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B230FT Longevity 900

OK, looking to get back into a Volvo redblock, will need to be turbo this time. I know all about the skinny rods and other stuff. But as we all know these cars ain't getting any younger. I've got a few locally with 200 to 220 Kmiles on it with the fat rods. For a non-turbo not a problem, for the turbo, i'm guessing the head gasket will go before that point. That's easy enough to deal with, but how about the bottom end on these things, assuming good maintenance do they just keep on going or is 200 - 250 Kmiles a realistic limit.

I know, lots of ifs here, best to find the best maintained car, but not that many left. Comments appreciated.








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B230FT Longevity 900

I'll guess they did not skim cut the head to guarantee flatness and put the correct finish on it.








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B230FT Longevity 900

1994 940, nonturbo 212,000 miles. For what it's worth, I've had three head gasket jobs done, and I never overheated it. In retrospect, the first two jobs may not have been done well, although they were certainly not cheap. The most recent one was a few months ago, by a different shop, and he swore he did it right. We will see.








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B230FT Longevity 900

absurd and incompetent are all i can say to your unfortunate situation.

the red block turbo or not is among the easiest engines to perform an hg job on.

if done right the results last hundreds of thousands of miles.

if no overheating occurs the only way yours could have failed

1. junk head gasket quality, although i have never seen a bad new head gasket
2. dirty work habits of the person doing the job
3. a warped head unchecked or a head just out of spec un skimmmed in the .005 range

whatever happened to you the first 2 times was imo the direct fault of the person who did the job.

i have done this job 2 dozen times on na and turbo redblocks with not a single comeback in 20 years. the job normally outlasts the owners history with the car








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B230FT Longevity 900

U.S. Diver,

Wow - three headgasket jobs on a NON-TURBO B230 in just 212,000 miles? That's about 70,000 miles per headgasket.

I'd have to agree with the other posters who said that the job was not done correctly the first time. The block and head mating surfaces have to be flat and clean. I'd be willing to bet that the first shop just replaced the gasket and did not bother to plane the head. It's also possible that your head is damaged in some way (warped) and they either did not notice or did not tell you. If the gasket goes again, I'd look into replacing the head along with it for a more permanent solution.

In my experience (which is just my experience), headgasket failure on N/A B21/B23/B230 motors is extremely rare unless they are overheated or have a ton of miles on them (>300K). I've taken a '78 (b21f) up to 330K, an '84 (b23f) up to 285K, an '86 (b230f skinny rod) up to 320K, and a '92 (b230f fat rod) up to 340K and never had to go inside the engines of any of these cars. Could have been blind luck though.








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B230FT Longevity 900

The quality of the surfacing of the aluminum head has a lot to do with how long the head gasket lasts. I'll wager that the head did not have the correct surface finish on the previous two head jobs.
--
john








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B230FT Longevity 900

Thanks for the input, hopefully checking both of the 940's out this weekend, if weather holds.








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B230FT Longevity 900

Thanks everyone,

What about the Asin Warner, I know they are bulletproof with regular flushes of fluid, I gotta think 250 kmiles would be the limit. I'd guess they are not expensive to overhaul (by today's standards).

Got a bead on a 93 and a 90, we'll see if anything comes of this.

Mike








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B230FT Longevity 900

Daily driving a 92 945T with nearly 300K miles. Changed head gasket at about 240K. Lost all transmission fluid once due to loose connection to the radiator--tightened it up, added fluid and it has run fine for about 100K miles.

Brian Mee








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B230FT Longevity 900

The same 1994 944T which just had it's head gasket replaced, has the original AW-71. I have flushed it twice in my ownership. It shifts fine, probably like it did when new.
--
john








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B230FT Longevity 900

I just replaced the head gasket on my 1994 944T with 318,xxx miles. I've owned the car for ten years, and I'm certain it is the first head gasket replacement. There was no cylinder ridge, and the honing marks (from manufacture) could still be seen. I'm certain the engine had oil changes at reasonable intervals before I bought the car. The engine does not use a significant amount of oil,

If you change the oil at reasonable intervals, and don't overheat the B230FT motor, the engines will outlast the car.
--
john








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B230FT Longevity 900

Thanks guys, the hunt is one. We'll see what i end up with. I figured the bottom end was not an issue. Yeah, I plan to bump the boost a bit, nothing crazy, just looking to have fun with it.








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B230FT Longevity 900

look for 93-95 230 turbo and it will have the squirters on the pistons/rods.

look for one that's been decently taken care of and then if you're handy change the head gasket.

forget about the bottom end as long as the oil pressure is good.

i personally maintain a few of these 940's for friends/neighbors who have had them for years and in fact i obtained for them. they are solid and reliable.

one friend who is master machinist told me over the weekend the only thing that bothers him about the 230 turbo 940 is the door handles freeze and get stuck in the depressed position.








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B230FT Longevity 900

My Father is still driving his '86 245 with over 400K on the original "skinny rod" B230F. Of course, it is not a turbo, but if you were to believe internet lore the bottom end should have exploded years ago. It still blows 180-185 psi on all four cylinders and pulls hard (for an n/a motor).

The headgaskets in the n/a motors seem to last "forever" provided that the engine is never overheated. I've taken half a dozen B21/B23/B230 motors to over 300K and never had to go inside the engines for any reason.

My guess is that the worst problem you will encounter on a high mileage, sanely driven B230FT is headgasket failure somewhere north of 200K. Now, if you start cranking up the boost and drive your car like a madman, a skinny rod motor will blow up sooner than a fat rod motor, but in a car that is driven reasonably the bottom end should be good for at least half a million miles.







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