4 years ago and it had 68k on it. It pulled so hard. I am sure a fresh cylinder head/cams and new injectors would go a long way but I am trying to keep it down to a weekend swap. Thanks guys and post any links to a good candidate or a whole 850 for that matter (wagon only) that is a solid runner.

 

Are you in my area? How far will you travel for one?

 

Washington State. Pretty far if its a good engine. I just want it back to what it was 4 years ago so I can keep it for ever.