I have a '92 960 with 120K miles. My mechanic says it has a blown head gasket & will cost up to $1500 to fix. I can't decide if I should spend the money on this or maybe look into a V8 converison.

With a new head gasket will the engine be good for maybe another 100K miles?

Can anyone give me a approximate price of a V8 converison with parts & labour?

Thanks

We had a similar problem with our '92 965. I actually had our local Volvo dealer do the repair, despite the normally bad rep that dealers get I have found ours to be competent and honest. The repair cost us $900.00 which included complete examination of the head and resurfacing it to ensure no problems. It has been a year since the repair and the engine runs beautifully. Hope you have good luck with the repair, I would stick with the original engine.

John

Sorry if I missed a previous post, but what was the cause of the blown head gasket?
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John Shatzer, '97 V90 @ 105K

The mechanic told me he won't know until he opens it up.
But we have had some overheating problems lately.

How badly did it overheat? Just a high temp gauge indication or a real "boil over".

For just a high reading I'd put the new gasket in. Maybe "freshen" up the head while it is off. (Check it real good for cracks and distortion.) Also check the cylinder walls for any signs of broken rings.

If you have broken rings, get a good used replacement.
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'96 965 with 16' wheels at 112K. Had '85 745 Turbo Diesel for 200K.

This certainly underscores your (and other's) admonitions to at least change out hoses prophelactically. I'll do this at my next tune-up.
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John Shatzer, '97 V90 @ 105K

i would stick with original engine unless you have plenty of time to work out the bugs involved with a complete change-over.there will be a lot of wiring and relocation of the V-8 components to make it happen.it's not a simple swap!
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83 242 DL -120k, 92-965-167k, 94-965-188k, 83-242 GLT-Gone, but not forgotten,83-245GLT-1'st one -the 1'st 3 currently on the road