Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hi All,

My 480 2.0 has been struggling for 18 months now, vibrations, shattered manifolds, probs close to a 170k engine (what can I say it was more reliable than the tachometer for most of the last 15 years) which has had a lot of its life on lpg. Having given up finding a good replacement engine I'm thinking about getting the engine re-built and I was just wondering what sorts of things to think about. Such as...

What sorts of things to expect when you ask for a re-build- so I can compare what different garages may offer me.

Might it be worth getting the engine mildly tuned at the same time- say porting- or sports cam if they offer it?

Any advice welcome!

Tim

Can you not source a two litre from a rusted Renault?

you can transplant a fairly wild looking beast from a Clio :-0 (180BHP ?)

it drops straight in , except for the slight mod for the four carbs up front should you feel the urge !!!!

I have a 2.0 engine in the lhd car. if it is any good to you either as a replacement or a temp engine during the rebuild.

As the cars run in fuel injection I tend to favour a standard rebuild as it takes away worries about compatabilty with the ecu. If you tweek the engine you would want to do the same to the ecu to reap tue benefits.

Otherwise I would look at oil, can you upgrade the pump, basic mods like that.

Are you sure the forces to break the manifold haven't been transmitted because of broken engine mounts (there are three: two identical at the front and one at the back which is likely to fail on your type of car)  or the vibration damped‎ strut?

I would hate to see you rebuild the engine only to find the same problems are present and you have the same faults repeated. The 480 engine runs like a dream for huge mileages but obviously stuff happens in its life and yours could be one of the few ready for a rebuild.
‎
If running correctly on LPG your engine should be in better condition internally than if it had run on petrol. However, if ran too lean for too long due to poor adjustment of LPG mixture, the valves will be burnt out. 

Maybe just a cylinder head overhaul (to include valves) and inspection of ‎mounts and damper?

Have you ever removed the vibration damper at the side of the engine? Does it still give resistance? It is just one bolt to check it I believe.‎

Another thing to consider is to get a low mileage 440/460 2.0L and install it. You might have a better chance of getting a one that has low mileage as it seems they were often bought by old giffers who then croaked it!‎

Have you checked compression? Have the valve clearances been checked and adjusted?

The engine in my car has been replaced after 200,000 miles after tests showed that cilinder #2 had only 8 bar compression left.

Alan 480 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 08, 2018 3:12 pm

Can you not source a two litre from a rusted Renault?

you can transplant a fairly wild looking beast from a Clio :-0 (180BHP ?)

it drops straight in , except for the slight mod for the four carbs up front should you feel the urge !!!!

Thanks for this Alan

I guess the judgment on any engine replacement is the history and condition of the new lump vs known quality of a fully reconditioned- assuming you fully trust the garage I have looked at FR7 engines- would any of that block do, I'm thinking say the FR7 2.0 16v from the megan say the might be a nice balance of mild uplift in performance and fuel economy. But it would also make my 480 non-standard-

I do't suppose the silver 'volvo' bit on the top of the engine can be grafted onto the Renault lump!

brinkie wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:08 pm

Have you checked compression? Have the valve clearances been checked and adjusted?

The engine in my car has been replaced after 200,000 miles after tests showed that cilinder #2 had only 8 bar compression left.

Hey Robert & James, the engine has had a poor few years, the lpg was certainly making it run hot and damage the valves- so the lpg is now fully un-installed. Ive had two head rebuilds in the last 5 years, I think that the damping may have been the real problem during that time, just wobbling the engines to bits really- before the last re-build my compression was all over the place, basically running on 3 cylinders, I think the engine is a bit towards that state now, struggles over 70mph, vibrates at certain rev bands like 800rpm tick-over, hates hills on the motorway and running a little hot.

Might be worth getting Arthurys cam and head perhaps in case mine is cracked? Or recon a whole spare enigine and then drop that into my glistening shell

Oh Arthury- any tips on a specific pump...

arthuy wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:20 pm

I have a 2.0 engine in the lhd car. if it is any good to you either as a replacement or a temp engine during the rebuild.

As the cars run in fuel injection I tend to favour a standard rebuild as it takes away worries about compatabilty with the ecu. If you tweek the engine you would want to do the same to the ecu to reap tue benefits.

Otherwise I would look at oil, can you upgrade the pump, basic mods like that.

easiest option, straight swap

if it was laid up with 'lowish' mileage, install, change oil , run for 500 miles ditch oil & filter re-fill etc

that would be my choice or as suggested get a low mileage 440 / 460?

i'd not bother splitting the head from the block, too much effort for not much gain, if it ain't broke. . . .

also as suggested cheap fix is engine mount(s), mine is 'unhappy' if turn on the fan when engine is cold and at idle , just a teensy bit too low revs

I should say, its just the final rear damper that hasnt been replaced on mine, new hydraulic damper from Germany hasn't made much difference - two second hand side dampers and the original rear- I guess that is the next thing to replace although my garage said it looked ok. -That said the rebuild may be cheaper

Your garage might not be able to see how bad the damage is until the weight of the gearbox is removed from the mount and you can see the tear in the rubber.

Can you get under the car and jack the gearbox up and remove the mount to inspect it properly?‎

I know my front mount also "looked okay" until I actually removed it and it then became obvious that the rubber was in two pieces.‎ The difference is driving was night and day once the new mount was installed.


Changing the valve clearance on these cars is a pain in the arse‎.  Checking it isn't such a problem. I would agree with Brinkie that you should check the valve clearance and carry out a compression test.

jamescarruthers wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:55 am

Your garage might not be able to see how bad the damage is until the weight of the gearbox is removed from the mount and you can see the tear in the rubber.

I know my front mount also "looked okay" until I actually removed it and it then became obvious that the rubber was in two pieces.‎ The difference is driving was night and day once the new mount was installed.

I can confirm that these statements are very much true for the rear oil-filled mount on the later 2.0L cars, particularly the bit about the difference being night and day with a new mount. You can look down behind the engine and see the mount in place, but you can't tell much (if anything) about its condition without lifting the engine/gearbox. Well worth checking.

The little round 'spinning top' type mount is oil filled? That seems such a backward step from the massive rubber toblrone on the earlier 480s! Well hopefully I should have a new used one on the way soon