'93 240 b230f with perfomance issues ..
 

hi everyone...

thats my daily driver, a '89 740 with b230f, m47, 7 previous owners, and 400.000km on the clock:
Attachment 17228

got it since 2007, bought it with 280.000km, first engine, first gearbox, second clutch, changed all oils & filters regularly, brakes twice, shocks once, ignition coil and cables once. in tank pump broken for ages, still always runs perfectly, no matters whatsoever.

now this is my new one, a '93 240 with b230f, m47, 1 previous owner, and just 137.000km on the clock:
Attachment 17229
very much unlike the 700, it is rust free, was mostly parked in a garage, always serviced at a volvo dealership...
so you'd expect it to work just as well, right?
well, sadly it doesn't.

it feels a lot less quirky and torquey especially at the lower revs end ...
well, its just slower. it really feels like a 1,4t car with 70hp compared to the 700 which is just as heavy and feels like, ..well a 1,4t car with 116hp.

things i've done so far:
new plugs
new plug cables
new airfilter
checked idle control valve (can be moved by hand easily, moves when starting the car)

things i wanna check/change:
visual check on air mass meter (how do i measure wether its working or not)
replace distributor cap & finger
replace ignition coil cable running to distributor
adjust valve play (i read that rattling valves may trigger the knock sensor and result in reduced perfomance)

any more tips on what to check?

i think both fuel pumps are working properly on this one, as it even starts with an empty tank easily (the 700 needs at least a tank half full in order to start on first try due to broken intank pump) ...
i suspect the gasoline-pump-relais-classic is a 1 or 0 thingy, meaning it either works or it doesn't, right? it wouldn't show in poor performance, or would it?

thanks in advance,
alex

almost 100 clicks and no ideas..?

Do you know what rear ends are in both cars (ratios)? The 240 is about 300 to 400 pounds lighter. What's your gas mileage? You could check your transmission fluid. Maybe someone put in 90 weight oil instead of ATF. Make sure no animal has built a nest in the exhaust. Also check the parking brake cables to make sure they are loosening the brake. These are just unlikely things that I can think of besides the obvious ones you have been trying.

is the car running fine? Maybe a cylinder is not firing. Unplug each fuel injector while idling and observe is the idle worsens or not. The one that does not worsen is one that's not firing. Good luck!

check all 4 spark plugs for even medium grey color... compression test all 4 cylinders...

very good input, thanks.

still, brakes all appear to be free..

gearboxes on both are manual m47s that both shift nicely.
couldnt evaluate gas milage yet, drove only 200km yet and topped it up a few km ago..

it definately is running on all cylinders, car starts on first startermove, idle is smooth....

old spark plugs looked very nice and not even old, nor black or oily...

yeah, might do a compression test on the next session..
the b230f should be at about 11bar, right?

thanks for your input so far guys,
keep it coming :)

Do your cars in Austria have catalytic converters? A bad cat will cause tremendous loss of power.

good one too,
yeah, it has a cat, but i kinda ruled that out since the car passed it's yearly road worthyness test thingy including emission test with flying colors just days before i bought it ...

:(

is there any way testing the cat's flow?
like unmounting the exhaust and ...um... blowing in it? :)


..and thanks for all your answers so far! keep the ideas coming!
i know this gets written a lot, but i will surely post what the problem really was, as soon it is discovered :)

200/700/900 weigh almost the same... may be less than a hundred pounds diff... Turbos and wagons a little more.