Meet Roach and Yennefer!

[ISTHATA940]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker and lover of all things Volvo. Writing up a big post because I've been meaning to for a while, but never got around to it. Lot's of content I need to get off my phone lol

I think its time to get active on this site after its helped me so much, and I know I'm going to need some help. About a year ago I had a buddy at work who was driving this maroon 940SE. He got it for college, found it from some old folks. Leaky sunroof and he had a hard time keeping it full of coolant. I told him if he ever wanted to sell it I'd give him $500 no questions asked and a couple days later I'm the proud owner of Roach!

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He's a little rough around the edges, and I love it! Came to me with a leaky water pump, a clogged catalytic converter, and some clunky noises from the front suspension.. Lets get to work.

Definitely want to mention how helpful this website was, right from the beginning! The many chuckles I've had at the conversations and debates on here are much appreciated. Some of the really cool mods and upgrades I've seen are inspiring. Also want to mention the man the myth the gravy legend DriftsnLifts. Really fun content, I would recommend you check him out on YouTube

Anyways back to the wrenching! I found the leaky water pump had just been seated incorrectly, and got a new (better?) one.

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Here's where I found out how heavy I was.. Leaning in and out of the bay of an old car can really hurt things in there if you're not careful. I learned the hard way. Heard a crack just to look down and see a broken radiator :O Snapped the upper hose right off, dang old plastic. Ok so new radiator and hoses, let's be more careful going forward, this is getting expensive.

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Coolant system's working without a drip in sight. Cool. Things seem to be going well! I must be some kind of great mechanic or something..........

Have you every had a Crank Position Sensor AND a Radio Suppresion Relay go bad at the same time?! I was about to go insane! Roach would die on hard turns (CPS) and now big bumps (G-loaded RSR). Talk about a headache and some very stressful redlights (GOOO AROUNNNNND)

Enter Turbobricks, the friendliest Volvo website around! I tackled the CPS first, as it was clearly old and frayed and when I jiggled it, something would happen. Not something good or bad, just something.

Next up the Radio suppresion relay. It was mentioned on here in the forums and when I went to playing with it, the car would start again! I took a closer look and..

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Found my problem! Cleaned the contacts and Roach is running like a champ! Some IPD vacuum hoses and clamps, new poly bushings everywhere I could put them. The whole process has been very rewarding. So I wanted to try some fun things like maybe I could put some old squares headlight from a 240 on this thing..

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No.. Just no. The fitment wasn't that great, all the trim didn't fit well. I was in over my head so I just stuck the coffin boxes in a corner. (Still have them)

Found some cool metal from an old project and thought it would add some of that Mad Max feel

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Roach has been a dream ever since! But I was constantly looking for a cosmetic improvement. Wagon or sedan didn't matter, I just wanted a clean RWD Volvo with a B230FT that I could bring back to life. That's when I found Yen!

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Facebook post said it was a '93 940 Turbo that's been parked since the guy got sick and wasn't able to work on it.. 8 YEARS AGO. I knew there was a diamond in there so I made my offer.. $500! The old lady was surprised I offered that much lolol

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SOLD!! A quick trip down to GA and I found myself the proud owner of a premium dealership package 940 Turbo owned by a man that loved his Volvo very much.
I say that because though the car had some crud built up over the years, the car seemed 100%. Lady said he loved the car and maintained it regularly. She mentioned he couldn't figure out what was wrong but it would cut out randomly on him. (CPS? RSR? Could it be the same problem? I'll take my chances.)

I get the car home and want to wash it before the wife comes home lol

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After a little TLC with the pressure washer, I gotta say she cleaned up well!

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Here's the best part! I get around to cleaning the trunk, pop it open to find... A whole head gasket kit! Seals, gaskets, copper washers, timing belt! A literal gold mine for a RWD Volvo bro! I'm beyond excited to give Yen a proper Stage 0. Since it had set for so long I'll just go ahead and tear her down all the way to the head gasket. This post is getting lengthy so I'll leave it here and post my work on Yennefer. I start this weekend.

Any and all tips, tricks, recommendations and salutations are welcome! Thanks for reading and excited to be here!

 

[ISTHATA940]

Made a lot of headway rather quickly but got stopped by the rain. Intake manifold and exhaust manifold + turbo are off and everything is looking great. Will post some pics of the turbo because I am seeing some cracking in both the turbo housing and the exhaust manifold collector. I understand the cracks in the manifold are common place, but I'd like to get some opinions on what I am seeing. Secondly, I am seeing a Volvo K24 turbo assembly for sale and if he takes my very cheap offer.. Is it worth it? I've seen some mentions of people running a K24 on a B230FT but how involved is it? Are there any guides to "clocking" a volvo K24 turbo?

 

[ISTHATA940]

Also I noticed looking from one engine bay to another Roach my 945 has a component linked to the turbo that isn't on Yen, the black 940 Turbo. Here is a pick of where the component lives in the 945 engine bay but ISNT THERE on the 940!? I see the electric plug is there and the holes to mount whatever it is.. What is it missing?




When I get home I'll take a picture of the component that is on the 945, as I'm posting this I dont have a pic of what I'm talking about.

 

[ISTHATA940]

Here are some B230FT manifold cracks.. the one located at "south" is the one that is most alarming. Once I got some PB Blaster on the manifold I noticed the crack from the outside because of some PB seepage. The cracks at "east" and "west" don't seem to go all the way through!

 

[threewagons]

Made a lot of headway rather quickly but got stopped by the rain. Intake manifold and exhaust manifold + turbo are off and everything is looking great. Will post some pics of the turbo because I am seeing some cracking in both the turbo housing and the exhaust manifold collector. I understand the cracks in the manifold are common place, but I'd like to get some opinions on what I am seeing. Secondly, I am seeing a Volvo K24 turbo assembly for sale and if he takes my very cheap offer.. Is it worth it? I've seen some mentions of people running a K24 on a B230FT but how involved is it? Are there any guides to "clocking" a volvo K24 turbo?

Much easier to use a TD04HL-16T or 19T from a later model Volvo. Similar performance to the K24 and all the factory lines bolt up. See my build thread, I used an angled flange 16T (7cm^2 exh housing) from a P80 Volvo with an aftermarket 20T compressor housing. https://turbobricks.com/index.php?threads/1994-945-turbo-ultimate-dd-build.363707/post-6284413

 

[threewagons]

Here are some B230FT manifold cracks.. the one located at "south" is the one that is most alarming. Once I got some PB Blaster on the manifold I noticed the crack from the outside because of some PB seepage. The cracks at "east" and "west" don't seem to go all the way through!

They all crack there. If it's not making noise I wouldn't worry about it for now, the metal will expand when it's warm. You can also have it repaired by a skilled welder. It will probably crack somewhere else though.

 

[Acke]

What is it missing?

EGR

 

[ISTHATA940]

Much easier to use a TD04HL-16T or 19T from a later model Volvo. Similar performance to the K24 and all the factory lines bolt up. See my build thread, I used an angled flange 16T (7cm^2 exh housing) from a P80 Volvo with an aftermarket 20T compressor housing. https://turbobricks.com/index.php?threads/1994-945-turbo-ultimate-dd-build.363707/post-6284413

Thanks for the reply! I part cannoned and went ahead and bought the K24 but for cheap enough I doubt I'll have a problem selling it. Just got ahead of myself in wanting this to be a fun car when it's done. I think I will follow your advice and build. I'll probably put it together stock since I have everything and just wait for a 16/19 to pop up.

 

[ISTHATA940]

EGR

Ok cool so the little piece could help me with mpg I'm guessing? Any forseeable issue just bypassing it like it is now?

 

[Acke]

I'm guessing your car came without it from the factory since the wire is tucked away that neatly and the manifold seems to be the non-EGR model. So it should be fine as it is. I haven't notice a difference in MPGs with/without EGR on my cars.

 

[ISTHATA940]

Hope everyone has been handling this heat! It's taken me longer than expected, but I'm VERY close to being down with Yen's stage 0. Between finding more and more parts to replace and waiting on back order items, I've kept busy looking for any and all mods I could try and do myself. That being said, here's the update.

First I want to say the B230FT has been a blast to work on. Plenty of room in the engine bay, besides that damn PCV box.
I got the head off following my manuals head bolt tighten/loosen pattern. Didnt give me too much trouble.


Saw some oil/carbon build up in the middle cylinders. Wondering what the valves were going to look like.
Took the head to my work to clean up and try my hand at porting the exhaust manifold a little, in anticipation of a bigger turbo one day..
Also thought heck why not have a fresh 13C while we're at it, so brought the little guy in for some cleaning


Everything went well as far as I'm concerned!


After everything was cleaned up some I decided to check on the valves while I searched for an IPD turbo cam.

Taking the stock cam off was easy enough, but I don't have a valve spring compressor tool and I'm cheap so I came up with this:

Somehow I though this on the end of a big enough C-clamp would work fine.. NOT
I pretty much turned my cylinder head into a spring loaded death trap. In hindsight, probably should have just welded the tool to the C-Clamp, but again Im cheap and always in a rush..

 

[ISTHATA940]

But hey, it worked!

Also found out the hard way you only have to change the seals on the intake side. My exhaust side was clean really and no sign of missing seals. After searching on this website some I found it to be true, no seals on exhaust. The gases purge all the unnecessary stuff out of there?

Changed the seals, slapped it all back together and put my nice and shiny IPD cam on top! Starting to look pretty good.

I'll admit here I didn't check my shims.. but we will see how it goes!

While I had downtime I went ahead and put the solid steel dowels in the pulleys. That was harder then I thought it would be! Rust and the wrong pinch and one of those little guys was really stuck in there! Went ahead and replaced all the seals I could get to as well.


I had been staring at the green vasline hanging out in the water pump for long enough, and had to swap it anyways because I wanted to flush everything and who knew what was in there.. WELL I FOUND OUT

Cleaned up all the mating surfaces and was pretty happy with the results

 

[ISTHATA940]

I didn't do so great taking pictures of the cleaned head or block, but they looked great. I got excited and threw it all together without taking any pictures! My bad guys and girls!
Here are some aftermath pics, best I can do.

 

[RKNL]

... but again Im cheap and always in a rush..

Add in "and rarely think things through" and you've basically described me. It keeps things interesting

Nice project. Amazing find for 500 too. I'm kinda jealous. I once bought a Saab 9-3 2.0 turbo S that had been sitting for years for 450. At the time that seemed like a score. Worst car I've ever owned. That was the year I learned that Saab's don't clean up as nicely as Volvo's

 

[propav8r]

If you're in Chattanooga, you're not too awful far from MountainMeet here in a couple weeks, stop by and meet some of the crew.

 

[ISTHATA940]

If you're in Chattanooga, you're not too awful far from MountainMeet here in a couple weeks, stop by and meet some of the crew.

Duuuuude I've been wondering where everyone was! I'll look up MountainMeet and see what's up

 

[dl242gt]

Mountain meet is in the events section of the forum. Cool projects and great to see you are enjoying bringing the bricks back to their former glory.

 

[ISTHATA940]

Thanks for the heads up! If you ask my friends I've turned into a Volvo addict all of the sudden lol This community and the cars themselves are just too awesome..

 

[ISTHATA940]

UPDATE! Work has been crazy, and we've really needed rain! But the dry weather has let me work on Yen quite a bit.
After piecing everything together when the radiator came in, I couldn't help but try to crank it.
With a little squirt of starting fluid, first turn and the car stumbled, then died.
After that the car wouldnt start at all.
I checked all the plugs for spark, shocking myself hella good in the process. That was a funny feeling, getting shocked in a pattern. BZZT BZZT BZZT
I knew then I should have drained the fuel tank, but I didn't realize how bad it could be!
I went under the car and took apart the fuel carriage..
TRY AND RELIEVE THE FUEL PRESSURE BEFORE YOU TOUCH THE FUEL FILTER lol
That thing shot nasty black/brown fuel all over me... Spit like that one dinosaur from Jurrasic Park ugh
I could tell from the look and the smell the gas was unusable. Like no way in hell
I read on here about jumping the pump and such but I thought of a way and wanted to try
Just bought a new Shop Vac that was nice and clean, hooked it up to a funnel and attached it to the blowing side, jammed the funnel in the gas tank and voila! Positive pressure and the nasty black/brown/orange started to flow out freely.
Probably still worried about the in tank pump and filter. But I pushed 5 gallons of 85 through the system!
After I saw the fuel start to change to a better color I went ahead and got a new in line pump and filter.
Took off the fuel rail and blew some air through it with the injectors out.
Injectors look terrible. Probably need new ones asap but I ordered some refurb kits we will see how they work.
Fuel rail and injector seals done, everything blasted out. Good fuel color (but not ideal)
Primed the fuel lines with the Shop Vac and bled the rail throught the Schrader valve.
After a few cranks she fired right up!
Idles at almost 2k so need to adjust that screw I found at the throttle..

Phone is shot so not many quality pictures to upload but I snapped a few of the gas and such I will post them when I find the time.
All in all..

Yen is running!!

 

[ISTHATA940]

Talk about a headache... Yennefer is giving me a terrible one.
After draining and cleaning the gas tank (I couldnt ignore it any longer)
IPD Turbo Cam
New in-tank fuel pump from TREperformance
New Delphi in-line pump and new Bosch fuel filter
New air filter
New spark plugs (platinum, I know I messed up.. Trying coppers today 10-25-23)
After cleaning the injectors and refurbing them with new tips and O-rings (these are green tops)
Checking the injectors worked one by one, theyre good and sprays good, surprisingly
Good fuel relay
Good fuel pressure regulator (FPR)
Manual Boost Controller (MBC) from Yoshifab set to 5psi
I've swapped between the MAF/AMM from Roach my 940SE or the exisiting one.. no difference
I've reseated the O2 sensor
IAC is working, when unplugged I got a very irregular idle, when plugged it it goes back to normal

The dang thing just wont GO.
I can sit in park and idle fine, I can rev up to whatever RPM I want in park
I put it in drive and I can only feather the gas pedal or it will bog down and backfire, surge and stop
When I unplug the MAF/AMM in park it will change to a surging idle
When the MAF is unplugged and I put it in gear as soon as I press the gas it just chokes out
Tach drops and it sounds like its not firing at all
When I plug the MAF back in it idles fine and will take on in gear, but only when I touch the gas pedal feather light
Anything past a toe touch and the thing just sputters and does this surging acceleration
The most noticable thing is it definetly doesn't want to boost
As soon as it nears boosting it will just bog down and die with maybe a small surge of acceleration but still no boost and I just end up with a big backfire
My check engine light comes on and off and im getting a code 1-2-1 in port two, but it comes and goes
This happens with either one of my MAFS. I know Roaches MAF works so I dont get it..
I'm really hoping its not a dead ECU/EZK.
Which box is right over the drivers feet? I havent found the one on the passenger side kick panel which if I remember is the EZK
Only kicker there is the Roach(940SE) has EGR and Yen(940Turbo) doesnt.. I bet the ECU/EZK isnt swappable is it?
I'll be looking for that today as well

I just really don't wont to take it to a shop.. I've gotten this far with Turbobricks help, I want to make it to the finish line!