surprising tachometer reading

Some 2 or 3 years ago, my father purchased a 1985 Volvo 240 GLT estate from a junk yard as a crash repair project. The car had a front end smash and we repaired the vehicle by pooling spares, plus purchasing a few usec panel items in matching colours.

The car is fitted with a BW 3 speed auto transmission with OD (aka 4 speed auto), and a fuel injected B23.

At 80 mph, the tachometer reads only 2250 rpm. If you have, or had, a similar car, please tell me whether this reading surprises you. It certainly surprised me. The engine note would seem to agree with the tacometer reading.

I have a 1976 245 with a B230A and 5 speed manual. At a similar speed my car would be reading around 1000 rpm higher than my father's.

One thing that could be very different between the two cars is rear axle ratio. Could anyone comment upon the ratio in cars with the 4 speed auto? Is it especially high?

Any information regarding axle ratios gratefully received.

Thanks.

Richard.

[morsing]

At 80mph my 1976 244GL/B21E ran 4300 rpms. It sound very low. Does it have lock-up??
My old Chevy ran 1800rpm @ 80mph but I think it had a bit more torque than a B23E :)

P.S. Why are you called HemiChrysler?? A Hemi is made by Dodge, right??

[Peter Milnes]

IIRC Dodge was part of the Chrysler empire. The Hemi referred to the design of the cylinder heads which were hemispherical in shape.

All the best, Peter.

Yes, I agree it is Very low ...and I am wondersing whether there is a problem with the tachometer. Damn thing just glides along so smoothly! Yes, I believe it does have Lock-Up.

Answering your question is off topic, but... As Peter states, the Hemi has hemispherical cylinder head chambers. It is a push-rod V8 Chrysler corp. engine. The spark plug is in the centre and the inlet and outlet valves are opposite one another. This layout necessitates twin rocker shafts, meaning a very wide head. The 'early' Hemi was built in a variety of ever increasing displacements (max. 392cid) and was installed in senior 51-58 Chryslers, all 51-58 Imperials, senior 56-58 DeSotos, and in SOME Dodges in 57-8. The 'late' (426) Hemi was known as the 'Elephant' engine and was available in 64-71 Dodge and Plymouth race cars and in 66-71 Dodge and Plymouth production performance cars as an optional engine. You can still buy a new crate Hemi (just the engine) from Chrysler, choice of either a 426 or a 540! Hemis have excellent thermal and volumetric efficiency giving them much more power than other V8s of similar capacity. Mine's a 392 with twin Carter AFB 4 barrels and a Mallory ignition system.

Richard.

[morsing]

Mr. Hemi, you have a message in your inbox.

Henrik Morsing