'95 Volvo blows head gasket. Should I fix it or junk it?

[Watcher]

My son in law has a '95 Volvo 850 wagon that had a radiator problem in the spring. Rather than replace the radiator, he patched it, added coolant (several times) and I'm sure ran it hot without adequate coolant. The radiator finally blew and was replaced. This week, the head gasket blew, blew the fill cap off the coolant reservoir. He added water, drove it home (about 10 mi.) and then drove it the next day on errands (about 25mi.)

I'd bet that the head warped from overheating causing the gasket to go. Shape of the head? Not known, but at least needs to be machined.

My question, after this long lead up: can he expect future problems from additional collateral damage to the engine/water pump/transmission etc. to make repair a losing proposition? In other words, fix it or junk it?

[Bucket]

Volvos need a lot of work so yes, I used to have one and it got really $$$$$. In my situation the amount of money I was paying a year for repairs was about 40% of a new car payment and 80% of a used one.

I donated then car to a charity and got a tax write off, took that and applied to a down payment for a used car.

Also did my research, Looking for cars that where consistantly rated, and good for 200,000 + miles with low repair rate. In addition looked at gas milage and went from 18/22 to 23/27, more money saved to apply to a monthly payement. Next, I shopped and shopped for a newer used car with high milage over a short period of time. (a lot of freeway miles, for someone who had a 90 mile a day commute) Not alot of them, but they are there and they normally are good on gas for that milage. so a car that was almost 3 years old with 90,000 miles, (but rememeber the previous statement over 200,000 miles)

The high milage brought the price way down. Going through the dealer gave me a limited warrenty (certified, and someone you can sue who can afford to pay) and a big coupon book for free oil changes and disccounts for other work. + a coupon for $250 for referring someone who buys a car, which I spit with a co-worker who was looking to buy.

I negotiated new tires and into the deal too new pads and roaters.

Used a very small home equity loan to combine with tax credit for donation to make enough of a down payment to get 2% intrestrate rate throgh the dealer. My monthly car payments add up to a lot less than all the work/gas I was having to get done and already paid back the home equatity loan.

Needless to say, most cost per mile driven is about 1/2 what it was.

Yada yada, there are a lot of resources out there to help you figure out what you cost of actual driving (I say per mile is).

Sometimes it is cheaper to get a new (used) car. But never junk a car!

[MÍCHEÁL]

check how much it cost to fix it, if it's to much junk it for money

[modelplus2000]

Volvo's are built well, and usually run a very long time. I would fix it myself. My Volvo's' engine is very easy to work on.I have a 97 850. My husband and me totally rebuilt a mitsubishi eclipse turbo engine, and that was complicated. Volvo is much easier (not as many wires and things).

[JA]

Car is going on 14 years....may cost more for fixing that getting a slightly newer used car...head gaskets are tricky to just fix, often need replacement, a quick fix can just lead to other issues then more $$$$ Transmission is so expensive, and other things like timing belts can start to go as well.

See what scrap you can get for it, and go shopping!

[WilliamM]

Wow -Bucket sounds like a dialog from a movie-I'm really impressed.

Any way back to the car. I would tow it to an independent garage and have the head pulled. You will get a free look at the pistons and cylinder bores. They can tell if the head is warped. Then make the new car decision. You can even do the disassemble your self with a set of sockets and end wrenches. Keep parts separate and labeled. If putting it back together is going to be more than you want, then tow it, parts and all to the garage. If you are going to donate it- it's worth just as big a donation apart as it is together.

[andy42s]

yes, I'd expect more problems to surface. Depending on how badly the head is warped, it may not be machineable. Machining it down will make the combustion chamber smaller, increasing combustion and probably leading to engine problems. This can be made up for by using a thicker head gasket, but if the head is warped too badly, it's not going to work out. Personally, I'd buy a new car, preferably not european.