Engine change
 

Bought a 2001 S40 recently and the PO told me that the head gasket was blown, car was sitting for a couple of years he told me, well today I took the head off and all the cylinders were wasted, rusted, engine is toast, so I want to ask how hard is the engine swap going to be and what year engine should I look for in the junkyard, I have went through 60 pages of forums looking for the answer and really didnt see anything that is what I am asking for, I am so disappointed in this engine , I did only pay 200 for the car. Any help is appreciated, Thanks , Johnny

2001-2004 1.9L 4 cylinder. The 2000 was a kind of "one off" year and has some minor differences. Pre-2000 S40's were only in Europe and in 2004.5 the S40 platform changed to the 5 cylinder 2.4L and 2.5L engines in a completely new chassis.

That said you are still looking at a 15 year old engine at best. I wouldn't go to the trouble of swapping in a junkyard engine without bearings, rings, and seals minimum.

There are a couple of people here who have swapped engines in the older S40. I believe they said it came out the top.

the main differences for the 2000s versus the 2001-2004s were the 2000s have a 4 speed auto vs the 5 speed and they used an inferior old strut bearing design. the engine block etc should be the same for all. As noted engines out of a yard need to be inspected - drop the oil pan, look for sludge, pop a bearing cap to check for wear. replace key items like seals - consider replacing the VVT gear. I don't know if the gen 1s have issues with compression (ie worn rings) but if the engine is out that's a good time to do a minor rebuild (ie head gasket, measure ring gaps, hone cylinder walls). Mostly this takes time and tools but the parts costs would be reasonable.

Well here in Southern California I have about 15 cars to choose from at the moment, so Ill take my compression tester and engine starter and see which one seems to be a good one and then get it home and change the head gasket, water pump , timing belt, ect, I was just wondering what years I am looking for and if 1 year is any better than the next, so I will look for a 2004 if possible, thanks for your input