It's not always just the one problem....

[Jebus]

Hello folks,

Bit of a long ramble but my last weeks adventures with the 940

Well last weekend after a crappy week and work, and feeling like death for some reason on Saturday, I decided a good drive out on Sunday would do me some good, but 15 mins up the road and suddenly started to feel down on power then hitting a brick wall at just over 3k/higher throttle openings/ under load and generally not very happy with itself, so limped home had a brew and starting trying to find what the hell was wrong.

Started going through the ignition system, a little oily/ dirty in the cap, the no.4 plug lead didn't feel right/click on so swapped it out gave it all a clean swapped the coil and power stage, with fresh thermal goo another maf also swapped in another fuel relay

Well it had an effect, but not much it was a little smother felt better it the bits it was behaving but still near 3k, under load etc still not good at all.

Checked for air leaks quickly sprayed down the hoses with carb clean at idle and no change, all clamps were nipped up didn't show up anything.

So after seeing that the fuel filter looked old, realised hadn't actual changed it so dug that out and swapped it over, manky black crap came out of it, but again no real change, ran a bit smoother fuel pump was quieter but still had the same issues.

Went through a few more bits, cleaned up some connections, checked torque on the knock sensor, swapped over RSR relay again no change.

so started thinking its going to be a fuel pump issue, but wasn't convinced as it started fine, never cut out or anything like that and the car has a very healthy appetite for fuel, it is definitely working so despite the fuel pressure reg looking fine and no classic sign of leaking from the vac hose etc I swapped it out.

So on the test drive yay!! its fixed the pressure reg must have failed and was dumping a lot of extra fuel into it and washing the spark and making it drink like a fish.

revved well but shortly after booo its bogged down badly, no power but the brickwall had gone, and was very intermittent one min could rev hard uphill and pull well next bogged down just tapping the throttle on the flat.

Started to check for airleaks again, had already wound back the boost controller to stock levels, but went to bypass it , check around airbox for any rags i might have left blocking the air intakes etc but to give myself a little more room getting in and around the boost controller and wastegate took off the metal boost hose, while putting it back together, something felt a little odd about hose under the "screw" for the boost clamp turns out it had a small hole but i guess from where it was sometimes would seal ok others leaked.

So out with the duct tape top half of the hose a nice layer of tape over it, hose clamp and pipe on and a layer or 2 over the top and test drive.

All its good again I was so happy did a good blast up and down the bypass, even got to spy a super clean looking Scania 143 pulling a trailer up hill so slowed down going past it for a look, even got a flash from the driver as i went past, so for a short while at least not couple of good old swedish motors showing they still got it on the AWPR.

I guess the point of the long ramble is i guess don't just because problems happen at the same time, it isn't always the one cause, I guess giving it some bean up the rev range on my original drive killed an already weak fuel reg and popped the worn though section of hose.

Lesson learned, that checking things while still assembled is usually fine but taking it apart is a better idea, its easy to miss the little things. Also bloody Volvo only made the hoses to last nearly 30 years and 200k in a oily dirty engine bay, christ sake eh!


p.s. Yes the boost hose will be changed, I will probably get a nice do88 silicon hose set while im at it

[deeman940]

Just standard stuff running a 20 plus year old car!! i have had fuel consumption issues for ages and have come to the conclusion after replacing many parts my fuel pressure reg is to blame too!! ( soon to be sorted)
I have been tempted to throw the towel in a few times with my 940 but i have soldiered on sometimes forgetting that i am expecting an awful lot from a 20 plus year old car which was never originally designed to do what I want to do with it!
Don't forget the 700 series was conceived in the 80's and the 940 is basically a minimal development facelift of the 700 series which Volvo rinsed all they could out of the original design til the late 90's when Ford bought them out and swapped to FWD...compared with contemporary machinery the 940 is a bit prehistoric, but due to it's original expensive R and D with the 700 series has stood the test of time and due to Volvo's basic over engineering philosophy at the time of development still makes a fairly capable performance car with a few mods....
i have owned far more exotic machinery but i can't explain the amount of 'car love' i receive for my 940...everyone seems to have story or two ( mostly involving their grandparents!) but the i have been surprised at the appreciative nods/ thumbs up/ conversations i have received concerning the 940 from 'proper' car guys! They are finally getting the respect and appreciation they deserve (and values) as time goes on!
To me it is not an 'old' car but parts availability is becoming akin to 'classic' ownership....luckily due to numbers made parts are quite easily available from cars which are 'breakers' at the moment but it is almost getting to the point where a 'parts' or 'donor'car would be bloody handy as Volvo are gradually deleting parts from their inventory .....
940's were built at a time when 'quality' was important and 'built in expendability' was a new concept.

[XCR]

You should test your resolve by owning cars aged 16, 21 and 48.
Like three hungry demanding children....always on the want.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by XCR

You should test your resolve by owning cars aged 16, 21 and 48.
Like three hungry demanding children....always on the want.

26 and 32 are just as bad!

[Jebus]

It is a labour of love or something along them lines....

[wrinkles]

Mine is just a baby at 22 years old and 60 k.