• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

another novice's question re gas and best manual...

jdolby

New member
Joined
Jun 2, 2004
Location
Washington, DC
Two questions, if I could....

I don't have the owner's manual for my 1990 240 DL (auto trans) and am wondering what gas is recommended (by the manufacturer) for this engine (regular or higher octane?).

Also, what is the best manual to get for Volvo -- Chilton's or Bentley's? or any other?

Thanks!
JD

:help:
 
gas octane

It's been awhile since I read a leter owners manual. IIRC, the octane suggested is 91. Your motor being a B230F is 9.8:1 compression. I wouldn't use regular but since you have a knock sensor you could if you needed to without damaging the motor.

Bentley all the way! Don't waste your time with a Chilton.


Best regards,
 
Agreed on the manual. My company actually has OE and several of the aftermarket brands of manuals and part of my job was researching for customers. The Bentley is much more thorough and less generic than the Haynes or Chiltons. Bentley is actually one of the main manual providers for a few manufacturers.
 
As far as the gas, my '89 245 manual says RON 89, although 87 is OK. I use premimum only, and with mod's it does make a difference, especially in the hot summer. In winter it's OK to use 87 regular most of the time. The engine can adapt very well and after about 1/2 tank, you can't tell any difference in performance between 87 oct and 91 oct if the motor isn't modified.
 
hARRY uses regular... because he has no money and its the cheapest at $2.15/gal which he paid today.
 
I had a Chilton manual for my 240. I even still have a Haynes manual (although I have no idea where it is...) and I have TWO Bentley manuals because they are that good. They are worth every dollar. I have only encountered a couple of things that thge Bentley manual doesn't cover. Just the shear (sic) magnitude of the size difference is telling. Bentley is at least three times thicker than Haynes and may be twice as thick as Chilton.

As a final note: I used to work in a Volvo independent shop and we had the factory service manuals published by Volvo. Some of the pages in the Bentley were exact reprints of the factory service literature.

Check out the example pic below for proof:

The image on the right side was published in the Bentley manual. The image on the left side was published in Volvo factory service literature. (I am sure if I looked harder I could find an exact copy in the factory literature, but this is just for illustration) None of the other manuals even come close IMHO
 
Thank you

This is awesome -- Thanks!

I'll definitely get the Bentley manual and until then, looks like I'm paying more at the gas pump!

:( :cool:
 
gas

My mother has a 90 wagon and I like her to get the premium but she likes to save a bit of money and she buys the middle grade which is 89 around here. If you like to run the motor hard and are going to do some upgrades you are best with premium.
Best regads,
 
Back
Top