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How to install Brown Tops on LH 2.2!

760T man

Phillip Mamouf-Wifarts
I'm sorry about the broken links. In the years that passed since I originally posted this thread, life got in the way of things, and my PBase subscription eventually lapsed, resulting in them cancelling my account and deleting all the pics. I'd also changed computers several times since and didn't have any backups when that happened. I no longer own a factory LH 2.2 car so unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about this at the time being. If that changes, I'll update this, but I wouldn't count on it.

>>WARNING<<
Several people, including myself, have found old browntops to occasionally leak right around where the brown plastic top meets the metal injector body. BE SURE to check this on the first startup. Don't panic, though. Just get as many as you can, and if you have leaks, find the ones that don't leak.

>If you have a question and need a quick response, please send me a PM!<

Alright, this is pretty easy, but I figured that our newer crowd would appreciate an easy to find write-up on how to do it.

357 injector vs. Brown Top injector.
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This is what greets you when you open the hood:
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1. Depressurize the fuel rail. This can be done by pulling the fuel pump relay and in-tank pump fuse while the engine is running. Or, you could just let the car sit for awhile (a few days), if you have the time, but you probably don't. Or at least you don't want to wait that long. ;-)

2. Disconnect the injectors. Mark each line with masking tape so you remember which one goes where.

3. Unbolt the fuel rail, and remove any vacuum hoses that may obstruct you when pulling the rail.

The fuel rail and its 3 bolts.
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4. Pull the fuel rail with the injectors still attached. Spraying a penetrating oil (ie PB blaster, rost off, or similar) at the base of the injectors and wiggling them a bit will make life a lot easier...but whatever you do, DO NOT let the injectors come out of the rail first - fuel will spill everywhere.

5. With an old dirty rag handy, remove the injectors from the fuel rail. They'll require a good bit of wiggling to get them out. I recommend wrapping the rag around the injector and the fuel rail while doing this to prevent excess fuel spillage.

6. Install the browntop injectors; Make sure all the O-rings are new. Vasoline works wonders for popping them in - but make sure you feel them pop in. If not, they won't seal properly.

7. Reinstall the fuel rail. A nice firm push above each injector will pop them into the manifold nicely. Reconnect any vacuum hoses you had to disconnect, and reconnect the injectors.

Alright, take a deep breath, the "hard" part is over. Also, if you have LH2.4, you're done with the entire proccess. LH2.4 automatically does everything else for you.

==========================================

Now that the browntops are installed, your base idle is off, regardless of how it was before.

You need to either go buy the Volvo special tool part #9995280 for $35, or build it yourself using Radio Shack parts for about $5. I chose the latter. You'll need 7 10ohm resistors and an LED assembly (any color, it doesn't matter, choose what you like).

Build it as shown:
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The resistors MUST be on the RED(+) lead. The light will not work if you put them on the black(-) lead.

Now you're ready to adjust your base idle.

First, you need to locate this connector, it's on your passenger side fender near the AMM:
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Ground the red/white wire. The idle should drop. Go to the Idle Air Screw on the underside of the throttle body and adjust it(lengthen = faster, shorten = slower) until the idle is ~725 RPM, then disconnect the red/white wire you grounded before. The idle will surge, then settle, which is normal.

Adjusting the Idle Air Screw.
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Now, hook up your test light we built above to the green/white wire. For a lean mixture, the light will be OFF. For a rich mixture, the light will be ON. The light will blink on and off at equal intervals when you're dead on. Adjust the screw on the AMM until the light blinks; counter-clockwise is rich, clockwise is lean.

The screw on the AMM.
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Disconnect the test light and you're done! Enjoy your new found fuel (and more than likely increased boost ;-)).
 
Last edited:
ovlov760 said:
Now I see why you wanted the URL of my browntop website. :-P
I actually wanted it so I could verify which way to turn the screw on the AMM...I'm paranoid like that. :-P I wrote the article because your site is so damn hidden that even if one spent his entire life looking, he still wouldn't find it. ;-)

Boosted2003 said:
Ive never seen a volvo motor that dirty. Even my whored out 940 with 210k on it motor didnt look like that.
yea, it didn't have a splashpan when i got it...which would've helped, cause even my 760 motor with 270k on it wasn't this dirty
 
How much of an improvement did the injectors give you? How much more boost can you run? I'm looking for a set.

Heres an injector removal tip: Spray the bottom of the injector with penetrating oil and after you wiggle them for a second they pop right out with minimal effort.
 
Yeah, the write up was helpful. I am gonna do this as soon as I have some free time, the injectors are sitting on my desk ready. This helped me with any small details I may have had questions about.
 
Thanks for the write-up. I too found this helpful. I am currently looking for a set myself. No luck so far, prob every other TBer has gone and gotten them all. Josh
 
well hey i am having the biggest problem, with my LH 2.2 i did the base idle and everything and yet with 300 ohm resistors in my AMM wire. And under boost its to lean for me, I did the timing light and its just to lean, the car runs a lot better without resistors then with them. ANother thing i noticed is my a/f gauge never goes into rich at all, No matter what i set it to, it goes to the last ideal mixture and never further, Phillip Bradley HELP!
 
thanks for the write-up, some guys forget alot of noobs search this site or post here, one more way to point a noob, w/o having to repeat the whole thing.
one question though, is that led 230 ohm of resistance? cuz i only get70 ohms resistance from putting 7 10ohm resisters in series. you also might want to include wattage, as i'm sure someone down the line will want to know.
 
brown tops and others, just an list of options, and which models to find them in, along with your famous starian ones. yes i know you have too many sets you'd like to get rid of, but i also have access to the same jy's.
 
haha well then go junkyarding w/ me and if we find a set u can keep it

easy .. ANY 2.3L turbo ford you find ... 85+ should have the brown tops ... just look @ the tops of the injectors .. if they are brown then get them .. two 10mm bolts and t hat's it
 
Kakkarotttto said:
well hey i am having the biggest problem, with my LH 2.2 i did the base idle and everything and yet with 300 ohm resistors in my AMM wire. And under boost its to lean for me, I did the timing light and its just to lean, the car runs a lot better without resistors then with them. ANother thing i noticed is my a/f gauge never goes into rich at all, No matter what i set it to, it goes to the last ideal mixture and never further, Phillip Bradley HELP!

resistors? You know the turbo cars already have resistors.. you didn't double up on them by chance did you?

Im sure you didn't.

Maybe you've got a tired FPR.
 
not the resistor PACKS doug...you gotta add 3 100ohm resistors to the red/blue AMM line on LH2.2 for the browntops, otherwise it runs pig ass rich, or at least it SHOULD...and does for me and ovlov760...and wouldn't a bad FPR make it run pig ass rich? my 760 sure did when its FPR went bad...

Jordan, another thing we didn't think about...could the AMM be going bad? It's something to try at least...but man that whole thing is just f*cked up.

I haven't had the opportunity to actually drive the car yet (still have that one leaky injector) but I did move it around in my driveway as my parents needed yesterday...it runs 1000x better when dead cold. with the 357s, it felt like an ultra-low compression engine for the first couple minutes, especially in the winter...that's 90% gone now.
 
I'm going to test my a/f gauge tonight and see if the gauge itself is just messed up, then maybe a new FPR. If i can find a spare 007 AMM somewhere, i will try swaping it and seeing what it does
 
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