satanburns1
Satanburns2
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Location
- BRICK NJ
At work we call that Swenglish. Very good article so far.
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Tb newb performance faq
- Thread starter 740atl
- Start date
Does anyone make high tech suspension components for a volvo?
Does anyone make high tech suspension components for a volvo?
Yes!
JVAB Imports JVL sells hardcore suspension products for everything from road track cars to rally racing. Take a look at his webpage, or better yet, give him a call.
http://www.rallyrace.net/jvab/
Kaplhenke Racing. Supplies everything from soup to nuts. Hardcore complete racing suspension components such as control arms, camber plates to coilovers for the Volvo 240/740/940/960 and even the FWD 850/S70 series.
http://www.kaplhenke.com/
RSI Supplies a large range of aftermaket volvo products. Suspension components include primarily coilover kits and shocks/struts.
http://yhst-26451710505916.stores.yahoo.net/suspension.html
Who can forget IPD. IPD still sells lowering springs, adjustable torque rods and panhard rods, and what they're really famous for, beefier swaybars. All prices are quite reasonable.
http://www.ipdusa.com/
YOSHIFAB Yoshifab is a company run by a turbobricker. In addition to suspension parts such as adjustable torque rods and hard to find suspension pieces like strut tower plates, control arm and trailing arm plates all the way through to 16v conversion kits.
http://yoshifab.com/store/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=4
Does anyone make high tech suspension components for a volvo?
Yes!
JVAB Imports JVL sells hardcore suspension products for everything from road track cars to rally racing. Take a look at his webpage, or better yet, give him a call.
http://www.rallyrace.net/jvab/
Kaplhenke Racing. Supplies everything from soup to nuts. Hardcore complete racing suspension components such as control arms, camber plates to coilovers for the Volvo 240/740/940/960 and even the FWD 850/S70 series.
http://www.kaplhenke.com/
RSI Supplies a large range of aftermaket volvo products. Suspension components include primarily coilover kits and shocks/struts.
http://yhst-26451710505916.stores.yahoo.net/suspension.html
Who can forget IPD. IPD still sells lowering springs, adjustable torque rods and panhard rods, and what they're really famous for, beefier swaybars. All prices are quite reasonable.
http://www.ipdusa.com/
YOSHIFAB Yoshifab is a company run by a turbobricker. In addition to suspension parts such as adjustable torque rods and hard to find suspension pieces like strut tower plates, control arm and trailing arm plates all the way through to 16v conversion kits.
http://yoshifab.com/store/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=4
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mark244turbo
New member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
- Location
- Netherlands
John V outside agitator
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
- Location
- Sleezattle, WA, USA
Aside from Carrillo and Pauter, virtually all the othe rbrands are made at one of the 2 big factories in Chengdu, Szechuan province in Western China... Same plant as SPE, RSI, JVAB so the difference becomes design features: Are the B200/B230 rods piston steered or full width, is the pin bush size ciorrectly of will it need a resize because somebody said "Make the pin 23mm, and didn't give the required clearence-- 2 of those brands are exactly pin size---not good on a floating pin that wants .0006-.0008" clearnence...
Are the rod bolts at leaset as large as original?
The ebay link places DOES have the same rods as everybody offers, at least they have a LISTING.....but read every dimension as they list everything as "B230"....possible a good reason to talk with, and buy from somebody who actually can spit out instantly what the various rod dimensions are....
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2002
- Location
- mont, AL
I'm grabbing this part because.. well, I can, damnit.
Exhaust performance
2.5 vs 3.0
The subject of 'what size is best for me' could be best summed up in approximately 15 leather bound volumes next to your useless set of encyclopedia britannica, where you could largely disregard it as you do the other volumes collecting dust up there. The bottom line here is that: There is almost no exhaust that is 'too big' on a turbo app. Diminishing returns? Sure. Too small? Absolutely. So clearly, some consideration must be expended here. The short of it is, what are your intended goals? You might be able to do everything you want with a nice 2.5in system, and certainly there's nothing wrong with this approach; however, since the scope of this particular piece seems to be the ever-present argument of which is better, 2.5 or 3- I will say you are always better off with a nice 3 inch system. Your price difference is largely negligible, there is a higher 'upper end' for a 3 inch system, it's not much more difficult to roll than a 2.5, and if you put even 10 minutes of thought into the whole thing, the only part you'll need to address through the evolution of the car will be the down pipe.
How can I say this with such certainty? I've been through almost all of the permutations, first of all, and additionally, my 600+whp drag car doesn't seem to suffer much performance loss between the 4 inch up pipe and the 3 inch full exhaust. Since cost is almost always a factor, unless you have a compelling reason to go with 2.5 (i.e. has to have a carb exemption number or something of the ilk), you will not suffer a significant cost uptick for 3in, and again the upside is so much better as you move forward with your build.
As far as suggestions, those will vary as much as anything else, generally it is recommended that you procure mandrel bend stuff to cut down on downstream flow impediments, this will bump the cost up somewhat; and depending on how loud or quiet you want the system to be will dictate how many and what type of mufflers you run. Generally, straight through mufflers perform the best, and are the loudest.. resonators will help. The idea here is to cut down on back pressure as much as reasonably possible, so generally chambered mufflers are not suggested unless you're ok with the potential downside there (and this can't be easily discerned without field testing beyond the obvious: your upside will be lower with a chambered muffler vs unchambered).
Cost: this will depend on a) how much work you plan to do on your own b) local markets to some extent (labor) c) your ability to shop things out. As with most things in life, if you plan to outsource a custom exhaust system, you should visit several exhaust shops and see what they offer/turn around time/price/etc. You need to be very specific about how you want the system built, otherwise they will probably build it whatever way is cheapest and easiest for them, and you'll end up with a system that will be a pain in your ass in the future. Think about how you'd take it off the car if need be, or if you upgrade turbos and manifolds later (or if you put say a 2jz in the car), and specify these things. It will cost extra, but this expense up front makes life a lot easier down the road. At a minimum I would suggest you need to have the downpipe end shortly after it turns backwards, and if you are going over the axle with the exhaust system consider putting a v-band/flange either right before or right after the over the axle piece. (if you are going under the axle, this is less of a concern). You should have a flex section installed somewhere either on the downpipe or shortly after it, and you should have the downpipe itself braced to the block as the factory does. Failure to do so can and will reduce custom header life as well as downpipe life. Think about the stuff that moves around, and then think about the amount of leverage that can be obtained on a section of pipe 15 feet long.
Custom built header, has anyone done this?
Well the short answer is yes. The long answer is to what end? What's the power goal? NA? Turbo? These all have different considerations (Although some might argue otherwise to a certain extent). NA has it's own considerations and several aftermarket companies offer variations on the same ideas for reasonable monies, however this should not dissuade anyone from trying to roll their own. Turbo headers require a little more consideration... generally thicker wall (although not always), more purpose-built, things of that nature. This is not exactly a beginner topic, nor is it a requirement for good power production.. 400+hp has been made on more than one occasion with factory turbo manifolds, and people have made good NA hp with the oem cast manifolds as well. Really, if you're asking this question early on in your tuning career, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. A poorly executed custom header can and will cause more problems than it's worth, in terms of reliability (warped flanges, welds cracking, poor design or execution), fitment (hits the frame rail or strut tower, requires hood modifications, etc), and in some cases, emissions compliance as well. If you're not comfortable with the requirements to produce such a thing and maintain it, you would be well advised to seek the council of others (companies and individuals) who can/have/do produce these things, and it would also be a good idea to know exactly where you are going with it before you get started, otherwise the potential is high that you'll build one thing, it won't fit the next iteration of the car, and you'll have to build a new one, etc etc.
FUEL INJECTION PERFORMANCE AND CHIPS
Ah, my favorite realm. Tuning. So much power and yet consistently overlooked and downplayed. The possibilities are endless: huge power, huge disappointment, huge expense. I will attempt to keep this from being long and boring, hopefully I deliver.
What are performance chips?
Well this oughta be a no-brainer, but basically, anything that is not oem software on the oem ecus. This could be something tweaked for better fuel economy, bigger injectors, different turbo, cam, etc. Generally this involves modifying the fuel map(s) and timing maps, as well as other generally more subtle changes. The wrong selection here can have far-reaching consequences, the general idea would be to research this as you're coming up with your list of mods and try to leverage that information as best possible.
Are there any limitations to chips?
This is something that should be known to be true for all parts of any build.. there are limitations and caveats and results of every choice you'll make, and chips/engine management is no different. Chips generally fall short in a number of ways (although not always all at once).. more often than not you will get the best results if you don't deviate from what the chips were 'designed' for, this is more of a problem if you're not equipped to roll your own. Other things are a result of the overall system and not as much the chip itself, i.e. you're going to have to have an airflow sensor, the type of injection, resolution and accuracy (although to a point, the factory system works quite well, make no mistake about this), extensibility, the list of things that can throw it off is as long as there are possibilities for modifications of the car. Some things can and will result in catastrophic failures, other things might not be noticeable on their own until you start comparing notes with someone that has similar mods and discover that you're coming up short in some regard (mileage, performance, 'behavior', that sort of thing). The ability to re-play what has recently happened is also currently a limitation of the chip world. there is very little in the way of datalogging at the moment, this coupled with a lack of features and other 'constraints' of the stock system has generally led most people to accept/believe/expouse that up to a certain power level, chips are fine, and beyond that you should look around. What that power level is, really depends on you the owner, and that is something you will probably have to grapple with in time.
Does anyone make a chip for lh2.2 or lh2.4?
Yes. there are links floating around for this, so I will not spend much time on this subject except to say that generic chips will not have the overall fit and feel of chips tuned and tweaked to your specific vehicle/mods. In that regard, you should take into account what the provider of the chips suggests, and go from there.
Can I modify LH2.2 or LH2.4 myself?
Absolutely, and I wholeheartedly encourage you to explore this. Beepee has an excellent thread dedicated to this, and you would be well served to read most of it before diving in as a number of 'behaviors' are discussed at length through the thread, that might not be readily apparent when you first jump in.
Do they make a piggyback computer for my car?
Sadly, yes. depending on the piggy back and the system it's being applied to, you may have mixed results, it may not work at all, or it might work flawlessly. Generally speaking, with the knowledge and software currently available there is little need for a piggyback anymore, and I strongly encourage you to visit other options before this. With lh 2.4 specifically, you may (will) run into issues where the ecu will try and work around what the piggyback is doing. With MAF-modifiers (S-AFC type devices, that incercept and 'change' the maf signal to produce a result), you get the inconvenient side effect of modified timing values to go with your modified fuel values, and either you've scaled it off the top of the ignition map (which will probably result in poor performance relative to a good tune), or you've scaled it down for those bigass injectors you just had to have, and now you're knocking the pistons out of the bottom end, these are generally poorly suited for lh 2.4 cars. Your best bet if you simply have to have a piggyback, is to get something that will intercept the o2 signal and modify it, or disable o2 feedback in lh and carefully monitor whatever load changes you make to the system, otherwise it is likely to just 'do its own thing' (adapt) to what it sees as incorrect behavior, and you'll be in there tuning it again in two weeks.
Lh 2.0 and 2.2 are better in this regard as they have no long term memory and you can physically retard or advance the distributor to get things back in the ballpark. Age and wiring condition are the biggest hold-backs on these vehicles anymore.
K-jet doesn't really care what you do to it, but you're likely not going to get far without some kind of additional injector controller/msd-btm type of setup, as far as piggybacks are concerned.
Is there an aftermarket fuel injection computer that will work with my volvo?
there are dozens. Megasquirt is popular due to its low cost of entry and decent feature list, but just about any aftermarket management system will work. If you do not plan to tune this system yourself, you should ask your tuner what they are most familiar with/recommend, and go with that. Really this isn't much of a noob topic, this is more of a '300 and up' type of topic although that certainly isn't the lower bound. plenty of people have had excellent results ditching the stock system on otherwise stock volvos and getting some better power and economy; however the fact remains that this should not really be your first avenue of pursuit regardless of what you read elsewhere on the forum. The learning curve with any management system is front-loaded and very steep, and troubleshooting issues that arise during and after the installation of such can pose serious problems for the newly indoctrinated. The same problems apply here as with the stock ecu, and even more-so: lack of attention to detail can and will result in the destruction of your setup far faster than you would even consider possible, and the window of opportunity for disaster grows with power output. Read another way: the more power you're making, the faster things meltdown before you figure out that anything is even wrong, so tread carefully and try to understand fully what you're messing with and how it works. In reality, there is no way to really understand how such systems work prior to getting them on the car (short of using them on someone else's car), so again expect a steep learning curve. The time to be learning this is not right after you've dumped money into a new engine and turbo setup that hasn't run yet.
What the heck is megasquirt? Can I really tune it myself?
Megasquirt is a (can be a) DIY management system. As with most management systems you can tune it yourself if you have the required hardware/software. Read up on it at www.diyautotune.com and www.msextra.com
Oh crap, I don't know how to install my megasquirt
Like I said before, steep learning curve, sounds like you jumped in too early. The basics are simple, stick to the wiring diagrams at www.msextra.com and start with the minimum required to get the car running and work forward from there. You can always come back and add stuff/rewire it again later and there will always be things you'd wished you'd done differently. Yes, even the second and third times. Sometimes you won't realize these things until you're trying to work on the car.
What fuel injection system does my car have?
The old kind. But seriously, for any of the rwd volvos, you're looking at systems that were at best designed in the early to mid 80's.
pre 82 200 series cars are generally k-jet
all 200 series turbo cars are k-jet
some 83's (esp the 2.3s) are a form of LH, either 2.0 or 1.0
1984 700 turbos are lh 2.0
1985-89 700 series are lh 2.2 unless they're v6 cars, then... who cares, because they suck and should be punished as such
84-88 200 series NA cars are kind of a catch-all. some are lh 2.2 with a funny bosch ignition system, some have a 'Chrysler' ignition system. as none of these came turbocharged, you're kind of between a rock and a hardplace in terms of management decisions should you choose to turbo your car. retrofitting the ezk system from a 700 is a good option if you can find one without a garbage wiring harness, retrofitting lh 2.4 has considerations as well (needs a wheel speed sensor to work correctly as well as other things), but is also very doable. there is also of course the aftermarket management route. Whichever of these you choose, I would strongly urge you to do the electronics portion of the swap before you turbocharge the car (or swap in a turbo motor, or whatever your goal is). the road to abject failure is paved in the good intentions of projects that went a step to far too soon. One thing at a time. I cannot stress this enough. One thing at a time. work the bugs out of that, then move forward. Don't listen to other people who suggest a 'busy weekend' wire up and plumb up a turbo swap..it's not that it cannot be done in a weekend, it's that it frequently doesn't work out that way for ANYONE's first time, ESP if they are attempting this alone. Take your time, enjoy the process. Don't get too hung up on a number.
CHEAPASS PERFORMANCE... AKA JUNKYARD RACERS
What topic could possibly be more turbobricks than junkyard racers. Well, contrary to popular belief and dogma, the old saying still holds true: Cheap, reliable, fast. Choose two. That being said, just because you're broke does not mean you can't have a little bit of fun. As implied earlier, there are 'levels' of performance where decisions should be made, and I'll hopefully convey the 'norms' in a reasonably concise manor. These will be generalizations, and do not promise you won't be replacing parts sooner and faster. None of these should be considered set in stone and no part should be considered as reliable as when the car was stock.
For automatic transmission cars, the 'accumulator mod' should always be done, followed by a fluid flush, and you should strongly consider getting an additional transmission cooler. If these things are done and the box is in good shape, then *generally* you're reasonably safe to around 250-300hp. This will depend heavily on a number of factors (driving style, mods, power production, etc), but is a good *generalization*.
For manual transmission cars, 250ish hp with a decent clutch is about the accepted 'safe' limit, however you will likely still experience transmission failures at this level. they will be greatly accelerated the further past this you go, and as with the above, driving style will have a great influence on the rate at which you're blowing two afternoons.
Engines, see below
Rear end: open diff with a manual, will break if aggressively driven. getting a locker from a later 940 can cut down on these failures, and of course, not beating on the car 24/7 will also cut down on them. Also, not drag racing the car will go a long way for diff life.
Management will still reign happiness or hell upon you if you are not careful.
Other components will come in to play depending on use and abuse, things like the 7/900 subframe, exploding intercoolers, etc.
I can't afford to build an engine. What's the strongest volvo engine?
What's the goal? The early turbo motors (b21ft, b23ft) as well as the 90+ b230ft's are considered the 'strongest' but this is a relative term in that any of these can succumb to poor tuning, attention to detail, modification choices and execution of the build. If careful attention is given, any of these should (theoretically) hold 3-400hp, or more, depending on several factors. In most cases, keeping things at or under 300hp is 'safe' here stateside. Other things that can prolong engine life: put off the pleasure. Many people will frown at this suggestion for a variety of reasons, but part of the key to success for the swedes is in effect this. build the setup to make peak boost (and as a result power) much higher in the powerband than stock.. i.e. a large turbo that doesn't really hit hard until 4500, with a cam(s) and spring/retainer package that will allow it to turn on out to 7500 or so. The reasoning for this is relatively simple, things happen faster-the pistons are moving faster, knock has less time to exact forces on the pistons and rods, tuning changes will have a slightly 'duller' effect (which makes it easier to creep up to the desired power/tune state) as well. This type of setup is generally better suited to a car with a manual transmission, however, and a number of people find it tedious/counter productive/etc since it doesn't have the 'fun' factor that comes with instant torque from small turbo setups that peak early and fall off early. The path you choose here will dictate what you need to spend money on elsewhere on the car. For the common 15g crowd, a moderate set of injectors, relatively common chips, exhaust, mbc, and win. Going for large numbers on a budget...well... comes with it's own considerations and requirements, and to a certain extent not really a budget setup (in the grand scheme of things)
What's the cheapest way to go fast?
Quick hitter: Tuneup, mbc, exhaust. Or alternatively, start with a fast car. Ha Ha.
How fast is fast? A free flowing exhaust, mbc, and good state of tune will result in a very quick car that is fun to drive. For the more demanding, there are a variety of junkyard turbos and cheap intercoolers, and factory hotrod cams. The favorites in the crowd seem to be 15g/16t turbos found on fwd volvos; ford/nissan 60 trim t3 turbos, occasionally more exotic things can be found. Try and research this ahead of time before jumping on the first cheap thing coming by. After the turbo, and exhaust, most people like to replace the oem intercooler, there are a number of cheap options on ebay and in general these are decent moderate performing items. Factory cams that are popular include the A, the V, the K, with the K being the most common 'aggressive' factory cam, although recently a number of better aftermarket options have become readily available from IPD, RSI, as well as sweden, and they're fairly reasonably priced. At some point you're likely to cross over from cheap fast to decently invested fast, and you may find that your earlier decisions have resulted in less than ideal results with further infusion of money; so it would behoove you to consider your investments along the way.
best bang for the buck used injectors and worst used injectors
You can start with used injectors in general. It is my opinion that investing in used injectors in the first place is poor economy considering the relatively low cost of new injectors. You may like to gamble and certainly people have had success with used injectors, so I will provide the basic short list, with the caveat that you should seek out known working injectors vs junkyard injectors for a variety of reasons. But first, why am I against used injectors, esp junkyard injectors?
-you don't know the history of these injectors
-you don't know if they all work correctly or flow the same
getting them cleaned and tested runs the price up a good bit, and then what do you do when you find out two of them are way off from the rest? you get to buy more now, and get them cleaned and tested, etc etc.
Part of going down the cheap road is not having to re-spend the same money as a result of something failing and tearing up other things. Cams, turbos, things of that nature are generally low-impact in terms of catastrophic failures. Occasionally you'll have an interference issue with a really hot cam, but for the most part, failures here are more or less self-contained and mitigate-able (also considered the cost of doing business), whereas pushing a flaky injector can send you to the junkyard engine shopping faster than you would like. The going rate for engines at u-pull-it establishments rivals the cost of a set of new injectors. So, all of this aside
Popular injectors:
-'browntops' turbo ford injectors, generally 36 lb/hr, low-z injectors.
-'cfi' these are from throttle body injected fords of the early to mid 80's. a big hit a while ago due to their size (4-500cc's) however more recently these have proven to be far less evenly matched than is ideal with a fairly high failure rate.
-'dsm' injectors from 1g and 2g turbo eclipses, 460cc, low-z. good injectors if they're in good shape
-Rx-7 injectors, both NA and turbo. Size varries by year, some are in the mid 400's, some are 550's Some are high-z, some are low.
-850 turbo injectors, popular high-z injector for turbo conversions, 300ish cc's, more or less drop-in compatible with turbo ecu's but don't require the resistor packs
can I weld my own exhaust?
Absolutely. More info for this can be found in the exhaust discussion above. You'll obviously need access to a welder, and at the least a chop saw or band saw. a lift is a nice thing to have, as well as some means of propping the system up to the desired place/height for fitment. Same rules as above apply: make it somewhat modular for serviceability, put a flex section in there somewhere, and tuck the muffler(s) in good. The process of welding will depend on the material and the welder.
Exhaust performance
2.5 vs 3.0
The subject of 'what size is best for me' could be best summed up in approximately 15 leather bound volumes next to your useless set of encyclopedia britannica, where you could largely disregard it as you do the other volumes collecting dust up there. The bottom line here is that: There is almost no exhaust that is 'too big' on a turbo app. Diminishing returns? Sure. Too small? Absolutely. So clearly, some consideration must be expended here. The short of it is, what are your intended goals? You might be able to do everything you want with a nice 2.5in system, and certainly there's nothing wrong with this approach; however, since the scope of this particular piece seems to be the ever-present argument of which is better, 2.5 or 3- I will say you are always better off with a nice 3 inch system. Your price difference is largely negligible, there is a higher 'upper end' for a 3 inch system, it's not much more difficult to roll than a 2.5, and if you put even 10 minutes of thought into the whole thing, the only part you'll need to address through the evolution of the car will be the down pipe.
How can I say this with such certainty? I've been through almost all of the permutations, first of all, and additionally, my 600+whp drag car doesn't seem to suffer much performance loss between the 4 inch up pipe and the 3 inch full exhaust. Since cost is almost always a factor, unless you have a compelling reason to go with 2.5 (i.e. has to have a carb exemption number or something of the ilk), you will not suffer a significant cost uptick for 3in, and again the upside is so much better as you move forward with your build.
As far as suggestions, those will vary as much as anything else, generally it is recommended that you procure mandrel bend stuff to cut down on downstream flow impediments, this will bump the cost up somewhat; and depending on how loud or quiet you want the system to be will dictate how many and what type of mufflers you run. Generally, straight through mufflers perform the best, and are the loudest.. resonators will help. The idea here is to cut down on back pressure as much as reasonably possible, so generally chambered mufflers are not suggested unless you're ok with the potential downside there (and this can't be easily discerned without field testing beyond the obvious: your upside will be lower with a chambered muffler vs unchambered).
Cost: this will depend on a) how much work you plan to do on your own b) local markets to some extent (labor) c) your ability to shop things out. As with most things in life, if you plan to outsource a custom exhaust system, you should visit several exhaust shops and see what they offer/turn around time/price/etc. You need to be very specific about how you want the system built, otherwise they will probably build it whatever way is cheapest and easiest for them, and you'll end up with a system that will be a pain in your ass in the future. Think about how you'd take it off the car if need be, or if you upgrade turbos and manifolds later (or if you put say a 2jz in the car), and specify these things. It will cost extra, but this expense up front makes life a lot easier down the road. At a minimum I would suggest you need to have the downpipe end shortly after it turns backwards, and if you are going over the axle with the exhaust system consider putting a v-band/flange either right before or right after the over the axle piece. (if you are going under the axle, this is less of a concern). You should have a flex section installed somewhere either on the downpipe or shortly after it, and you should have the downpipe itself braced to the block as the factory does. Failure to do so can and will reduce custom header life as well as downpipe life. Think about the stuff that moves around, and then think about the amount of leverage that can be obtained on a section of pipe 15 feet long.
Custom built header, has anyone done this?
Well the short answer is yes. The long answer is to what end? What's the power goal? NA? Turbo? These all have different considerations (Although some might argue otherwise to a certain extent). NA has it's own considerations and several aftermarket companies offer variations on the same ideas for reasonable monies, however this should not dissuade anyone from trying to roll their own. Turbo headers require a little more consideration... generally thicker wall (although not always), more purpose-built, things of that nature. This is not exactly a beginner topic, nor is it a requirement for good power production.. 400+hp has been made on more than one occasion with factory turbo manifolds, and people have made good NA hp with the oem cast manifolds as well. Really, if you're asking this question early on in your tuning career, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. A poorly executed custom header can and will cause more problems than it's worth, in terms of reliability (warped flanges, welds cracking, poor design or execution), fitment (hits the frame rail or strut tower, requires hood modifications, etc), and in some cases, emissions compliance as well. If you're not comfortable with the requirements to produce such a thing and maintain it, you would be well advised to seek the council of others (companies and individuals) who can/have/do produce these things, and it would also be a good idea to know exactly where you are going with it before you get started, otherwise the potential is high that you'll build one thing, it won't fit the next iteration of the car, and you'll have to build a new one, etc etc.
FUEL INJECTION PERFORMANCE AND CHIPS
Ah, my favorite realm. Tuning. So much power and yet consistently overlooked and downplayed. The possibilities are endless: huge power, huge disappointment, huge expense. I will attempt to keep this from being long and boring, hopefully I deliver.
What are performance chips?
Well this oughta be a no-brainer, but basically, anything that is not oem software on the oem ecus. This could be something tweaked for better fuel economy, bigger injectors, different turbo, cam, etc. Generally this involves modifying the fuel map(s) and timing maps, as well as other generally more subtle changes. The wrong selection here can have far-reaching consequences, the general idea would be to research this as you're coming up with your list of mods and try to leverage that information as best possible.
Are there any limitations to chips?
This is something that should be known to be true for all parts of any build.. there are limitations and caveats and results of every choice you'll make, and chips/engine management is no different. Chips generally fall short in a number of ways (although not always all at once).. more often than not you will get the best results if you don't deviate from what the chips were 'designed' for, this is more of a problem if you're not equipped to roll your own. Other things are a result of the overall system and not as much the chip itself, i.e. you're going to have to have an airflow sensor, the type of injection, resolution and accuracy (although to a point, the factory system works quite well, make no mistake about this), extensibility, the list of things that can throw it off is as long as there are possibilities for modifications of the car. Some things can and will result in catastrophic failures, other things might not be noticeable on their own until you start comparing notes with someone that has similar mods and discover that you're coming up short in some regard (mileage, performance, 'behavior', that sort of thing). The ability to re-play what has recently happened is also currently a limitation of the chip world. there is very little in the way of datalogging at the moment, this coupled with a lack of features and other 'constraints' of the stock system has generally led most people to accept/believe/expouse that up to a certain power level, chips are fine, and beyond that you should look around. What that power level is, really depends on you the owner, and that is something you will probably have to grapple with in time.
Does anyone make a chip for lh2.2 or lh2.4?
Yes. there are links floating around for this, so I will not spend much time on this subject except to say that generic chips will not have the overall fit and feel of chips tuned and tweaked to your specific vehicle/mods. In that regard, you should take into account what the provider of the chips suggests, and go from there.
Can I modify LH2.2 or LH2.4 myself?
Absolutely, and I wholeheartedly encourage you to explore this. Beepee has an excellent thread dedicated to this, and you would be well served to read most of it before diving in as a number of 'behaviors' are discussed at length through the thread, that might not be readily apparent when you first jump in.
Do they make a piggyback computer for my car?
Sadly, yes. depending on the piggy back and the system it's being applied to, you may have mixed results, it may not work at all, or it might work flawlessly. Generally speaking, with the knowledge and software currently available there is little need for a piggyback anymore, and I strongly encourage you to visit other options before this. With lh 2.4 specifically, you may (will) run into issues where the ecu will try and work around what the piggyback is doing. With MAF-modifiers (S-AFC type devices, that incercept and 'change' the maf signal to produce a result), you get the inconvenient side effect of modified timing values to go with your modified fuel values, and either you've scaled it off the top of the ignition map (which will probably result in poor performance relative to a good tune), or you've scaled it down for those bigass injectors you just had to have, and now you're knocking the pistons out of the bottom end, these are generally poorly suited for lh 2.4 cars. Your best bet if you simply have to have a piggyback, is to get something that will intercept the o2 signal and modify it, or disable o2 feedback in lh and carefully monitor whatever load changes you make to the system, otherwise it is likely to just 'do its own thing' (adapt) to what it sees as incorrect behavior, and you'll be in there tuning it again in two weeks.
Lh 2.0 and 2.2 are better in this regard as they have no long term memory and you can physically retard or advance the distributor to get things back in the ballpark. Age and wiring condition are the biggest hold-backs on these vehicles anymore.
K-jet doesn't really care what you do to it, but you're likely not going to get far without some kind of additional injector controller/msd-btm type of setup, as far as piggybacks are concerned.
Is there an aftermarket fuel injection computer that will work with my volvo?
there are dozens. Megasquirt is popular due to its low cost of entry and decent feature list, but just about any aftermarket management system will work. If you do not plan to tune this system yourself, you should ask your tuner what they are most familiar with/recommend, and go with that. Really this isn't much of a noob topic, this is more of a '300 and up' type of topic although that certainly isn't the lower bound. plenty of people have had excellent results ditching the stock system on otherwise stock volvos and getting some better power and economy; however the fact remains that this should not really be your first avenue of pursuit regardless of what you read elsewhere on the forum. The learning curve with any management system is front-loaded and very steep, and troubleshooting issues that arise during and after the installation of such can pose serious problems for the newly indoctrinated. The same problems apply here as with the stock ecu, and even more-so: lack of attention to detail can and will result in the destruction of your setup far faster than you would even consider possible, and the window of opportunity for disaster grows with power output. Read another way: the more power you're making, the faster things meltdown before you figure out that anything is even wrong, so tread carefully and try to understand fully what you're messing with and how it works. In reality, there is no way to really understand how such systems work prior to getting them on the car (short of using them on someone else's car), so again expect a steep learning curve. The time to be learning this is not right after you've dumped money into a new engine and turbo setup that hasn't run yet.
What the heck is megasquirt? Can I really tune it myself?
Megasquirt is a (can be a) DIY management system. As with most management systems you can tune it yourself if you have the required hardware/software. Read up on it at www.diyautotune.com and www.msextra.com
Oh crap, I don't know how to install my megasquirt
Like I said before, steep learning curve, sounds like you jumped in too early. The basics are simple, stick to the wiring diagrams at www.msextra.com and start with the minimum required to get the car running and work forward from there. You can always come back and add stuff/rewire it again later and there will always be things you'd wished you'd done differently. Yes, even the second and third times. Sometimes you won't realize these things until you're trying to work on the car.
What fuel injection system does my car have?
The old kind. But seriously, for any of the rwd volvos, you're looking at systems that were at best designed in the early to mid 80's.
pre 82 200 series cars are generally k-jet
all 200 series turbo cars are k-jet
some 83's (esp the 2.3s) are a form of LH, either 2.0 or 1.0
1984 700 turbos are lh 2.0
1985-89 700 series are lh 2.2 unless they're v6 cars, then... who cares, because they suck and should be punished as such
84-88 200 series NA cars are kind of a catch-all. some are lh 2.2 with a funny bosch ignition system, some have a 'Chrysler' ignition system. as none of these came turbocharged, you're kind of between a rock and a hardplace in terms of management decisions should you choose to turbo your car. retrofitting the ezk system from a 700 is a good option if you can find one without a garbage wiring harness, retrofitting lh 2.4 has considerations as well (needs a wheel speed sensor to work correctly as well as other things), but is also very doable. there is also of course the aftermarket management route. Whichever of these you choose, I would strongly urge you to do the electronics portion of the swap before you turbocharge the car (or swap in a turbo motor, or whatever your goal is). the road to abject failure is paved in the good intentions of projects that went a step to far too soon. One thing at a time. I cannot stress this enough. One thing at a time. work the bugs out of that, then move forward. Don't listen to other people who suggest a 'busy weekend' wire up and plumb up a turbo swap..it's not that it cannot be done in a weekend, it's that it frequently doesn't work out that way for ANYONE's first time, ESP if they are attempting this alone. Take your time, enjoy the process. Don't get too hung up on a number.
CHEAPASS PERFORMANCE... AKA JUNKYARD RACERS
What topic could possibly be more turbobricks than junkyard racers. Well, contrary to popular belief and dogma, the old saying still holds true: Cheap, reliable, fast. Choose two. That being said, just because you're broke does not mean you can't have a little bit of fun. As implied earlier, there are 'levels' of performance where decisions should be made, and I'll hopefully convey the 'norms' in a reasonably concise manor. These will be generalizations, and do not promise you won't be replacing parts sooner and faster. None of these should be considered set in stone and no part should be considered as reliable as when the car was stock.
For automatic transmission cars, the 'accumulator mod' should always be done, followed by a fluid flush, and you should strongly consider getting an additional transmission cooler. If these things are done and the box is in good shape, then *generally* you're reasonably safe to around 250-300hp. This will depend heavily on a number of factors (driving style, mods, power production, etc), but is a good *generalization*.
For manual transmission cars, 250ish hp with a decent clutch is about the accepted 'safe' limit, however you will likely still experience transmission failures at this level. they will be greatly accelerated the further past this you go, and as with the above, driving style will have a great influence on the rate at which you're blowing two afternoons.
Engines, see below
Rear end: open diff with a manual, will break if aggressively driven. getting a locker from a later 940 can cut down on these failures, and of course, not beating on the car 24/7 will also cut down on them. Also, not drag racing the car will go a long way for diff life.
Management will still reign happiness or hell upon you if you are not careful.
Other components will come in to play depending on use and abuse, things like the 7/900 subframe, exploding intercoolers, etc.
I can't afford to build an engine. What's the strongest volvo engine?
What's the goal? The early turbo motors (b21ft, b23ft) as well as the 90+ b230ft's are considered the 'strongest' but this is a relative term in that any of these can succumb to poor tuning, attention to detail, modification choices and execution of the build. If careful attention is given, any of these should (theoretically) hold 3-400hp, or more, depending on several factors. In most cases, keeping things at or under 300hp is 'safe' here stateside. Other things that can prolong engine life: put off the pleasure. Many people will frown at this suggestion for a variety of reasons, but part of the key to success for the swedes is in effect this. build the setup to make peak boost (and as a result power) much higher in the powerband than stock.. i.e. a large turbo that doesn't really hit hard until 4500, with a cam(s) and spring/retainer package that will allow it to turn on out to 7500 or so. The reasoning for this is relatively simple, things happen faster-the pistons are moving faster, knock has less time to exact forces on the pistons and rods, tuning changes will have a slightly 'duller' effect (which makes it easier to creep up to the desired power/tune state) as well. This type of setup is generally better suited to a car with a manual transmission, however, and a number of people find it tedious/counter productive/etc since it doesn't have the 'fun' factor that comes with instant torque from small turbo setups that peak early and fall off early. The path you choose here will dictate what you need to spend money on elsewhere on the car. For the common 15g crowd, a moderate set of injectors, relatively common chips, exhaust, mbc, and win. Going for large numbers on a budget...well... comes with it's own considerations and requirements, and to a certain extent not really a budget setup (in the grand scheme of things)
What's the cheapest way to go fast?
Quick hitter: Tuneup, mbc, exhaust. Or alternatively, start with a fast car. Ha Ha.
How fast is fast? A free flowing exhaust, mbc, and good state of tune will result in a very quick car that is fun to drive. For the more demanding, there are a variety of junkyard turbos and cheap intercoolers, and factory hotrod cams. The favorites in the crowd seem to be 15g/16t turbos found on fwd volvos; ford/nissan 60 trim t3 turbos, occasionally more exotic things can be found. Try and research this ahead of time before jumping on the first cheap thing coming by. After the turbo, and exhaust, most people like to replace the oem intercooler, there are a number of cheap options on ebay and in general these are decent moderate performing items. Factory cams that are popular include the A, the V, the K, with the K being the most common 'aggressive' factory cam, although recently a number of better aftermarket options have become readily available from IPD, RSI, as well as sweden, and they're fairly reasonably priced. At some point you're likely to cross over from cheap fast to decently invested fast, and you may find that your earlier decisions have resulted in less than ideal results with further infusion of money; so it would behoove you to consider your investments along the way.
best bang for the buck used injectors and worst used injectors
You can start with used injectors in general. It is my opinion that investing in used injectors in the first place is poor economy considering the relatively low cost of new injectors. You may like to gamble and certainly people have had success with used injectors, so I will provide the basic short list, with the caveat that you should seek out known working injectors vs junkyard injectors for a variety of reasons. But first, why am I against used injectors, esp junkyard injectors?
-you don't know the history of these injectors
-you don't know if they all work correctly or flow the same
getting them cleaned and tested runs the price up a good bit, and then what do you do when you find out two of them are way off from the rest? you get to buy more now, and get them cleaned and tested, etc etc.
Part of going down the cheap road is not having to re-spend the same money as a result of something failing and tearing up other things. Cams, turbos, things of that nature are generally low-impact in terms of catastrophic failures. Occasionally you'll have an interference issue with a really hot cam, but for the most part, failures here are more or less self-contained and mitigate-able (also considered the cost of doing business), whereas pushing a flaky injector can send you to the junkyard engine shopping faster than you would like. The going rate for engines at u-pull-it establishments rivals the cost of a set of new injectors. So, all of this aside
Popular injectors:
-'browntops' turbo ford injectors, generally 36 lb/hr, low-z injectors.
-'cfi' these are from throttle body injected fords of the early to mid 80's. a big hit a while ago due to their size (4-500cc's) however more recently these have proven to be far less evenly matched than is ideal with a fairly high failure rate.
-'dsm' injectors from 1g and 2g turbo eclipses, 460cc, low-z. good injectors if they're in good shape
-Rx-7 injectors, both NA and turbo. Size varries by year, some are in the mid 400's, some are 550's Some are high-z, some are low.
-850 turbo injectors, popular high-z injector for turbo conversions, 300ish cc's, more or less drop-in compatible with turbo ecu's but don't require the resistor packs
can I weld my own exhaust?
Absolutely. More info for this can be found in the exhaust discussion above. You'll obviously need access to a welder, and at the least a chop saw or band saw. a lift is a nice thing to have, as well as some means of propping the system up to the desired place/height for fitment. Same rules as above apply: make it somewhat modular for serviceability, put a flex section in there somewhere, and tuck the muffler(s) in good. The process of welding will depend on the material and the welder.
Which is better? 2.5" or 3" exhaust for a turbo car?
Posted by linuxman51
Exhaust performance
2.5 vs. 3.0
The subject of 'what size is best for me' could be best summed up in approximately 15 leather bound volumes next to your useless set of encyclopedia britannica, where you could largely disregard it as you do the other volumes collecting dust up there. The bottom line here is that: There is almost no exhaust that is 'too big' on a turbo app. Diminishing returns? Sure. Too small? Absolutely. So clearly, some consideration must be expended here. The short of it is, what are your intended goals? You might be able to do everything you want with a nice 2.5in system, and certainly there's nothing wrong with this approach; however, since the scope of this particular piece seems to be the ever-present argument of which is better, 2.5 or 3- I will say you are always better off with a nice 3 inch system. Your price difference is largely negligible, there is a higher 'upper end' for a 3 inch system, it's not much more difficult to roll than a 2.5, and if you put even 10 minutes of thought into the whole thing, the only part you'll need to address through the evolution of the car will be the down pipe.
How can I say this with such certainty? I've been through almost all of the permutations, first of all, and additionally, my 600+whp drag car doesn't seem to suffer much performance loss between the 4 inch up pipe and the 3 inch full exhaust. Since cost is almost always a factor, unless you have a compelling reason to go with 2.5 (i.e. has to have a carb exemption number or something of the ilk), you will not suffer a significant cost uptick for 3in, and again the upside is so much better as you move forward with your build.
As far as suggestions, those will vary as much as anything else, generally it is recommended that you procure mandrel bend stuff to cut down on downstream flow impediments, this will bump the cost up somewhat; and depending on how loud or quiet you want the system to be will dictate how many and what type of mufflers you run. Generally, straight through mufflers perform the best, and are the loudest.. resonators will help. The idea here is to cut down on back pressure as much as reasonably possible, so generally chambered mufflers are not suggested unless you're ok with the potential downside there (and this can't be easily discerned without field testing beyond the obvious: your upside will be lower with a chambered muffler vs unchambered).
Cost: this will depend on a) how much work you plan to do on your own b) local markets to some extent (labor) c) your ability to shop things out. As with most things in life, if you plan to outsource a custom exhaust system, you should visit several exhaust shops and see what they offer/turn around time/price/etc. You need to be very specific about how you want the system built, otherwise they will probably build it whatever way is cheapest and easiest for them, and you'll end up with a system that will be a pain in your ass in the future. Think about how you'd take it off the car if need be, or if you upgrade turbos and manifolds later (or if you put say a 2jz in the car), and specify these things. It will cost extra, but this expense up front makes life a lot easier down the road. At a minimum I would suggest you need to have the downpipe end shortly after it turns backwards, and if you are going over the axle with the exhaust system consider putting a v-band/flange either right before or right after the over the axle piece. (if you are going under the axle, this is less of a concern). You should have a flex section installed somewhere either on the downpipe or shortly after it, and you should have the downpipe itself braced to the block as the factory does. Failure to do so can and will reduce custom header life as well as downpipe life. Think about the stuff that moves around, and then think about the amount of leverage that can be obtained on a section of pipe 15 feet long.
Posted by linuxman51
Exhaust performance
2.5 vs. 3.0
The subject of 'what size is best for me' could be best summed up in approximately 15 leather bound volumes next to your useless set of encyclopedia britannica, where you could largely disregard it as you do the other volumes collecting dust up there. The bottom line here is that: There is almost no exhaust that is 'too big' on a turbo app. Diminishing returns? Sure. Too small? Absolutely. So clearly, some consideration must be expended here. The short of it is, what are your intended goals? You might be able to do everything you want with a nice 2.5in system, and certainly there's nothing wrong with this approach; however, since the scope of this particular piece seems to be the ever-present argument of which is better, 2.5 or 3- I will say you are always better off with a nice 3 inch system. Your price difference is largely negligible, there is a higher 'upper end' for a 3 inch system, it's not much more difficult to roll than a 2.5, and if you put even 10 minutes of thought into the whole thing, the only part you'll need to address through the evolution of the car will be the down pipe.
How can I say this with such certainty? I've been through almost all of the permutations, first of all, and additionally, my 600+whp drag car doesn't seem to suffer much performance loss between the 4 inch up pipe and the 3 inch full exhaust. Since cost is almost always a factor, unless you have a compelling reason to go with 2.5 (i.e. has to have a carb exemption number or something of the ilk), you will not suffer a significant cost uptick for 3in, and again the upside is so much better as you move forward with your build.
As far as suggestions, those will vary as much as anything else, generally it is recommended that you procure mandrel bend stuff to cut down on downstream flow impediments, this will bump the cost up somewhat; and depending on how loud or quiet you want the system to be will dictate how many and what type of mufflers you run. Generally, straight through mufflers perform the best, and are the loudest.. resonators will help. The idea here is to cut down on back pressure as much as reasonably possible, so generally chambered mufflers are not suggested unless you're ok with the potential downside there (and this can't be easily discerned without field testing beyond the obvious: your upside will be lower with a chambered muffler vs unchambered).
Cost: this will depend on a) how much work you plan to do on your own b) local markets to some extent (labor) c) your ability to shop things out. As with most things in life, if you plan to outsource a custom exhaust system, you should visit several exhaust shops and see what they offer/turn around time/price/etc. You need to be very specific about how you want the system built, otherwise they will probably build it whatever way is cheapest and easiest for them, and you'll end up with a system that will be a pain in your ass in the future. Think about how you'd take it off the car if need be, or if you upgrade turbos and manifolds later (or if you put say a 2jz in the car), and specify these things. It will cost extra, but this expense up front makes life a lot easier down the road. At a minimum I would suggest you need to have the downpipe end shortly after it turns backwards, and if you are going over the axle with the exhaust system consider putting a v-band/flange either right before or right after the over the axle piece. (if you are going under the axle, this is less of a concern). You should have a flex section installed somewhere either on the downpipe or shortly after it, and you should have the downpipe itself braced to the block as the factory does. Failure to do so can and will reduce custom header life as well as downpipe life. Think about the stuff that moves around, and then think about the amount of leverage that can be obtained on a section of pipe 15 feet long.
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Has anyone made a custom turbo header?
Posted by linuxman51
Custom built header, has anyone done this?
Well the short answer is yes. The long answer is to what end? What's the power goal? NA? Turbo? These all have different considerations (Although some might argue otherwise to a certain extent). NA has it's own considerations and several aftermarket companies offer variations on the same ideas for reasonable monies, however this should not dissuade anyone from trying to roll their own. Turbo headers require a little more consideration... generally thicker wall (although not always), more purpose-built, things of that nature. This is not exactly a beginner topic, nor is it a requirement for good power production.. 400+hp has been made on more than one occasion with factory turbo manifolds, and people have made good NA hp with the oem cast manifolds as well. Really, if you're asking this question early on in your tuning career, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. A poorly executed custom header can and will cause more problems than it's worth, in terms of reliability (warped flanges, welds cracking, poor design or execution), fitment (hits the frame rail or strut tower, requires hood modifications, etc), and in some cases, emissions compliance as well. If you're not comfortable with the requirements to produce such a thing and maintain it, you would be well advised to seek the council of others (companies and individuals) who can/have/do produce these things, and it would also be a good idea to know exactly where you are going with it before you get started, otherwise the potential is high that you'll build one thing, it won't fit the next iteration of the car, and you'll have to build a new one, etc etc.
Posted by linuxman51
Custom built header, has anyone done this?
Well the short answer is yes. The long answer is to what end? What's the power goal? NA? Turbo? These all have different considerations (Although some might argue otherwise to a certain extent). NA has it's own considerations and several aftermarket companies offer variations on the same ideas for reasonable monies, however this should not dissuade anyone from trying to roll their own. Turbo headers require a little more consideration... generally thicker wall (although not always), more purpose-built, things of that nature. This is not exactly a beginner topic, nor is it a requirement for good power production.. 400+hp has been made on more than one occasion with factory turbo manifolds, and people have made good NA hp with the oem cast manifolds as well. Really, if you're asking this question early on in your tuning career, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. A poorly executed custom header can and will cause more problems than it's worth, in terms of reliability (warped flanges, welds cracking, poor design or execution), fitment (hits the frame rail or strut tower, requires hood modifications, etc), and in some cases, emissions compliance as well. If you're not comfortable with the requirements to produce such a thing and maintain it, you would be well advised to seek the council of others (companies and individuals) who can/have/do produce these things, and it would also be a good idea to know exactly where you are going with it before you get started, otherwise the potential is high that you'll build one thing, it won't fit the next iteration of the car, and you'll have to build a new one, etc etc.
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Fuel injection performance and chips
by linuxman51
FUEL INJECTION PERFORMANCE AND CHIPS
Ah, my favorite realm. Tuning. So much power and yet consistently overlooked and downplayed. The possibilities are endless: huge power, huge disappointment, huge expense. I will attempt to keep this from being long and boring, hopefully I deliver.
What are performance chips?
Well this oughta be a no-brainer, but basically, anything that is not oem software on the oem ecus. This could be something tweaked for better fuel economy, bigger injectors, different turbo, cam, etc. Generally this involves modifying the fuel map(s) and timing maps, as well as other generally more subtle changes. The wrong selection here can have far-reaching consequences, the general idea would be to research this as you're coming up with your list of mods and try to leverage that information as best possible.
Are there any limitations to chips?
This is something that should be known to be true for all parts of any build.. there are limitations and caveats and results of every choice you'll make, and chips/engine management is no different. Chips generally fall short in a number of ways (although not always all at once).. more often than not you will get the best results if you don't deviate from what the chips were 'designed' for, this is more of a problem if you're not equipped to roll your own. Other things are a result of the overall system and not as much the chip itself, i.e. you're going to have to have an airflow sensor, the type of injection, resolution and accuracy (although to a point, the factory system works quite well, make no mistake about this), extensibility, the list of things that can throw it off is as long as there are possibilities for modifications of the car. Some things can and will result in catastrophic failures, other things might not be noticeable on their own until you start comparing notes with someone that has similar mods and discover that you're coming up short in some regard (mileage, performance, 'behavior', that sort of thing). The ability to re-play what has recently happened is also currently a limitation of the chip world. there is very little in the way of datalogging at the moment, this coupled with a lack of features and other 'constraints' of the stock system has generally led most people to accept/believe/expouse that up to a certain power level, chips are fine, and beyond that you should look around. What that power level is, really depends on you the owner, and that is something you will probably have to grapple with in time.
by linuxman51
FUEL INJECTION PERFORMANCE AND CHIPS
Ah, my favorite realm. Tuning. So much power and yet consistently overlooked and downplayed. The possibilities are endless: huge power, huge disappointment, huge expense. I will attempt to keep this from being long and boring, hopefully I deliver.
What are performance chips?
Well this oughta be a no-brainer, but basically, anything that is not oem software on the oem ecus. This could be something tweaked for better fuel economy, bigger injectors, different turbo, cam, etc. Generally this involves modifying the fuel map(s) and timing maps, as well as other generally more subtle changes. The wrong selection here can have far-reaching consequences, the general idea would be to research this as you're coming up with your list of mods and try to leverage that information as best possible.
Are there any limitations to chips?
This is something that should be known to be true for all parts of any build.. there are limitations and caveats and results of every choice you'll make, and chips/engine management is no different. Chips generally fall short in a number of ways (although not always all at once).. more often than not you will get the best results if you don't deviate from what the chips were 'designed' for, this is more of a problem if you're not equipped to roll your own. Other things are a result of the overall system and not as much the chip itself, i.e. you're going to have to have an airflow sensor, the type of injection, resolution and accuracy (although to a point, the factory system works quite well, make no mistake about this), extensibility, the list of things that can throw it off is as long as there are possibilities for modifications of the car. Some things can and will result in catastrophic failures, other things might not be noticeable on their own until you start comparing notes with someone that has similar mods and discover that you're coming up short in some regard (mileage, performance, 'behavior', that sort of thing). The ability to re-play what has recently happened is also currently a limitation of the chip world. there is very little in the way of datalogging at the moment, this coupled with a lack of features and other 'constraints' of the stock system has generally led most people to accept/believe/expouse that up to a certain power level, chips are fine, and beyond that you should look around. What that power level is, really depends on you the owner, and that is something you will probably have to grapple with in time.
Do they make a piggyback computer for my car?
by linuxman51
Do they make a piggyback computer for my car?
Sadly, yes. depending on the piggy back and the system it's being applied to, you may have mixed results, it may not work at all, or it might work flawlessly. Generally speaking, with the knowledge and software currently available there is little need for a piggyback anymore, and I strongly encourage you to visit other options before this. With lh 2.4 specifically, you may (will) run into issues where the ecu will try and work around what the piggyback is doing. With MAF-modifiers (S-AFC type devices, that incercept and 'change' the maf signal to produce a result), you get the inconvenient side effect of modified timing values to go with your modified fuel values, and either you've scaled it off the top of the ignition map (which will probably result in poor performance relative to a good tune), or you've scaled it down for those bigass injectors you just had to have, and now you're knocking the pistons out of the bottom end, these are generally poorly suited for lh 2.4 cars. Your best bet if you simply have to have a piggyback, is to get something that will intercept the o2 signal and modify it, or disable o2 feedback in lh and carefully monitor whatever load changes you make to the system, otherwise it is likely to just 'do its own thing' (adapt) to what it sees as incorrect behavior, and you'll be in there tuning it again in two weeks.
Lh 2.0 and 2.2 are better in this regard as they have no long term memory and you can physically retard or advance the distributor to get things back in the ballpark. Age and wiring condition are the biggest hold-backs on these vehicles anymore.
K-jet doesn't really care what you do to it, but you're likely not going to get far without some kind of additional injector controller/msd-btm type of setup, as far as piggybacks are concerned.
by linuxman51
Do they make a piggyback computer for my car?
Sadly, yes. depending on the piggy back and the system it's being applied to, you may have mixed results, it may not work at all, or it might work flawlessly. Generally speaking, with the knowledge and software currently available there is little need for a piggyback anymore, and I strongly encourage you to visit other options before this. With lh 2.4 specifically, you may (will) run into issues where the ecu will try and work around what the piggyback is doing. With MAF-modifiers (S-AFC type devices, that incercept and 'change' the maf signal to produce a result), you get the inconvenient side effect of modified timing values to go with your modified fuel values, and either you've scaled it off the top of the ignition map (which will probably result in poor performance relative to a good tune), or you've scaled it down for those bigass injectors you just had to have, and now you're knocking the pistons out of the bottom end, these are generally poorly suited for lh 2.4 cars. Your best bet if you simply have to have a piggyback, is to get something that will intercept the o2 signal and modify it, or disable o2 feedback in lh and carefully monitor whatever load changes you make to the system, otherwise it is likely to just 'do its own thing' (adapt) to what it sees as incorrect behavior, and you'll be in there tuning it again in two weeks.
Lh 2.0 and 2.2 are better in this regard as they have no long term memory and you can physically retard or advance the distributor to get things back in the ballpark. Age and wiring condition are the biggest hold-backs on these vehicles anymore.
K-jet doesn't really care what you do to it, but you're likely not going to get far without some kind of additional injector controller/msd-btm type of setup, as far as piggybacks are concerned.
by linuxman51
Is there an aftermarket fuel injection computer that will work with my volvo?
there are dozens. Megasquirt is popular due to its low cost of entry and decent feature list, but just about any aftermarket management system will work. If you do not plan to tune this system yourself, you should ask your tuner what they are most familiar with/recommend, and go with that. Really this isn't much of a noob topic, this is more of a '300 and up' type of topic although that certainly isn't the lower bound. plenty of people have had excellent results ditching the stock system on otherwise stock volvos and getting some better power and economy; however the fact remains that this should not really be your first avenue of pursuit regardless of what you read elsewhere on the forum. The learning curve with any management system is front-loaded and very steep, and troubleshooting issues that arise during and after the installation of such can pose serious problems for the newly indoctrinated. The same problems apply here as with the stock ecu, and even more-so: lack of attention to detail can and will result in the destruction of your setup far faster than you would even consider possible, and the window of opportunity for disaster grows with power output. Read another way: the more power you're making, the faster things meltdown before you figure out that anything is even wrong, so tread carefully and try to understand fully what you're messing with and how it works. In reality, there is no way to really understand how such systems work prior to getting them on the car (short of using them on someone else's car), so again expect a steep learning curve. The time to be learning this is not right after you've dumped money into a new engine and turbo setup that hasn't run yet.
What the heck is megasquirt? Can I really tune it myself?
Megasquirt is a (can be a) DIY management system. As with most management systems you can tune it yourself if you have the required hardware/software. Read up on it at www.diyautotune.com and www.msextra.com
Oh crap, I don't know how to install my megasquirt
Like I said before, steep learning curve, sounds like you jumped in too early. The basics are simple, stick to the wiring diagrams at www.msextra.com and start with the minimum required to get the car running and work forward from there. You can always come back and add stuff/rewire it again later and there will always be things you'd wished you'd done differently. Yes, even the second and third times. Sometimes you won't realize these things until you're trying to work on the car.
Is there an aftermarket fuel injection computer that will work with my volvo?
there are dozens. Megasquirt is popular due to its low cost of entry and decent feature list, but just about any aftermarket management system will work. If you do not plan to tune this system yourself, you should ask your tuner what they are most familiar with/recommend, and go with that. Really this isn't much of a noob topic, this is more of a '300 and up' type of topic although that certainly isn't the lower bound. plenty of people have had excellent results ditching the stock system on otherwise stock volvos and getting some better power and economy; however the fact remains that this should not really be your first avenue of pursuit regardless of what you read elsewhere on the forum. The learning curve with any management system is front-loaded and very steep, and troubleshooting issues that arise during and after the installation of such can pose serious problems for the newly indoctrinated. The same problems apply here as with the stock ecu, and even more-so: lack of attention to detail can and will result in the destruction of your setup far faster than you would even consider possible, and the window of opportunity for disaster grows with power output. Read another way: the more power you're making, the faster things meltdown before you figure out that anything is even wrong, so tread carefully and try to understand fully what you're messing with and how it works. In reality, there is no way to really understand how such systems work prior to getting them on the car (short of using them on someone else's car), so again expect a steep learning curve. The time to be learning this is not right after you've dumped money into a new engine and turbo setup that hasn't run yet.
What the heck is megasquirt? Can I really tune it myself?
Megasquirt is a (can be a) DIY management system. As with most management systems you can tune it yourself if you have the required hardware/software. Read up on it at www.diyautotune.com and www.msextra.com
Oh crap, I don't know how to install my megasquirt
Like I said before, steep learning curve, sounds like you jumped in too early. The basics are simple, stick to the wiring diagrams at www.msextra.com and start with the minimum required to get the car running and work forward from there. You can always come back and add stuff/rewire it again later and there will always be things you'd wished you'd done differently. Yes, even the second and third times. Sometimes you won't realize these things until you're trying to work on the car.
What fuel injection system does my car have?
by linuxman51
What fuel injection system does my car have?
The old kind. But seriously, for any of the rwd volvos, you're looking at systems that were at best designed in the early to mid 80's.
pre 82 200 series cars are generally k-jet
all 200 series turbo cars are k-jet
some 83's (esp the 2.3s) are a form of LH, either 2.0 or 1.0
1984 700 turbos are lh 2.0
1985-89 700 series are lh 2.2 unless they're v6 cars, then... who cares, because they suck and should be punished as such
84-88 200 series NA cars are kind of a catch-all. some are lh 2.2 with a funny bosch ignition system, some have a 'Chrysler' ignition system. as none of these came turbocharged, you're kind of between a rock and a hardplace in terms of management decisions should you choose to turbo your car. retrofitting the ezk system from a 700 is a good option if you can find one without a garbage wiring harness, retrofitting lh 2.4 has considerations as well (needs a wheel speed sensor to work correctly as well as other things), but is also very doable. there is also of course the aftermarket management route. Whichever of these you choose, I would strongly urge you to do the electronics portion of the swap before you turbocharge the car (or swap in a turbo motor, or whatever your goal is). the road to abject failure is paved in the good intentions of projects that went a step to far too soon. One thing at a time. I cannot stress this enough. One thing at a time. work the bugs out of that, then move forward. Don't listen to other people who suggest a 'busy weekend' wire up and plumb up a turbo swap..it's not that it cannot be done in a weekend, it's that it frequently doesn't work out that way for ANYONE's first time, ESP if they are attempting this alone. Take your time, enjoy the process. Don't get too hung up on a number.
by linuxman51
What fuel injection system does my car have?
The old kind. But seriously, for any of the rwd volvos, you're looking at systems that were at best designed in the early to mid 80's.
pre 82 200 series cars are generally k-jet
all 200 series turbo cars are k-jet
some 83's (esp the 2.3s) are a form of LH, either 2.0 or 1.0
1984 700 turbos are lh 2.0
1985-89 700 series are lh 2.2 unless they're v6 cars, then... who cares, because they suck and should be punished as such
84-88 200 series NA cars are kind of a catch-all. some are lh 2.2 with a funny bosch ignition system, some have a 'Chrysler' ignition system. as none of these came turbocharged, you're kind of between a rock and a hardplace in terms of management decisions should you choose to turbo your car. retrofitting the ezk system from a 700 is a good option if you can find one without a garbage wiring harness, retrofitting lh 2.4 has considerations as well (needs a wheel speed sensor to work correctly as well as other things), but is also very doable. there is also of course the aftermarket management route. Whichever of these you choose, I would strongly urge you to do the electronics portion of the swap before you turbocharge the car (or swap in a turbo motor, or whatever your goal is). the road to abject failure is paved in the good intentions of projects that went a step to far too soon. One thing at a time. I cannot stress this enough. One thing at a time. work the bugs out of that, then move forward. Don't listen to other people who suggest a 'busy weekend' wire up and plumb up a turbo swap..it's not that it cannot be done in a weekend, it's that it frequently doesn't work out that way for ANYONE's first time, ESP if they are attempting this alone. Take your time, enjoy the process. Don't get too hung up on a number.
best money no object cars
these are the ones I can think of so far....
The volvette.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=158835
B-dub's 240 missle
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=222027
pwschuh's 245 monster
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=101844
these are the ones I can think of so far....
The volvette.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=158835
B-dub's 240 missle
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=222027
pwschuh's 245 monster
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=101844
What's the cheapest way to go fast?
by linuxman51
What's the cheapest way to go fast?
Quick hitter: Tuneup, mbc, exhaust. Or alternatively, start with a fast car. Ha Ha.
How fast is fast? A free flowing exhaust, mbc, and good state of tune will result in a very quick car that is fun to drive. For the more demanding, there are a variety of junkyard turbos and cheap intercoolers, and factory hotrod cams. The favorites in the crowd seem to be 15g/16t turbos found on fwd volvos; ford/nissan 60 trim t3 turbos, occasionally more exotic things can be found. Try and research this ahead of time before jumping on the first cheap thing coming by. After the turbo, and exhaust, most people like to replace the oem intercooler, there are a number of cheap options on ebay and in general these are decent moderate performing items. Factory cams that are popular include the A, the V, the K, with the K being the most common 'aggressive' factory cam, although recently a number of better aftermarket options have become readily available from IPD, RSI, as well as sweden, and they're fairly reasonably priced. At some point you're likely to cross over from cheap fast to decently invested fast, and you may find that your earlier decisions have resulted in less than ideal results with further infusion of money; so it would behoove you to consider your investments along the way.
by linuxman51
What's the cheapest way to go fast?
Quick hitter: Tuneup, mbc, exhaust. Or alternatively, start with a fast car. Ha Ha.
How fast is fast? A free flowing exhaust, mbc, and good state of tune will result in a very quick car that is fun to drive. For the more demanding, there are a variety of junkyard turbos and cheap intercoolers, and factory hotrod cams. The favorites in the crowd seem to be 15g/16t turbos found on fwd volvos; ford/nissan 60 trim t3 turbos, occasionally more exotic things can be found. Try and research this ahead of time before jumping on the first cheap thing coming by. After the turbo, and exhaust, most people like to replace the oem intercooler, there are a number of cheap options on ebay and in general these are decent moderate performing items. Factory cams that are popular include the A, the V, the K, with the K being the most common 'aggressive' factory cam, although recently a number of better aftermarket options have become readily available from IPD, RSI, as well as sweden, and they're fairly reasonably priced. At some point you're likely to cross over from cheap fast to decently invested fast, and you may find that your earlier decisions have resulted in less than ideal results with further infusion of money; so it would behoove you to consider your investments along the way.
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What's the cheapest way to go fast? PREFACE
CHEAPASS PERFORMANCE... AKA JUNKYARD RACERS
by linuxman51
What topic could possibly be more turbobricks than junkyard racers. Well, contrary to popular belief and dogma, the old saying still holds true: Cheap, reliable, fast. Choose two. That being said, just because you're broke does not mean you can't have a little bit of fun. As implied earlier, there are 'levels' of performance where decisions should be made, and I'll hopefully convey the 'norms' in a reasonably concise manor. These will be generalizations, and do not promise you won't be replacing parts sooner and faster. None of these should be considered set in stone and no part should be considered as reliable as when the car was stock.
For automatic transmission cars, the 'accumulator mod' should always be done, followed by a fluid flush, and you should strongly consider getting an additional transmission cooler. If these things are done and the box is in good shape, then *generally* you're reasonably safe to around 250-300hp. This will depend heavily on a number of factors (driving style, mods, power production, etc), but is a good *generalization*.
For manual transmission cars, 250ish hp with a decent clutch is about the accepted 'safe' limit, however you will likely still experience transmission failures at this level. they will be greatly accelerated the further past this you go, and as with the above, driving style will have a great influence on the rate at which you're blowing two afternoons.
Engines, see below
Rear end: open diff with a manual, will break if aggressively driven. getting a locker from a later 940 can cut down on these failures, and of course, not beating on the car 24/7 will also cut down on them. Also, not drag racing the car will go a long way for diff life.
Management will still reign happiness or hell upon you if you are not careful.
Other components will come in to play depending on use and abuse, things like the 7/900 subframe, exploding intercoolers, etc.
CHEAPASS PERFORMANCE... AKA JUNKYARD RACERS
by linuxman51
What topic could possibly be more turbobricks than junkyard racers. Well, contrary to popular belief and dogma, the old saying still holds true: Cheap, reliable, fast. Choose two. That being said, just because you're broke does not mean you can't have a little bit of fun. As implied earlier, there are 'levels' of performance where decisions should be made, and I'll hopefully convey the 'norms' in a reasonably concise manor. These will be generalizations, and do not promise you won't be replacing parts sooner and faster. None of these should be considered set in stone and no part should be considered as reliable as when the car was stock.
For automatic transmission cars, the 'accumulator mod' should always be done, followed by a fluid flush, and you should strongly consider getting an additional transmission cooler. If these things are done and the box is in good shape, then *generally* you're reasonably safe to around 250-300hp. This will depend heavily on a number of factors (driving style, mods, power production, etc), but is a good *generalization*.
For manual transmission cars, 250ish hp with a decent clutch is about the accepted 'safe' limit, however you will likely still experience transmission failures at this level. they will be greatly accelerated the further past this you go, and as with the above, driving style will have a great influence on the rate at which you're blowing two afternoons.
Engines, see below
Rear end: open diff with a manual, will break if aggressively driven. getting a locker from a later 940 can cut down on these failures, and of course, not beating on the car 24/7 will also cut down on them. Also, not drag racing the car will go a long way for diff life.
Management will still reign happiness or hell upon you if you are not careful.
Other components will come in to play depending on use and abuse, things like the 7/900 subframe, exploding intercoolers, etc.
best bang for the buck used injectors and worst used injectors
best bang for the buck used injectors and worst used injectors
by linuxman51
You can start with used injectors in general. It is my opinion that investing in used injectors in the first place is poor economy considering the relatively low cost of new injectors. You may like to gamble and certainly people have had success with used injectors, so I will provide the basic short list, with the caveat that you should seek out known working injectors vs junkyard injectors for a variety of reasons. But first, why am I against used injectors, esp junkyard injectors?
-you don't know the history of these injectors
-you don't know if they all work correctly or flow the same
getting them cleaned and tested runs the price up a good bit, and then what do you do when you find out two of them are way off from the rest? you get to buy more now, and get them cleaned and tested, etc etc.
Part of going down the cheap road is not having to re-spend the same money as a result of something failing and tearing up other things. Cams, turbos, things of that nature are generally low-impact in terms of catastrophic failures. Occasionally you'll have an interference issue with a really hot cam, but for the most part, failures here are more or less self-contained and mitigate-able (also considered the cost of doing business), whereas pushing a flaky injector can send you to the junkyard engine shopping faster than you would like. The going rate for engines at u-pull-it establishments rivals the cost of a set of new injectors. So, all of this aside
Popular injectors:
-'browntops' turbo ford injectors, generally 36 lb/hr, low-z injectors.
-'cfi' these are from throttle body injected fords of the early to mid 80's. a big hit a while ago due to their size (4-500cc's) however more recently these have proven to be far less evenly matched than is ideal with a fairly high failure rate.
-'dsm' injectors from 1g and 2g turbo eclipses, 460cc, low-z. good injectors if they're in good shape
-Rx-7 injectors, both NA and turbo. Size varries by year, some are in the mid 400's, some are 550's Some are high-z, some are low.
-850 turbo injectors, popular high-z injector for turbo conversions, 300ish cc's, more or less drop-in compatible with turbo ecu's but don't require the resistor packs
best bang for the buck used injectors and worst used injectors
by linuxman51
You can start with used injectors in general. It is my opinion that investing in used injectors in the first place is poor economy considering the relatively low cost of new injectors. You may like to gamble and certainly people have had success with used injectors, so I will provide the basic short list, with the caveat that you should seek out known working injectors vs junkyard injectors for a variety of reasons. But first, why am I against used injectors, esp junkyard injectors?
-you don't know the history of these injectors
-you don't know if they all work correctly or flow the same
getting them cleaned and tested runs the price up a good bit, and then what do you do when you find out two of them are way off from the rest? you get to buy more now, and get them cleaned and tested, etc etc.
Part of going down the cheap road is not having to re-spend the same money as a result of something failing and tearing up other things. Cams, turbos, things of that nature are generally low-impact in terms of catastrophic failures. Occasionally you'll have an interference issue with a really hot cam, but for the most part, failures here are more or less self-contained and mitigate-able (also considered the cost of doing business), whereas pushing a flaky injector can send you to the junkyard engine shopping faster than you would like. The going rate for engines at u-pull-it establishments rivals the cost of a set of new injectors. So, all of this aside
Popular injectors:
-'browntops' turbo ford injectors, generally 36 lb/hr, low-z injectors.
-'cfi' these are from throttle body injected fords of the early to mid 80's. a big hit a while ago due to their size (4-500cc's) however more recently these have proven to be far less evenly matched than is ideal with a fairly high failure rate.
-'dsm' injectors from 1g and 2g turbo eclipses, 460cc, low-z. good injectors if they're in good shape
-Rx-7 injectors, both NA and turbo. Size varries by year, some are in the mid 400's, some are 550's Some are high-z, some are low.
-850 turbo injectors, popular high-z injector for turbo conversions, 300ish cc's, more or less drop-in compatible with turbo ecu's but don't require the resistor packs
can I weld my own exhaust?
can I weld my own exhaust?
by linuxman51
Absolutely. More info for this can be found in the exhaust discussion above. You'll obviously need access to a welder, and at the least a chop saw or band saw. a lift is a nice thing to have, as well as some means of propping the system up to the desired place/height for fitment. Same rules as above apply: make it somewhat modular for serviceability, put a flex section in there somewhere, and tuck the muffler(s) in good. The process of welding will depend on the material and the welder.
can I weld my own exhaust?
by linuxman51
Absolutely. More info for this can be found in the exhaust discussion above. You'll obviously need access to a welder, and at the least a chop saw or band saw. a lift is a nice thing to have, as well as some means of propping the system up to the desired place/height for fitment. Same rules as above apply: make it somewhat modular for serviceability, put a flex section in there somewhere, and tuck the muffler(s) in good. The process of welding will depend on the material and the welder.
An annotated guide on how to +T your 1985-1995 Volvo 240-740-940
An annotated guide on how to +T your 1985-1995 Volvo 240-740-940
PREFACE
You?ve gotten this far because you know it?s possible to turbocharge your non-turbo 1985-1995 240-740-940. You don?t need any convincing, you just want to know how to do it.
I?ve performed this conversion on about 10 different Volvos? mostly 240?s, but also 740?s and 940?s. As long as you have all the materials, it could be done in a weekend for most people.
The timeline of your +T conversion depends on your experience and comfort working under the hood of your brick. You will need to become intimate with your engine. There's nothing in the swap that's rocket surgery, but if you've never changed a spark plug before, it may take you a bit longer than a weekend.
The best possible advice I could give to a person doing this swap is to find a junkyard and tear apart a junkyard turbo Volvo. Find as many as you can and tear them apart. Get your hands dirty as much as possible. The more you do, the more you?ll learn about what goes where. I must have taken apart a half dozen or so turbo 240/740/940?s before I even attempted my first +T. Granted, I never would have done any of this if it wasn't for the original +T article by Linuxman51 and Isaac. Thanks be to them.
+T by MikeJr. in a 240 wagon
+T by diponyou in a 240
WHY DO THE +T?
Because it's a way of making the car you love that much more enjoyable. Imagine being able to pass those pesky debutante mustangs and camaros and honda boys with your mom's car. Imagine the potential of easily running mid 14 second 1/4 mile times with nothing more than basic bolt-on, often junkyard parts. 14's are nothing to sneeze at. 12-15psi can get you near the 250hp mark which is more than enough to not only double your car's horsepower, but dramatically increase your enjoyment.
Why does the +T work so well?
Quite simply, it's the higher compression ratio. You'll be around 9.8:1 when things are all said and done with the conversion. Considering factory 740 turbo cars spec out at 8.7:1 CR, running around with the higher CR will make for a much torquey-er car. Much more responsive from a stop. It's what makes the whole conversion worth while. Many people want to do the swap but install a turbo block (same with the exception of lower compression pistons)... which is fine and while you will lose the +T's benefits, you will still have boost.
Moral of the story, don't swap blocks.
DO I NEED TO SWAP CYLINDER HEADS?
No. The stock NA cylinder head is fine and many have +T'd their non-turbo heads with no ill effects whatsoever. "Turbo" cylinder heads are for all purposes identical with the exception of having sodium filled exhaust valves. You be the judge.
PARTS
You?re going to need everything that came from a turbo car. Sounds simple, but it's one of the most-asked questions... "what do I need?" Short answer, get everything. The corollary to that is "Should I just get a turbo block" and the short answer is no... unless you like engine swaps. I?m assuming you?re getting most of this unless noted from a junkyard donor car. Below is a short list of every part.
THE MAJOR THEMES OF THE SWAP.
1. OIL FEED LINE
You will need to supply high pressure oil to the turbocharger. The best place to get high pressure oil is at the front of the block, where you will find an access port covered by an allen-head plug. This is where the factory engine foundry drilled the main oil gallery hole in the block, then tapped/threaded a nut here to seal it shut. It's shown in the picture below.
In order to get access to the port, you will probably need to remove the alternator or power steering pump bracket and remove temporarily the alternator/PS belts so you can get access to this plug. The plug is ?? NPT.
What do you do once it's been removed? Your best choice here is to obtain a 90degree AN fitting with ?? NPT going into the block and 4AN going out to the turbo such as the unit shown below from summit racing. (SUM-220451)
You will have to angle the fitting and line such that it does not interfere with the alternator or power steering pump. 240 people may want to go with a slightly longer alternator belt, or might have to grind down the upper alternator bracket bolt for oil line clearance.
You need about a 16 inches of braided stainless line to loop upwards towards the turbocharger.
Note, there is another location for the oil feed... it's where the factory oil "idiot" light is located. The following are two examples where the Tb member has removed the idiot light 14mm fitting and put a separate junction in place to feed both the oil and the oil pressure sending unit. Either of these options may be easier for you depending on your needs.
If you are using a Mitsubishi turbo, you will need to get a 10x1.25 (*mikep edit: my mitsu was 12mmx1.5) to 4an banjo fitting, available inexpensively on Ebay for about $12.
Here's the banjo mounted on the top of the turbo.
For garrett turbo?s, you can get an oil feed flange with a 4AN outlet fitting, or a 1/8? NPT hole, or simply use another 90degree aluminum fitting, this time 4AN on one side and 1/8? NPT going into the turbo. (SUM-220450)
Garrett T3 oil feed with 4an to 1/8"NPT 90degree fitting.
Garrett T3 oil feed flange with 4AN outlet.
Do make sure not to route the line near anything hot. It should NOT be touching the exhaust manifold at any point.
We strongly recommend braided stainless hose in this location due to the high heat.
2. OIL RETURN LINE.
Lots of choices here as well. Your oil needs to drain by gravity, away from the turbo. Generally, the oil return line is much bigger than the feed as it is not under pressure. The factory return pipe is approximately ?? in diameter, with Mitsubishi turbos having a slightly thinner return.
However... before you do any of this, you need to get the oil pan off the engine... No, you don't have to remove the engine... but you might have to build one of these. With one of these simple hoists, the engine is lifted by the hookeye on the thermostat outlet pipe. Just unbolt the motor mounts from underneath and you can get the engine a good 2-3 inches up in the air. You'll have to then unbolt the motor mounts from the block, but that allows you to unbolt the oil pan, and rotate it 90degrees to get it out from the car.
Your choices for the return line
1. Making your return from the factory line
2. Making a new oil return using braided steel hose or rubber hose.
Your choices for the actual return.
1. Drilling the block.
In this image, the drill bit is shown poking through the inside of the block. All of the little shiny things you see on the oil pump transfer tube are iron shavings. Your results may vary.
In this picture, you can see how much clearance you have to drill the return. This is in a 240.
Here you can see the hole completely drilled.
2. Welding a fitting onto the pan
this is right about where you want the hole and the welded fitting. It pops out right above the oil baffle in the pan. I would weld it higher, but I can't get the mig gun in between the fitting and the pan flange.
4. MOUNTING THE TURBO.
At this point, you should be staring at an empty passenger side of the block. You should scrape off any old exhaust manifold gaskets. Many times you will have to replace exhaust manifold studs. Use anti-seize on any new studs. I usually put the new gaskets in place first, then slide the turbo manifold on.
You should be using the 90+ turbo exhaust manifold as opposed to the older log manifold. The pic below shows the 90+ manifold.
Most people find it easier to mount the manifold first, then the turbo. Consider purchasing new copper nuts for the manifold.
Make sure the oil return line and wastegate are routed away from each other before you bolt the turbo onto the manifold.
Mount the turbo on the manifold studs. Connect the oil feed and water cooling lines to the turbo.
Consider mounting the oil return line to the turbo before you put it in the car. It makes it easy later than trying to reach up in there to get it connected.
Connect the downpipe to the turbo loosely at first. Connect the downpipe to the exhaust, then tighten the fittings at the turbo.
Connect the intercooler pipes, as well as the air inlet pipe to the turbo.
5. MOUNTING THE INTERCOOLER AND RADIATOR IN THEIR NEW POSITIONS
6. TURBO WATER COOLING
All factory turbo cars came with water cooling to the turbo. Put simply, ?cooled? water will circulate around the oil bearings in a turbo. Cooling the oil inside a turbo will prevent the dreaded coking of oil that occurs on shutdown. Water convection will continue to cool the turbo long after the engine has shut down. Furthermore, water cooling can promote longer life of the turbo?s bearings.
That being said, water cooling does add to the complexity of a plus-TEE swap.
In a nutshell, of the two water cooling lines to the turbo, one line will tap into the lower radiator hose, and the second will tap into the expansion tank hose. It?s really not that difficult, but for a first-timer looking to get the turbo swap done as fast and simply as possible, it might seem like an over-arching complexity.
One of the upper water cooling lines is shown in the following picture running across the turbo.
The 740 turbo cars come with a lower radiator hose with built-in water cooling attachment. Furthermore, 740 turbo cars expansion tank hose also has the water cooling attachment added. If you have plenty of time, it?s not terribly difficult to do this additional swap as it does have performance and financial benefits.
7. COMPRESSOR BYPASS VALVE
All turbo cars with the exception of the early 240 turbos had a compressor bypass valve. Imagine if you will a turbo at speed making boost, sending the compressed air down the intercooler pipes, past the throttle body, into the engine. Imagine now letting off the gas, the throttle body closing and all of that compressed air slamming into the closed throttle body and essentially backing up all the way back to the turbo. The effect we?re referring to here is likened to spraying a jet of water at a fan in the opposite direction the fan is spinning. The effect on the fan is to slow it down and the exact same effect is observed on the turbocharger. The sound you would hear if this happens to your car is a ?psh-sh-sh-sh-sh? as the turbo slows down. Thus, the compressor bypass valve to take this misdirected high pressure air and shuffle it back into the turbo. On cars equipped with air mass meters (read, all Volvos), this is critically important that it is put back into circulation as AMM equipped cars ?measure? the amount of air entering the system. If the air would be to diverted to atmosphere, it would cause the engine to run ?rich? as it expected to have a certain amount of air, but did not. The AMM tells the fuel ECU how much fuel to be delivered for a certain mass of air. If the air isn?t there, the engine runs richer than it should.
That being said, your choices of CBV are limited to either the Pierburg CBV for garrett turbo cars, or the integral CBV found on Mitsubishi turbos.
Pierburg CBV
If you simply must have the ?pshh? sound when you let off the throttle as a calling sign that ?hey, I have a turbo?, you can use a ?Blow-off-valve? which is nothing more than a CBV, but bypassed to atmosphere.
8. CRANKCASE VENTILATION HOSE
Turbo cars have a slightly different crankcase ventilation system than NA cars. You will need to remove the flame trap, but put in place the Y-adapter found on turbo cars. The thick part of the Y should get routed across the engine (either along the back or along the front) to the hose going into the turbocharger. The second smaller hose shown in the pic below gets routed to one of the ports on the intake manifold. This is a decent setup for a beginner and is as how Volvo designed it. More advanced users will consider making the addition of a crankcase oil reservoir to capture the large amount of oil vapors from being pulled back into the engine. The ?catchcan? should have something in it to allow oil vapors to stick, and condense out of the gas phase. Oil has an effective octane rating of 48 and very old Volvo engines will tend to have a good deal of ?blowby? combustion gases making it past the rings into the crankcase? thus lots of oil vapors. Oil catch cans don't have to be fancy... You can make one out of PVC and some hose barbs.
In summary, even if you don't have a catch can, EVERY TURBO CAR MUST HAVE A FUNCTIONING CRANKCASE VENTILATION SYSTEM to avoid excessive crankcase pressure pushing out oil seals.
9. MODIFYING THE IDLE VALVE HOSE TO FIT THE INTERCOOLER PIPE
The NA idle valve extends under the intake manifold behind the engine to the plastic air inlet pipe. Turbo cars have the idle valve inlet in front of the throttle body. You will need to re-route this hose, or better yet, simply replace it with the hose that came from a turbo car.
Make sure to check the hose carefully as they tend to dry and crack with age. A cracked hose that only opens under boost can make tuning and diagnosing a nightmare.
In a pinch, you can use large heater hose drawn down to the size of copper pipe to bridge the gap between the idle valve and the intercooler pipe.
Furthermore, you will need to add hose-clamps to all sections of the idle valve. First time turbobrickers will be enjoying their newfound boost only to have the upper idle valve hose (the j-shaped hose) pop off the intake manifolds. Hoseclamp everything rubber.
10. RE-ROUTING THE AMM WIRES
The air mass meter will need to be repositioned on the passenger side of the engine. To do this, you will actually need to cut some wires. Don?t worry, it?s not many wires and you can always put things back the way you found them. Take the existing AMM terminal end and cut it with about 4-5 inches of wires left on the end. You will be splicing in new wire to get it to mount on the passenger side. You will need about 7 feet of new wire. You can use all the same color if you?re brave. Simply splice the new wire, preferably by soldering and shrink-wrapping, in between the existing harness and terminal end. Use corrugated wire insulation or, flexible-expandable loom to protect it and route it around the back of the engine. 240-740-940 people have large clips on the firewall to hold the existing engine harness in place. If you do yours right, no one will notice the difference and it will look stock.
11. CHOICES. BALLAST RESISTOR AND LOW IMPEDANCE INJECTORS, OR JUST HIGH IMPEDANCE INJECTORS?
OK. Your new turbo will require bigger injectors to meet the new fuel needs of your engine. Education time. There are two types of fuel injectors? high impedance and low impedance (this is a gross simplification as there are actually many types of fuel injectors). Your stock NA engine came with high impedance injectors. Turbo 740-940?s use low impedance injectors coupled with a ballast resistor pack to bring the overall impedance back up. If you will be using the Volvo turbo injectors? either the 756 or 804 315cc greentops, you will need to splice in the ballast resistor pack. It?s not a big deal, but it may be uncomfortable for the newb digging into his/her wiring harness for the first time.
Alternatively, you can find higher flowing high impedance fuel injectors. The most commonly used set equivalent to Volvo ?greentops? are the injectors found on Volvo 850 turbo vehicles? either the 330cc ?redtops? or the other injectors shown here. These injectors can simply be swapped in place of your existing injectors without need for the ballast resistor pack.
If you eventually plan on upping the power a bit, you can safely use 420-440cc injectors in place of the 330cc units. 440cc injectors (44lb/hr) will give you a bit more headroom than the 330cc units and will not adversely effect the fuel injection computer?s tune of the engine.
The injector style you need to fit is the EV1 Bosch shape. There are so many higher flowing injectors out there that it is tough to recommend one, but buying new brings peace of mind. You can find a set of 4 new injectors for about $200. When factoring in the cost of cleaning old used injectors (about $25 per injector), you can often buy a new set for little more. It is sometimes impossible to tell externally that your fuel injector is faulty. Sticking injectors look the same as non-sticking injectors. A stuck open injector can ruin a cylinder as it washes down the oil. A stuck closed injector can melt a piston. Your choice here. Here is a great source for inexpensive, reliable fuel fuel injectors. 440cc (44lb/hr) units shown here. http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/delphi-42-lbhr-ev1-style-fuel-injector-hiz-p-274.html
12. HOW TO SPLICE IN THE BALLAST RESISTOR PACK.
240
740/940
13. 2.5 VS 3BAR FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR
Many non-turbo cars came with a 2.5bar fuel pressure regulator. You will need to replace it with the 3-bar regulator found on turbo cars. These aren?t that expensive new, so consider buying new rather than using old. Unbolt the old one, pop in the new one.
14. WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO ON THE ECU SIDE OF THINGS?
MOST PEOPLE will simply swap the turbo version of the computer in place of the non-turbo computer. You will need the turbo fuel and ignition computers. Don?t just do one, no matter what your buddy says.
HOWEVER. If you have an older LH2.2 equipped 240 with the Chrysler ignition system, you will need to splice in the EZK117 ignition system wires. The Chrysler ignition system is ?way too hot? for a turbo car as a non-turbo engine will require more ignition advance than turbo. The EZK117 conversion is not painful and can be done in a couple of hours. See here for more information. http://www.turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129382
http://www.turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100448
NOTE? for those of you looking to do the swap in stages, you can swap in the turbo ecu?s and injectors BEFORE the car is turbocharged. When I did my first +T swap on an 88 740, I ran the turbo ecu?s and injectors with ballast resistor for about a month before the +T happened. It won?t give you any additional performance without the turbo but it will help to eliminate any confusion and stress when you?re ready to stomp on it the first time. Knowing that when you turn the key on your new turbo setup for the first time that it will start and run is big peace of mind.
15. CAN I SWAP FROM LH2.2 to LH2.4?
In a nutshell yes, but there a few key differences that will require attention.
16. WHERE ARE THE FUEL AND IGNITION COMPUTERS?
240. 1985-1988. LH2.2 fuel ecu and Chrysler ignition ECU.
? Fuel ecu located to the right of the passenger?s right foot behind the kickpanel.
? Ignition ECU located in engine compartment bolted to windshield washer fluid tank* you will have to upgrade to EZK117K ignition system. See article here.
? The following part numbers will work
240. 1989-1993 LH2.4 fuel ECU and EZK 116k ignition ECU
? Fuel ecu located to the right of the passenger?s right foot behind the kickpanel.
? Ignition ECU located to the left of the fuel ECU mounted on the firewall.
? The following part numbers will work
740 1985-1988 LH2.2 fuel ECU and EZK117 ignition ECU.
? Fuel ecu located to the right of passenger?s right foot behind the kickpanel
? Ignition ecu located above driver?s right foot behind and below the steering wheel. Mounted upright. ?frustrating to access? at best.
? The following part numbers will work
740/940 1989-1995 LH2.4 fuel ECU and EZK116 ignition ECU
? Same as early 740.
? The following part numbers will work
16. HOW DO I SET THE WASTEGATE?
In theory, if you purchased a used turbo from a junkyard, the wastegate is already set at the factory 5-7 psi boost. If you are concerned about this, simply loosen the adjusting nut and turn the rod so it is as ?loose? as possible. You can set the wastegate by using a vacuum pump like you would use for bleeding brakes and set the open pressure when it starts to crack the wastegate open at 5-7psi. A garrett turbo wastegate actuator is shown below. Mitsubishi turbos are adjusted the same way.
This is one of those things the newbie should respect and make sure their wastegate is set up before they stomp on the gas the first time. When the boost needle wraps around past 20 on your first try, it?s too late to go set it. You may have caused some engine damage.
17. DOWNPIPES AND EXHAUST
740/940 people have it easy here as all you have to do is use the 740/940 turbo downpipe. You will have to have someone weld in approximate 5 inches of pipe to connect the downpipe to your existing exhaust. Alternatively, leave the exhaust in place and have material welded onto the downpipe. That way when it comes time, you can simply bolt in your new downpipe and take off instead of waiting.
You can comfortably use the existing non-turbo exhaust. While it is going to be smaller in diameter than the turbo exhaust, you will in no way regret the decision. If you are truly concerned about performance, simple scavenge the entire turbo exhaust from a 740/940 turbo car and swap it in place? assuming you can find a set that is not rusted out. Later when you seek more performance, consider upgrading to a full 3? exhaust from turbo to tailpipe. The stock system will run fine up to the 12-14psi area. Only after that will it start to be constrictive.
18. CAN I STOMP ON IT YET?
Not quite. Make one or two round of double checking fittings for tightness. Especially check the fuel injectors that they are not leaking. Check that all of your intercooler pipes are firmly attached.
Make sure you have premium gasoline. This will be your fate from now on? no more 87 octane regular.
Make sure you have the turbo fuel and ignition computers in place.
Make sure there?s oil in the car.
Make sure the oil feed and return lines are connected and tightened. You?ll know quickly when there?s a gushing river of oil coming out from underneath your car.
Drive normally for the first few minutes. Check the fluids. Check for oil and coolant leaks. Check for engine codes.
Make sure your boost gauge is functioning.
Give it a little boost and verify that the boost does not accelerate to infinity.
Stomp on it. And listen carefully for detonation. It will sound like rocks being shaken in a coffee can. Consider hooking up a set of detcans so you can hear more clearly what?s happening.
Get used to your new car. Start small on the boost. 5psi initially can feel like a million. Take some time before you crank it.
An annotated guide on how to +T your 1985-1995 Volvo 240-740-940
PREFACE
You?ve gotten this far because you know it?s possible to turbocharge your non-turbo 1985-1995 240-740-940. You don?t need any convincing, you just want to know how to do it.
I?ve performed this conversion on about 10 different Volvos? mostly 240?s, but also 740?s and 940?s. As long as you have all the materials, it could be done in a weekend for most people.
The timeline of your +T conversion depends on your experience and comfort working under the hood of your brick. You will need to become intimate with your engine. There's nothing in the swap that's rocket surgery, but if you've never changed a spark plug before, it may take you a bit longer than a weekend.
The best possible advice I could give to a person doing this swap is to find a junkyard and tear apart a junkyard turbo Volvo. Find as many as you can and tear them apart. Get your hands dirty as much as possible. The more you do, the more you?ll learn about what goes where. I must have taken apart a half dozen or so turbo 240/740/940?s before I even attempted my first +T. Granted, I never would have done any of this if it wasn't for the original +T article by Linuxman51 and Isaac. Thanks be to them.
+T by MikeJr. in a 240 wagon
+T by diponyou in a 240
WHY DO THE +T?
Because it's a way of making the car you love that much more enjoyable. Imagine being able to pass those pesky debutante mustangs and camaros and honda boys with your mom's car. Imagine the potential of easily running mid 14 second 1/4 mile times with nothing more than basic bolt-on, often junkyard parts. 14's are nothing to sneeze at. 12-15psi can get you near the 250hp mark which is more than enough to not only double your car's horsepower, but dramatically increase your enjoyment.
Why does the +T work so well?
Quite simply, it's the higher compression ratio. You'll be around 9.8:1 when things are all said and done with the conversion. Considering factory 740 turbo cars spec out at 8.7:1 CR, running around with the higher CR will make for a much torquey-er car. Much more responsive from a stop. It's what makes the whole conversion worth while. Many people want to do the swap but install a turbo block (same with the exception of lower compression pistons)... which is fine and while you will lose the +T's benefits, you will still have boost.
Moral of the story, don't swap blocks.
DO I NEED TO SWAP CYLINDER HEADS?
No. The stock NA cylinder head is fine and many have +T'd their non-turbo heads with no ill effects whatsoever. "Turbo" cylinder heads are for all purposes identical with the exception of having sodium filled exhaust valves. You be the judge.
PARTS
You?re going to need everything that came from a turbo car. Sounds simple, but it's one of the most-asked questions... "what do I need?" Short answer, get everything. The corollary to that is "Should I just get a turbo block" and the short answer is no... unless you like engine swaps. I?m assuming you?re getting most of this unless noted from a junkyard donor car. Below is a short list of every part.
- Turbocharger including wastegate and exhaust housing with all nuts bolts and clamps.
- Rebuild kit for the turbocharger.
- Turbo exhaust manifold with all nuts, studs, washers. Preferably a 90+ manifold.
- Downpipe. You?re going to have to fab here. 240 people can make a 740 downpipe work but it requires cutting/rewelding.
- Oil feed and return lines. Preferably you?re buying new here. * Plan to spend around $100 complete.
- EACH intercooler pipe with every hose clamp that came with it.
- An intercooler.
- 240 or 740/940 upper/lower intercooler clamps and isolators and bolts
- Fuel injectors, low impedance greentops with ballast resistor pack, or high impedance units sans ballast resistor. You can also get new higher flowing fuel injectors. *
- Idle valve to intercooler pipe hose
- Flame trap substitute y-pipe
- Compressor bypass valve and air intake pipe going into the turbo
- 7? extra length of wire to splice in and reroute air mass meter to passenger side
- Fuel and ignition computers from a TURBO donor car.
- If needed, turbo water cooling lines and hoses.
- 1 heat range colder spark plugs. NGK BPR7ES or equivalent.
THE MAJOR THEMES OF THE SWAP.
- OIL FEED
- OIL RETURN
- MOUNTING THE TURBO
- MOUNTING THE INTERCOOLER AND RADIATOR IN THEIR NEW POSITIONS
- TURBO WATER COOLING?
- COMPRESSOR BYPASS VALVE
- CRANKCASE VENTILATION HOSE
- MODIFYING THE IDLE VALVE HOSE TO FIT THE INTERCOOLER PIPE
- RE-ROUTING THE AMM WIRES
- CHOICES. BALLAST RESISTOR AND LOW IMPEDANCE INJECTORS, OR JUST HIGH IMPEDANCE INJECTORS?
- HOW TO SPLICE IN THE BALLAST RESISTOR PACK.
- 2.5 VS 3BAR FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR
- WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO ON THE ECU SIDE OF THINGS?
- CAN I SWAP FROM LH2.2 to LH2.4?
- WHERE ARE THE FUEL AND IGNITION COMPUTERS?
- HOW DO I SET THE WASTEGATE?
- DOWNPIPES AND EXHAUST
- CAN I STOMP ON IT YET?
1. OIL FEED LINE
You will need to supply high pressure oil to the turbocharger. The best place to get high pressure oil is at the front of the block, where you will find an access port covered by an allen-head plug. This is where the factory engine foundry drilled the main oil gallery hole in the block, then tapped/threaded a nut here to seal it shut. It's shown in the picture below.
In order to get access to the port, you will probably need to remove the alternator or power steering pump bracket and remove temporarily the alternator/PS belts so you can get access to this plug. The plug is ?? NPT.
What do you do once it's been removed? Your best choice here is to obtain a 90degree AN fitting with ?? NPT going into the block and 4AN going out to the turbo such as the unit shown below from summit racing. (SUM-220451)
You will have to angle the fitting and line such that it does not interfere with the alternator or power steering pump. 240 people may want to go with a slightly longer alternator belt, or might have to grind down the upper alternator bracket bolt for oil line clearance.
You need about a 16 inches of braided stainless line to loop upwards towards the turbocharger.
Note, there is another location for the oil feed... it's where the factory oil "idiot" light is located. The following are two examples where the Tb member has removed the idiot light 14mm fitting and put a separate junction in place to feed both the oil and the oil pressure sending unit. Either of these options may be easier for you depending on your needs.
If you are using a Mitsubishi turbo, you will need to get a 10x1.25 (*mikep edit: my mitsu was 12mmx1.5) to 4an banjo fitting, available inexpensively on Ebay for about $12.
Here's the banjo mounted on the top of the turbo.
For garrett turbo?s, you can get an oil feed flange with a 4AN outlet fitting, or a 1/8? NPT hole, or simply use another 90degree aluminum fitting, this time 4AN on one side and 1/8? NPT going into the turbo. (SUM-220450)
Garrett T3 oil feed with 4an to 1/8"NPT 90degree fitting.
Garrett T3 oil feed flange with 4AN outlet.
Do make sure not to route the line near anything hot. It should NOT be touching the exhaust manifold at any point.
We strongly recommend braided stainless hose in this location due to the high heat.
2. OIL RETURN LINE.
Lots of choices here as well. Your oil needs to drain by gravity, away from the turbo. Generally, the oil return line is much bigger than the feed as it is not under pressure. The factory return pipe is approximately ?? in diameter, with Mitsubishi turbos having a slightly thinner return.
However... before you do any of this, you need to get the oil pan off the engine... No, you don't have to remove the engine... but you might have to build one of these. With one of these simple hoists, the engine is lifted by the hookeye on the thermostat outlet pipe. Just unbolt the motor mounts from underneath and you can get the engine a good 2-3 inches up in the air. You'll have to then unbolt the motor mounts from the block, but that allows you to unbolt the oil pan, and rotate it 90degrees to get it out from the car.
Your choices for the return line
1. Making your return from the factory line
To make your return from the factory line, generally, people will use the factory hard line for the upr 2/3?s of the return, then use rubber hose for the bottom part. This works well although it is slightly more prone to vibration and leaking. You would also need to have a hose barb fitting at either the block or the pan to complete this type of return.
Another option is to simply modify the existing steel return and weld it to the pan as shown here. Then use rubber hose to connect the rest of the way.
contributed by diponyou.
Another option is to simply modify the existing steel return and weld it to the pan as shown here. Then use rubber hose to connect the rest of the way.
contributed by diponyou.
2. Making a new oil return using braided steel hose or rubber hose.
a. In this case, you should pick up one of the inexpensive oil return flanges from ebay. Figure about 12-20 dollars. This flange will bolt directly in place of your original hard line and in most cases you can simply reuse the original oil return gasket.
b. The flange will generally either be tapped for ?? NPT fitting, or will have a 10AN male fitting machined into it. The best method is to get the flat flange with the ?? NPT hole tapped into it. From here, you need a 45 degree aluminum fitting, ?? NPT going into the turbo and 10AN coming out. This will give you enough clearance to avoid contact with the wastegate actuator as shown in the picture below. 12AN line would also work, but the fittings are VERY big and most likely you will hit the wastegate actuator line.
c. You?ll need about a foot of braided steel hose
d. Alternatively, you can get a brass hose-barb fitting and use all-rubber hose for the oil return. I personally have never used it and like the safety of the braided steel hose for the high heat location. However others have used it and it works fine.
Your choices for the actual return.
1. Drilling the block.
a. Volvo designed the turbo cars for easy oil returns and cast an extra-thick nub on the outside of the block where they drilled it for the oil return. It?s still there on non-turbo blocks? with the exception of some 82-84 B23F blocks.
b. This is one of those things which is very controversial amongst turbobrickers. There is the drill the block crowd which says to hell with the iron shavings, then there is the ?what the hell are you thinking?? crowd. The drill the block with the pan on crowd says to drill the block, then pour in a couple gallons of mineral spirits (isoprobanol, acetone, whatever) to ?flush out? any iron shavings that enter the pan. Frankly, I think this is moronic as the iron shavings go? well, everywhere when you drill? especially when you poke through the block. Some say to put a lot of wheel bearing grease on the drill bit, but you run into the same problems? it just takes one iron shaving stuck in your oil gallery to f things up.
In this image, the drill bit is shown poking through the inside of the block. All of the little shiny things you see on the oil pump transfer tube are iron shavings. Your results may vary.
c. The oil way to safely drill the return is to take the pan off. See here for ideas how to get the pan off with the engine in the car. This way you can actually flush out any shavings that happen to (will) get on the crankshaft, oil pump, etc.
In this picture, you can see how much clearance you have to drill the return. This is in a 240.
Here you can see the hole completely drilled.
d. If you?re going to drill and tap the return, you need to do it in stages. Starting with a pilot hole, then going up in steps (preferably 5-6 steps) until you get to the 7/8? final size. Don?t think you can drill a pilot hole and then just use a 7/8? bit to get to the final size. Drill bits walk all the time.
e. Use sharp drill bits. This is what happens when you don?t.
f. Tapping the block is pretty straight forward. Go slowly. Use grease. Do a good job.
g. At this point, you?re looking for a fitting. If you?re using rubber hose, a 1/2NPT hose barb will do the trick. You might find a 45degree hose barb fitting to be your liking here.
h. If you?re using braided steel line, A ??NPT to 10an fitting will do you well. Most people find they have to use some type of Teflon sealant or even JB weld on the return fitting to keep it from leaking. (SUM-220047)
2. Welding a fitting onto the pan
a. Frankly if you?re going to take the pan off, welding a fitting onto the pan is cheap, easy, and painless.
b. Pick up a steel weld bung from summit or ebay. I recommend the fittings with a 10AN male fitting cast into it. They're about $7. (FBM2875)
c. You?re looking to drill the hole for the fitting as close to the top of the pan as possible. Ideally, you want the return to be ABOVE the level of the baffle in the pan. I have drilled fittings below the level of the baffle before and they worked fine however. If you can get it near the area shown below, you're golden. It goes without saying that you can clean and paint the pan after you're finished drilling and welding.
this is right about where you want the hole and the welded fitting. It pops out right above the oil baffle in the pan. I would weld it higher, but I can't get the mig gun in between the fitting and the pan flange.
d. Grind/sand off the paint around the fitting and weld it on. Any competent welder can do this for you for $20. Mig weld it, tig weld it, flux weld it. Doesn?t matter.
e. If you?re using braided hose for your return, I recommend a 90degree 10AN to 10AN fitting. It makes the line more or less straight with no really tight bends.
f. The beauty of welding onto the pan is you get to replace the pan gasket if it was leaking, and you also get to check in on the pesky oil pump transfer tube o-ring in the block which has a habit of tearing or popping out after about 200,000 miles thus killing your oil pressure. See here for link on how to fix it permanently.
4. MOUNTING THE TURBO.
At this point, you should be staring at an empty passenger side of the block. You should scrape off any old exhaust manifold gaskets. Many times you will have to replace exhaust manifold studs. Use anti-seize on any new studs. I usually put the new gaskets in place first, then slide the turbo manifold on.
You should be using the 90+ turbo exhaust manifold as opposed to the older log manifold. The pic below shows the 90+ manifold.
Most people find it easier to mount the manifold first, then the turbo. Consider purchasing new copper nuts for the manifold.
Make sure the oil return line and wastegate are routed away from each other before you bolt the turbo onto the manifold.
Mount the turbo on the manifold studs. Connect the oil feed and water cooling lines to the turbo.
Consider mounting the oil return line to the turbo before you put it in the car. It makes it easy later than trying to reach up in there to get it connected.
Connect the downpipe to the turbo loosely at first. Connect the downpipe to the exhaust, then tighten the fittings at the turbo.
Connect the intercooler pipes, as well as the air inlet pipe to the turbo.
5. MOUNTING THE INTERCOOLER AND RADIATOR IN THEIR NEW POSITIONS
- You will need to remove the current radiator to make room for the new upper/lower intercooler brackets. Essentially, the new brackets you obtained from the JY will mount the intercooler, then in front of it, the radiator.
- You will need to shorten your existing radiator hoses by a couple inches, but wait until you have the radiator and intercooler in place.
- Drop in the new lower brackets, then place the intercooler in first. The weight of the IC will help hold the radiator in place. Then you can put the radiator (I like to find a 3-core radiator for +T swaps) in place in front of the IC. The upper IC/rad brackets will hold everything in place.
- a. Keep in mind, these are not interchangeable between 240?s and 740?s. 240 people will need to get 240 turbo upper and lower IC brackets.
- If you are keeping the stock mechanical fan, now you can put the turbo fan shroud in place.
- a. Again, 240-740 turbo fan shrouds are not interchangeable.
- b. You do want to use a fan shroud as it drastically affects the cooling ability of the radiator.
- 5. Alternatively, for those who can?t locate the correct fan should, consider doing an electrical fan swap in place of the mechanical fan. Most electrical fan swaps will have an integral should and take up just as much room as the factory fan and shroud. Not to mention the few hp savings you will gain from not having to spin a mechanical fan. See here for e-fan swaps.
6. TURBO WATER COOLING
All factory turbo cars came with water cooling to the turbo. Put simply, ?cooled? water will circulate around the oil bearings in a turbo. Cooling the oil inside a turbo will prevent the dreaded coking of oil that occurs on shutdown. Water convection will continue to cool the turbo long after the engine has shut down. Furthermore, water cooling can promote longer life of the turbo?s bearings.
That being said, water cooling does add to the complexity of a plus-TEE swap.
In a nutshell, of the two water cooling lines to the turbo, one line will tap into the lower radiator hose, and the second will tap into the expansion tank hose. It?s really not that difficult, but for a first-timer looking to get the turbo swap done as fast and simply as possible, it might seem like an over-arching complexity.
One of the upper water cooling lines is shown in the following picture running across the turbo.
The 740 turbo cars come with a lower radiator hose with built-in water cooling attachment. Furthermore, 740 turbo cars expansion tank hose also has the water cooling attachment added. If you have plenty of time, it?s not terribly difficult to do this additional swap as it does have performance and financial benefits.
7. COMPRESSOR BYPASS VALVE
All turbo cars with the exception of the early 240 turbos had a compressor bypass valve. Imagine if you will a turbo at speed making boost, sending the compressed air down the intercooler pipes, past the throttle body, into the engine. Imagine now letting off the gas, the throttle body closing and all of that compressed air slamming into the closed throttle body and essentially backing up all the way back to the turbo. The effect we?re referring to here is likened to spraying a jet of water at a fan in the opposite direction the fan is spinning. The effect on the fan is to slow it down and the exact same effect is observed on the turbocharger. The sound you would hear if this happens to your car is a ?psh-sh-sh-sh-sh? as the turbo slows down. Thus, the compressor bypass valve to take this misdirected high pressure air and shuffle it back into the turbo. On cars equipped with air mass meters (read, all Volvos), this is critically important that it is put back into circulation as AMM equipped cars ?measure? the amount of air entering the system. If the air would be to diverted to atmosphere, it would cause the engine to run ?rich? as it expected to have a certain amount of air, but did not. The AMM tells the fuel ECU how much fuel to be delivered for a certain mass of air. If the air isn?t there, the engine runs richer than it should.
That being said, your choices of CBV are limited to either the Pierburg CBV for garrett turbo cars, or the integral CBV found on Mitsubishi turbos.
Pierburg CBV
If you simply must have the ?pshh? sound when you let off the throttle as a calling sign that ?hey, I have a turbo?, you can use a ?Blow-off-valve? which is nothing more than a CBV, but bypassed to atmosphere.
8. CRANKCASE VENTILATION HOSE
Turbo cars have a slightly different crankcase ventilation system than NA cars. You will need to remove the flame trap, but put in place the Y-adapter found on turbo cars. The thick part of the Y should get routed across the engine (either along the back or along the front) to the hose going into the turbocharger. The second smaller hose shown in the pic below gets routed to one of the ports on the intake manifold. This is a decent setup for a beginner and is as how Volvo designed it. More advanced users will consider making the addition of a crankcase oil reservoir to capture the large amount of oil vapors from being pulled back into the engine. The ?catchcan? should have something in it to allow oil vapors to stick, and condense out of the gas phase. Oil has an effective octane rating of 48 and very old Volvo engines will tend to have a good deal of ?blowby? combustion gases making it past the rings into the crankcase? thus lots of oil vapors. Oil catch cans don't have to be fancy... You can make one out of PVC and some hose barbs.
In summary, even if you don't have a catch can, EVERY TURBO CAR MUST HAVE A FUNCTIONING CRANKCASE VENTILATION SYSTEM to avoid excessive crankcase pressure pushing out oil seals.
9. MODIFYING THE IDLE VALVE HOSE TO FIT THE INTERCOOLER PIPE
The NA idle valve extends under the intake manifold behind the engine to the plastic air inlet pipe. Turbo cars have the idle valve inlet in front of the throttle body. You will need to re-route this hose, or better yet, simply replace it with the hose that came from a turbo car.
Make sure to check the hose carefully as they tend to dry and crack with age. A cracked hose that only opens under boost can make tuning and diagnosing a nightmare.
In a pinch, you can use large heater hose drawn down to the size of copper pipe to bridge the gap between the idle valve and the intercooler pipe.
Furthermore, you will need to add hose-clamps to all sections of the idle valve. First time turbobrickers will be enjoying their newfound boost only to have the upper idle valve hose (the j-shaped hose) pop off the intake manifolds. Hoseclamp everything rubber.
10. RE-ROUTING THE AMM WIRES
The air mass meter will need to be repositioned on the passenger side of the engine. To do this, you will actually need to cut some wires. Don?t worry, it?s not many wires and you can always put things back the way you found them. Take the existing AMM terminal end and cut it with about 4-5 inches of wires left on the end. You will be splicing in new wire to get it to mount on the passenger side. You will need about 7 feet of new wire. You can use all the same color if you?re brave. Simply splice the new wire, preferably by soldering and shrink-wrapping, in between the existing harness and terminal end. Use corrugated wire insulation or, flexible-expandable loom to protect it and route it around the back of the engine. 240-740-940 people have large clips on the firewall to hold the existing engine harness in place. If you do yours right, no one will notice the difference and it will look stock.
11. CHOICES. BALLAST RESISTOR AND LOW IMPEDANCE INJECTORS, OR JUST HIGH IMPEDANCE INJECTORS?
OK. Your new turbo will require bigger injectors to meet the new fuel needs of your engine. Education time. There are two types of fuel injectors? high impedance and low impedance (this is a gross simplification as there are actually many types of fuel injectors). Your stock NA engine came with high impedance injectors. Turbo 740-940?s use low impedance injectors coupled with a ballast resistor pack to bring the overall impedance back up. If you will be using the Volvo turbo injectors? either the 756 or 804 315cc greentops, you will need to splice in the ballast resistor pack. It?s not a big deal, but it may be uncomfortable for the newb digging into his/her wiring harness for the first time.
Alternatively, you can find higher flowing high impedance fuel injectors. The most commonly used set equivalent to Volvo ?greentops? are the injectors found on Volvo 850 turbo vehicles? either the 330cc ?redtops? or the other injectors shown here. These injectors can simply be swapped in place of your existing injectors without need for the ballast resistor pack.
If you eventually plan on upping the power a bit, you can safely use 420-440cc injectors in place of the 330cc units. 440cc injectors (44lb/hr) will give you a bit more headroom than the 330cc units and will not adversely effect the fuel injection computer?s tune of the engine.
The injector style you need to fit is the EV1 Bosch shape. There are so many higher flowing injectors out there that it is tough to recommend one, but buying new brings peace of mind. You can find a set of 4 new injectors for about $200. When factoring in the cost of cleaning old used injectors (about $25 per injector), you can often buy a new set for little more. It is sometimes impossible to tell externally that your fuel injector is faulty. Sticking injectors look the same as non-sticking injectors. A stuck open injector can ruin a cylinder as it washes down the oil. A stuck closed injector can melt a piston. Your choice here. Here is a great source for inexpensive, reliable fuel fuel injectors. 440cc (44lb/hr) units shown here. http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/delphi-42-lbhr-ev1-style-fuel-injector-hiz-p-274.html
12. HOW TO SPLICE IN THE BALLAST RESISTOR PACK.
240
740/940
13. 2.5 VS 3BAR FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR
Many non-turbo cars came with a 2.5bar fuel pressure regulator. You will need to replace it with the 3-bar regulator found on turbo cars. These aren?t that expensive new, so consider buying new rather than using old. Unbolt the old one, pop in the new one.
14. WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO ON THE ECU SIDE OF THINGS?
MOST PEOPLE will simply swap the turbo version of the computer in place of the non-turbo computer. You will need the turbo fuel and ignition computers. Don?t just do one, no matter what your buddy says.
HOWEVER. If you have an older LH2.2 equipped 240 with the Chrysler ignition system, you will need to splice in the EZK117 ignition system wires. The Chrysler ignition system is ?way too hot? for a turbo car as a non-turbo engine will require more ignition advance than turbo. The EZK117 conversion is not painful and can be done in a couple of hours. See here for more information. http://www.turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129382
http://www.turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100448
NOTE? for those of you looking to do the swap in stages, you can swap in the turbo ecu?s and injectors BEFORE the car is turbocharged. When I did my first +T swap on an 88 740, I ran the turbo ecu?s and injectors with ballast resistor for about a month before the +T happened. It won?t give you any additional performance without the turbo but it will help to eliminate any confusion and stress when you?re ready to stomp on it the first time. Knowing that when you turn the key on your new turbo setup for the first time that it will start and run is big peace of mind.
15. CAN I SWAP FROM LH2.2 to LH2.4?
In a nutshell yes, but there a few key differences that will require attention.
- LH2.4 uses a magnetic crank sensor mounted on the back of the engine over the flywheel/flexplate , LH2.2 uses a hall sensor in the distributor. You must swap to the crank sensor in order to use LH2.4
The crank trigger is shown here mounted to the back of the block.... (incidentally, this is a crank sensor installed on an older b21/b23 series block. I drilled the mounting holes a little too far apart and the bracket cracked... did not affect performance.)
- FLYWHEEL/FLEXPLATE> LH2.4 uses a ?toothed wheel? system with holes cut into the perimeter of the flexplate or flywheel and the crank sensor counts them. LH2.2 uses a similar flexplate/flywheel with no teeth cut into them
- Ignition amplifier is slightly different
- Air mass meter is different
- Fuel and ignition ecu?s are slightly different and have different pinouts on their harnesses.
- An adept swapper with the correct parts could swap over from lh2.2 to lh2.4 in a day?s worth of work.
- 240 people might have it easier because all late model 240?s 1989-1993 use an integral engine harness that has ALL lh2.4 and EZK116 systems connected to one harness. If you?re careful, you can remove a complete lh2.4/ezk116 harness from a 240 in about 20 minutes. If you also got the computers, sensors, AMM, crank sensor, flexplate/flywheel, it would greatly simplify your swap.
16. WHERE ARE THE FUEL AND IGNITION COMPUTERS?
240. 1985-1988. LH2.2 fuel ecu and Chrysler ignition ECU.
? Fuel ecu located to the right of the passenger?s right foot behind the kickpanel.
? Ignition ECU located in engine compartment bolted to windshield washer fluid tank* you will have to upgrade to EZK117K ignition system. See article here.
? The following part numbers will work
240. 1989-1993 LH2.4 fuel ECU and EZK 116k ignition ECU
? Fuel ecu located to the right of the passenger?s right foot behind the kickpanel.
? Ignition ECU located to the left of the fuel ECU mounted on the firewall.
? The following part numbers will work
740 1985-1988 LH2.2 fuel ECU and EZK117 ignition ECU.
? Fuel ecu located to the right of passenger?s right foot behind the kickpanel
? Ignition ecu located above driver?s right foot behind and below the steering wheel. Mounted upright. ?frustrating to access? at best.
? The following part numbers will work
740/940 1989-1995 LH2.4 fuel ECU and EZK116 ignition ECU
? Same as early 740.
? The following part numbers will work
16. HOW DO I SET THE WASTEGATE?
In theory, if you purchased a used turbo from a junkyard, the wastegate is already set at the factory 5-7 psi boost. If you are concerned about this, simply loosen the adjusting nut and turn the rod so it is as ?loose? as possible. You can set the wastegate by using a vacuum pump like you would use for bleeding brakes and set the open pressure when it starts to crack the wastegate open at 5-7psi. A garrett turbo wastegate actuator is shown below. Mitsubishi turbos are adjusted the same way.
This is one of those things the newbie should respect and make sure their wastegate is set up before they stomp on the gas the first time. When the boost needle wraps around past 20 on your first try, it?s too late to go set it. You may have caused some engine damage.
17. DOWNPIPES AND EXHAUST
740/940 people have it easy here as all you have to do is use the 740/940 turbo downpipe. You will have to have someone weld in approximate 5 inches of pipe to connect the downpipe to your existing exhaust. Alternatively, leave the exhaust in place and have material welded onto the downpipe. That way when it comes time, you can simply bolt in your new downpipe and take off instead of waiting.
You can comfortably use the existing non-turbo exhaust. While it is going to be smaller in diameter than the turbo exhaust, you will in no way regret the decision. If you are truly concerned about performance, simple scavenge the entire turbo exhaust from a 740/940 turbo car and swap it in place? assuming you can find a set that is not rusted out. Later when you seek more performance, consider upgrading to a full 3? exhaust from turbo to tailpipe. The stock system will run fine up to the 12-14psi area. Only after that will it start to be constrictive.
18. CAN I STOMP ON IT YET?
Not quite. Make one or two round of double checking fittings for tightness. Especially check the fuel injectors that they are not leaking. Check that all of your intercooler pipes are firmly attached.
Make sure you have premium gasoline. This will be your fate from now on? no more 87 octane regular.
Make sure you have the turbo fuel and ignition computers in place.
Make sure there?s oil in the car.
Make sure the oil feed and return lines are connected and tightened. You?ll know quickly when there?s a gushing river of oil coming out from underneath your car.
Drive normally for the first few minutes. Check the fluids. Check for oil and coolant leaks. Check for engine codes.
Make sure your boost gauge is functioning.
Give it a little boost and verify that the boost does not accelerate to infinity.
Stomp on it. And listen carefully for detonation. It will sound like rocks being shaken in a coffee can. Consider hooking up a set of detcans so you can hear more clearly what?s happening.
Get used to your new car. Start small on the boost. 5psi initially can feel like a million. Take some time before you crank it.
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Mismatchedsocks
New member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2012
- Location
- OL, CT
This is an astonishingly beautiful thing. Thank you guys.
+Kardboard+
Chinese guy/Swedish rides
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2008
- Location
- Vancouver, Canada
Amen. Wouldn't mind helping to edit this. Also needs to be done up as a webpage proper!
MistrThou
Masked Moogle
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
- Location
- Janesville, WI
Le sigh. Read through all of this after I +t'd this summer.
Wonderful documentation.
Wonderful documentation.