Well the water leak I have been writing about in my previous posts has turned out to be a cracked block. It is cracked about 2 inches up and right of the top right corner of the water pump. The inner half of the timimg belt guard was blocking my view of the leak until I got it off. I pressurized the system with air and verified the leak with soap.

Can any one tell me if this is common?

What is my next move? What are my options as far as buying a new motor or short block? Any ideas as to the cost.

Thanks for any input.

-Kenric

1998 S70 N/A, 90K miles.

I'd highly advise getting a second opinion and I'd advise having it inspected by a Volvo master tech who knows that engine (not some "herman" at Jiffy lube).
In my many years as a Volvo master tech, I've NEVER seen one "white engine" leak coolant externally through a porous block as you're saying (not even on the early 960s as I've heard about for years).
It'd be worth spending the diagnostic time to have them pressure test it and double check your findings as if what you're saying is true, you'll need another engine which even used is costly and labor extensive.

Thanks for the response Earl.

From what I am hearing and reading, cracked blocks in the "white engines" are indeed rare.

However the block is really cracked im my case. I do my own mechanical work and I personally removed the inner timing housing cover and discovered the leak. I have been trying to track down this leak for about 40K miles. It started as my having to add coolant every month, then week, then every couple days. It finally let go completly so that the vehicle is not drivable.

I found what looked like a crack above and to the right of the water pump a couple inches. It is horizontal on both sides of a stiffening web on the left front side of the block. It had a milky white looking buildup around it. I pressurized the system and used soap to verify that air was coming out of the crack.

Volvo has quoted me $6,000 for a new engine or $2,500 for a bare block. I also got a price on a used motor from Erie motors, $1350.

I called Volvo customer relations to see if they could offer any assistance since this is so rare and could have been a casting flaw. They said to contact a service manager. I talked to Brian @ Dwyer and Sons Volvo in Commerce Township, MI and he said with 90K miles there was nothing he could do for me.

I could put a used motor in but somehow it just bothers me to go through the work of exchanging the motor and not having the new one be fresh.

What I would really like to find is a blown motor or a very high mileage motor from which I could get a used block. Then I would just completly rebuild what I have and put it back in.

Another possibility is to try to repait the crack, but I have had poor sucess with this in the past.

I would be grateful for any further advice.

-Kenric

Erie Vovo? We once bought a used "red engine" from them as they even guarantied labor if it was bad. Was told "30K miles" (right), was repainted over the dark, peeling paint and it had very loud piston knock so they had to send us another. We won't try that again.
If you go used and you pay someone to do it, be sure that whoever sells the used engine will pay replacement labor if you get a bad one because you never know what you're getting and they'll all tell you that it has low miles. If they don't pay labor if they sell you a bad one, you'll have to pay again as no shop will just "eat" the labor time. That's always a possible issue when installing used parts and you'll have very little (if any) parts warranty, maybe 30 days.

My $.02:

1.) Uncommon problem. First one I've heard of, and I've been haunting this board for about 5 years.

2.) With the 960 castings there was a problem with "engine block porosity". I've heard the blocks could be repaired using J-B Weld. Check the archives.

3.) Rather than unbuttoning the engine, I'd look to swapping in a new (used) engine. The rest of the car is used, too, after all. The motors are robust enough that the supply is high and the price is relatively low. Check around with the Volvo recyclers (pull down menu above).

4.) In fact, I believe you can swap in the entire subframe and all the attached components, check the archives.

Good luck!

bill d cat