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1993 940 Turbo Mild to Wild questions

PNW760

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Location
St. Louis, MO
After selling my '93 940 Turbo 3 years ago nearly to the exact day, I drove down to Corvallis, OR and bought it back from the seller I sold it to.

In its current state it's at 333k miles with new cap, rotor, plug wires and plugs. It has no blowby but it has a coolant leak and needs a new AC Condenser.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/52190110659/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_8815"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52190110659_48dc197335_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="IMG_8815"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Current modifications are IPD Lowering springs, DO88 intercooler hoses, 17x8 2 piece SSR Alcyber wheels, Evo 8 Intercooler and Euro headlights

I have a list of things I want to upgrade on it with the first being the 16t turbo I bought for it.

Some questions I have to get to this point:

1. With the 16t turbo, I need supporting modifications; I've been searching the turbobricks forums far and wide and from what I understand I need the following:
  • 3 inch exhuast
  • correct flange for the downpipe to match the turbo
  • re-clocked turbo
  • fuel chip
  • ignition chip
  • White T5 injectors
  • 3 inch 012 MAF (?)
  • upgraded cam(?)

Am I missing anything? Is the 3 inch maf, upgraded cam, or adjustable cam gear necessary?

2. I was planning on buying a JT Exhaust from Sweden since it's the most plug and play option out there

https://martelius.com/en/exhausts/jt-tuning-exhaust/jt-volvo-740-940-1-silencer-turboback-3-100cpsi-cat

I don't have any welder friends and no time to learn to do it myself so it seemed like the best option. This seems like a popular exhaust in Sweden, would this be a good exhaust?

3. Currently, my leaking radiator, I found out after some research is a NA 940 rad, not the Turbo one. The turbo one wouldn't fit, since my Evo 8 intercooler is too thick and sits on the bracket where the radiator would normally drop in. As it stands, my AC condenser is punctured but when it wasn't, it blew cold AC. Would it be better just to run without AC by removing the condenser, and push the intercooler back to fit a new stock radiator, or buy a KL Racing intercooler that's meant to integrate with the system and run all 3 in harmony (new rad, KL intercooler, new ac condenser)

KL intercooler in question: https://shop.klracing.se/sv/artiklar/volvo-940-med-ac-60mm-.html

4. This is more tuning specific(?) but do I need the 3in MAF (012) if I'm running a 16t with White injectors and chips + exhaust? Or is that overkill for the power I'll be making?

I think this is all I can think of currently and I appreciate any help with my questions..
 
You can probably turn up the 16T to around 0.8 bar if you stick with 335cc ish injectors. The 3" maf is there to keep up with the added CC's when people move to 470cc. The stock maf with the white injectors will give you around 200-220whp at that boost level.

The jt exhaust is common, and a nice upgrade. Planning to also go that route. If you decide to keep the stock maf, a free flowing 2.5 inch system should also be fine.

Chips are highly recommend to make the most of your 16t, the cam will help to keep up with the rpm the new turbo will allow you to make. The OEM V-cam or a enem v15/IPD turbo cam should do nicely. The cam gear would allow you to move the torque around in the rpm range and might be an option if you stick to the T cam.

As for the rad, the wide radiator is a nice to have, 740 and 240 turbo's came with the smaller one and rarely run into issues. The load of the AC won't help, so if you can live without you can remove it.
 
I think to get it running, I?ll take out the AC Condenser for now, push the intercooler back, and install the new radiator.

I?ll put the order in for the KL intercooler to be able to run AC since before I punctured the old condenser, the AC blew ice cold and it would be nice to have this summer.

I?ll work on turbo and exhaust next but it would be nice to dyno it as is for a baseline of sorts to see how much each modification actually makes. Turbo and exhaust would be next of course, with white injectors, resistor pack mod to run them, and chips.

On paper it sounds easy but with as old as the engine is, I?m scared that removing the turbo will turn into an ordeal with stuck/rusted nuts and sheared bolts.. I guess only time will tell
 
Also a follow up question since there doesn?t seem to be a clear yes or no that I?ve seen on this. Does the injector resister pack need to be bypassed for high impedance if you?re running a 3inch MAF?

Do I need to bypass my resister to run whites if I?m also running the 3inch MAF?
 
Resistor bypass is down to injector choice. High impedance injectors (basically anything new) won't run with the resistor pack installed. T5 white injectors included.

The 3" MAF is a sensor not a tuning tool. Whoever tunes the car will be able to tell you which MAF you need.

About 12-13 psi is as far as I'd go with a stock MAF and a 16T. If retuned 18ish along with a cam/intercooler/exhaust is probably 250ish at the wheels.
 
Thanks redblockpowered, that?s good to know. I didn?t know that injector impedance and MAF size weren?t correlated directly. Some threads seemed to indicate that they were somehow.

Everything else, I plan on installing with the 16t, so I think I?ll reach my goal fairly quickly! I?m really hoping to keep it fairly daily-able or at least fun to take out on the weekends since my daily driver is a 2012 Honda Fit currently. When I owned this 3 years ago, it was my daily driver so it made modifying it a lot harder, especially on a college student?s salary
 
After selling my '93 940 Turbo 3 years ago nearly to the exact day, I drove down to Corvallis, OR and bought it back from the seller I sold it to.

In its current state it's at 333k miles with new cap, rotor, plug wires and plugs. It has no blowby but it has a coolant leak and needs a new AC Condenser.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/52190110659/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_8815"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52190110659_48dc197335_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="IMG_8815"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Current modifications are IPD Lowering springs, DO88 intercooler hoses, 17x8 2 piece SSR Alcyber wheels, Evo 8 Intercooler and Euro headlights

I have a list of things I want to upgrade on it with the first being the 16t turbo I bought for it.

Some questions I have to get to this point:

1. With the 16t turbo, I need supporting modifications; I've been searching the turbobricks forums far and wide and from what I understand I need the following:
  • 3 inch exhuast
  • correct flange for the downpipe to match the turbo
  • re-clocked turbo
  • fuel chip
  • ignition chip
  • White T5 injectors
  • 3 inch 012 MAF (?)
  • upgraded cam(?)

Am I missing anything? Is the 3 inch maf, upgraded cam, or adjustable cam gear necessary?

2. I was planning on buying a JT Exhaust from Sweden since it's the most plug and play option out there

https://martelius.com/en/exhausts/jt-tuning-exhaust/jt-volvo-740-940-1-silencer-turboback-3-100cpsi-cat

I don't have any welder friends and no time to learn to do it myself so it seemed like the best option. This seems like a popular exhaust in Sweden, would this be a good exhaust?

3. Currently, my leaking radiator, I found out after some research is a NA 940 rad, not the Turbo one. The turbo one wouldn't fit, since my Evo 8 intercooler is too thick and sits on the bracket where the radiator would normally drop in. As it stands, my AC condenser is punctured but when it wasn't, it blew cold AC. Would it be better just to run without AC by removing the condenser, and push the intercooler back to fit a new stock radiator, or buy a KL Racing intercooler that's meant to integrate with the system and run all 3 in harmony (new rad, KL intercooler, new ac condenser)

KL intercooler in question: https://shop.klracing.se/sv/artiklar/volvo-940-med-ac-60mm-.html

4. This is more tuning specific(?) but do I need the 3in MAF (012) if I'm running a 16t with White injectors and chips + exhaust? Or is that overkill for the power I'll be making?

I think this is all I can think of currently and I appreciate any help with my questions..

Maybe we can see if there are enough people interested in a group buy the exhaust setups.

I have redblockpowered chips and they do make a huge difference in driveability, I recommended them even if you not pushing the power.

A CAM timing gear is worth it, with an auto to help bring back the low end. I pick up on from
sts machining not far from portland, nice guys too
 
The exhaust group buy would be nice but we?d need to coordinate the Dow pipes somehow since everyone would need different down pipes I?d assume.

How noticeable of a difference was there for the chips before and after?

I?m technically in Battle Ground, WA, I should probably update my location.. but the STS gears are definitely something I?ve been eyeing. Especially since I?d like to do an M90 swap down the road but that won?t happen until I?ve finished actually buttoning up everything turbo-wise.
 
The exhaust group buy would be nice but we?d need to coordinate the Dow pipes somehow since everyone would need different down pipes I?d assume.

How noticeable of a difference was there for the chips before and after?

I?m technically in Battle Ground, WA, I should probably update my location.. but the STS gears are definitely something I?ve been eyeing. Especially since I?d like to do an M90 swap down the road but that won?t happen until I?ve finished actually buttoning up everything turbo-wise.

I am in Woodland,WA so we are neighbors. if you want to have a look at my 740 you are welcome too.
I am running a 15 g from a 850 at 10psi peak boost so that levels off to be about 8 to 9psi. I did the chips before the cam swap. the biggest notiest is overall driveability. more even power and no pinging when flooring the gas.
 
:-P
The exhaust group buy would be nice but we?d need to coordinate the Dow pipes somehow since everyone would need different down pipes I?d assume.

How noticeable of a difference was there for the chips before and after?

I?m technically in Battle Ground, WA, I should probably update my location.. but the STS gears are definitely something I?ve been eyeing. Especially since I?d like to do an M90 swap down the road but that won?t happen until I?ve finished actually buttoning up everything turbo-wise.

I have the sts gear its a very nice piece...also where's the wild part of this build?:-P
 
I am in Woodland,WA so we are neighbors. if you want to have a look at my 740 you are welcome too.
I am running a 15 g from a 850 at 10psi peak boost so that levels off to be about 8 to 9psi. I did the chips before the cam swap. the biggest notiest is overall driveability. more even power and no pinging when flooring the gas.

Ooooh okay then I really gotta put in an order for the chips before anything else.

I?d love to check out the 740, can you PM me? Always love to talk to fellow Volvo owners and I feel like there is so few north of portland aside from Seattle
 
:-P

I have the sts gear its a very nice piece...also where's the wild part of this build?:-P

The wild part is that I?m going to attempt this without touching my internals :lol: fingers crossed the motor is still healthy enough to handle this getting thrown at it? considering its miles..
 
The wild part is that I?m going to attempt this without touching my internals :lol: fingers crossed the motor is still healthy enough to handle this getting thrown at it? considering its miles..

Oh dude itll be fine I have 2xx,xxx something miles and am throwing more at it than a 16t. You'll be good
 
This guide from Yoshifab says you're good to mid-300s whp with a stock later bottom end. Haven't gone that far myself so can't verify.

Rods would be the weak link for sure. 90+ B230 bottom end + China rods = 600whp capable setup (you know, with a few subtle supporting mods)
 
(you know, with a few subtle supporting mods)

"subtle" I love it. From what I remember, the later 93+ engines had the 13mm rods + the oil squirters already built in? So these were the ideal engines for building?

I'm assuming that by having no blowby, my rings are good and that means my engine is healthy but with the miles (333k) anything's possible.

I was redoing the valve cover gasket this weekend and noticed that one of the cam retainer bracket(?), or clamp(?) nuts were backing off... I would have never caught it had I not started replacing the gasket when I did. It was nearly completely backed off too which is scary since I think it could have definitely done some damage.
 
Mild to wild?16t turbo.

Le sigh.

You?ve described a build for like 230 to the wheels. Maybe.
 
Last edited:
Mild to wild?16t turbo.

Le sigh.

You?ve described a build for like 230 to the wheels. Maybe.

Baby steps, we all have to start somewhere :oops:

For a fun reliable weekend car, it?ll be enough for now. Later I?d like to dig into it more to make more power but I want to do what I can without tearing apart the motor first.
 
Until you?re ready to jump into stand alone getting rid of that instaspool td04 turbo will help. Best to lag that bitch so it?s not pinging at 2200 like a lot of td04 powered cars do.
 
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