Fuel pressure regulator failed. Engine bent a rod, has minor lower cylinder sleeve damage. Shop says no problem, just bore .40mm oversize, fit new pistons/rings, and engine will be good as new. I'm skeptical.

I can buy a Volvo rebuilt long block (850 5-cylinder, not a turbo) for about $4200 (list over $5500) -- more than I can afford. Used engines range from $850-1500 depending on mileage (55k - 100k miles). Rebuilding my engine will probably cost $1000-1500 using "OEM supplier" parts from various web sites and mailorder places.

Opinions, suggestions, comments? This is my wife's car, she needs it back, and I just can't afford to pay the dealer's shop costs. Thanks for the help.
--
-- Bruce / '82 244 (315k miles!), '86 745, '87 760Ti, '94 854

Yes, the switch comes out with the door latch assembly.

You are going about this the hard way if you remove the door latch and switch before checking a couple of items.

"I have a wagon where the door locks went out the other week. Now, no other movement when I use the key or move drivers door lock. Now, tailgate lock doesn't work with key. Want to inspect the central door lock behind the driver door keylock but can't see how the switch is removed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any assistance."

The driver's door switch has three wires in the wire connector. The black wire is connected to ground 100% of the time. The switch operates the Central Locking Relay by grounding either the green/black (unlock) or the yellow/black leads. You can test the Central Locking Relay by disconnecting the three wire connector in the door. Use a small piece of wire to connect either the grn/bk or yl/bk wires to the bk wire in the connector (relay side of the connector, of course). The Central Locking Relay should function and lock/unlock doors. If it doesn't you have either a bad ground connection (black wire, check it), broken wires, or (probably) a bad Central Locking Relay. I have replaced a couple of bad Central Locking Relays in our fleet of 700 series.

If the Central Locking Relay operates with the above test you probably have a bad switch. If you suspect the switch, check it with a meter before removeing it. You want to test for continuity between either the grn/bk or yl/bk wires and the bk wire as you cycle the key of the locking knob.

The tailgate key issue should be unrelated to the electrical locking issue.

The locking motors seldom give trouble. They are a two lead DC motor and function either direction by having their polarity reversed.

Hi John,

I wanted to give you an update on my central door lock problem. As you suggested, I disconnected the door switch connector and checked the continuity between the two different lead wires and the black ground wire. I had continuity as I manually went from lock to unlock with the door knob. I also checked the ground of the black wire from the relay side of the connector with a lead connected to the positive side of the battery. The light went on indicating a complete circuit. When I did cross the black ground wire with either of the other two wires, all I got was a clicking sound coming from what I thought was the Central Lock Relay. I replaced that yesterday, but that didn't fix the problem. Any final ideas on this minor but troublesome problem?

Thanks!
--
Jim - '92 745T, 183K

I have been through this before with both my son's and my wife's cars. I doubt that you have three bad door locking motors and a bad trunk or hatch locking motor. You need to do a little more testing.

Did you check the fuse?

Did you test the leads as in my previous post? If so, try connecting the green/black and yellow/black directly to ground (don't use the wire in the electrical connector) using your old and new relays. If one or both of the relays work, you have a poor ground connection. Testing the ground connection with a test lamp isn't a good test because the test lamp will illuminate with much less electrical current than it takes to run the relay coil. If the relay clicks but doesn't cycle the door lock motors, you have a bad relay or all bad door lock motors/connections. You could have a bad power or ground connection to the relay, but I doubt that (haven't seen that one either). Once you have the locking relay working you can hood it up to the switch. If it doesn't work then, you know the switch is bad too.

I have had two failed locking relays. Both times it wias the timer circuit in the relay. It would click and barely move the lock knobs, but not enought to lock or unlock. A used relay solved the problem both times.

I have a spare known good relay if you wish to test with it. I am sending an e-mail with an attachement to your yahoo address. It should accept the picture file which I am sending.

Hi John,

I checked the connector for the door lock switch and crossed the ground with the other wires. I can hear a slight clicking coming from what I assume is the Central Lock relay, but none of the door switches move. When I check the conductivity between the two lead wires from the lock side of the connector, it works as I manually lock and unlock the door. I also checked the ground from the relay side of the connector and I get a positive result.

I'm really stumpted as to what this all means. Any ideas???

Jim

How about this baby on Ebay? Only have about 4 hours to decide though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2404543561&category=33615

I'd get a good used one, preferably with lower miles and some sort of guaranty.

Sure, of course, I'd go with used. The rest of my car is used, too.

I wouldn't try to rebuild one. Volvo, I understand, sends motors back to Sweden for factory rebuilding. There are bits that are actually glued together.

The low prices indicate low demand and that the I-5 motor is fairly robust under most conditions. As I also believe the entire subframe with the axles and transmission can rather easily be swapped out. Depending on the miles/condition of your other components you might want to consider this strategy. Do change the timing belt if you do this.

-Punxsutawney Phil

Wow! I would never have imagined swapping the entire subframe. My wife also likes the idea of buying a used engine. I think that's what we will do.

Crazy pictures on your post, Phil.
--
-- Bruce / '82 244 (315k miles!), '86 745, '87 760Ti, '94 854

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2405532150&category=33615