Pelican Parts Forums - Volvo xc70 engine is toast -- Replace engine or buy new car?

^ yeah. I think you have a good point. I probably paid a little high on the head considering what I got. The whole issue was the one chunked valve. I considered just replacing the valve myself and being done with it, but then I started thinking about the where my comfort level was with me just replacing only it.

If you think just replacing the valve would have been thrifty, you should have met my dad, who would not only just do that, he would reuse original head gaskets. He never had a failure either.

But I ain't my dad!

In my scenario, I've had an engine code for "MAF reading too low"- for about 100,000 miles. I have been through everything looking for vacuum leaks, bad maf, bad connections, etc, only to find nothing. I have spoken with several other volvo mechanics with the same code that they couldn't figure out. In the back of my head, I always wondered- with the low maf readings, was the computer making the car run lean and jeapordizing the valves? The mpg seemed to raise after the maf code came up, so in my mind, I have always been concerned.

When this valve went, I can't say I was too surprised, so as much as I wanted to just pop one in and be done with it, I wasn't too sure the other valves weren't that far behind. I wanted the whole head gone through. I have also heard of other volvo's burning valves in the 200k plus range. The other issue is the car is a turbo (albeit a "low pressure" turbo), and like many of these cars, has gone through life on low test gas, so that was just even more reason for me to question the other valves. There were no local shops I knew of so I shipped it off to a company touting itself for doing primarily volvo heads. Big pia in retrospect- but it's done. In the context of paying someone else to do the labor, or buying a new car, the price of the head rebuild wasn't the a huge factor. I could have done the job myself with the little suction cups and the grinding paste, but the price for the head job made sense at the time.

Same goes for the turbo. It was leaking (needed new seals)- but on this car it is sandwiched between the front bevel gear and the rear of the engine compartment. There is no way to get to it from the bottom without pulling the AWD system off. With access from the top, dealing with the turbo was a no brainer, and necessary to at least pull it to ensure the valve hadn't damaged the turbo fins. Once it was off, it made sense to send it to Steve Carlton's guy- Tony Vargas, who rebuilt it for about the average price of a fleabay used one with high miles and questionable history. (btw- thanks STEVE!!!!)

The while you were in there items turned out to be things the car needed anyway. It was going to need a new timing belt in 10,000 miles, so that was in the cards anyway. No biggie. It had an original water pump, so that was easy to change out. The PCV system I had replaced about 60k ago, so I looked at it and it was as clean as a whistle- so I didn't change that. I did replace a lot of questionable vacuum hosing (a lot of elbow grease- but little $). I also replaced the motor mounts since the access was easy.

As for the 30lb reading, that was a miscommunication from the mechanic's wife. When I spoke to him several weeks later, he told me he got zero. When I tested it- zero.

Also MAF reading too low has mysteriously gone away- knock on wood!