Hello all,

I have my heart set on a ‘87 240DL with 5 speed that a friend is selling. I’d be the second owner. I’ve driven it and checked it out. Incredibly smooth and quiet, shifting is crisp. Body is in great shape but there is some rust I’ll have to deal with on the underside.

Anything in particular I should know about these cars? And what kind of gas mileage should I expect? I plan to make this my daily driver. If it were just a hobby car I wouldn’t be too worried about it.

Thanks in advance for anything you can share.

G in Maryland

 

[QUOTE=BigOle87Wagon;517586]what kind of gas mileage should I expect? /QUOTE]

16-20 MPG Sorry it's not a toyota, it's a big car with a not so efficient engine.

 

[QUOTE=hoonk;517590]
Thanks, I may have to rethink the daily driver aspect of this plan. I still like the car, though.

 

You can do better than 16-20 mpg, may be 20-25% better if you drive less aggressively and keep things well tuned.

 

+1 on what Lev says. On our '90 240 we would get around 22-25 MPG depending on the type of driving and the time of year. Winter always delivers poorer mileage and the car has to be properly tuned. It took me several years after purchase to chase down issues until it was tuned to deliver that kind of mileage.

 

Thanks for the replies. I consulted some online fuel mileage ratings and they said the Volvo was rated at 21-26 mpg. This is under ideal conditions with a car in optimal running condition, of course.

 

Hi, there
I think I can put some of my experience here, maybe will help you. Mine is a 89 240DL NA auto, and I live in Canada mountains (not the best road you can imagine).
For the past few years I have been paying attention to my gas milage. So far I can get: 17~20 mpg in town, 26~31 on highway (4 hour trips and 8 hours round trips, carrying a suitcase, some tools, a spare wheel and 15L extra fuel). I calculated the MPG by fill gas up at the same gas station and fill until the pump automatically stop,

Below are a few things that I found did have effect:
1. your drive style, be easy on this old heavy thing, it will reach good speed but takes longer (I can go all the way to 180km/h on a good long straight road but gas milage won't be nice and it was really pushing the engine), to me the best highway speed is 100~110 km/h, anything after that seems to drain my MPG
2. I do have a T cam installed, not sure if it will help the gas milage but it works great with auto trans+NA, usually I lift my foot to let it shift earlier (normally 2300~2500rpm I can get decent "push", so I let it shift somewhere there or below, manual will always be better i assume)
3. I use a set of GT wheel (14 inch) for summer with decent toyo tires, 36psi (tire plays an important role on gas mileage, safety and comfort, don't go cheap on them), used to use 15inch virgo, never got as good gas milage. Don't get suck in to the big wheel thing (unless you really like them), the 14inch will give good control vs. comfort with good rubber
4. remove extra weight in your car, especially in town, I usually keep some simple hand tools, jumper cable, snowchains and a med kit in car for daily driving
5. tune up your engine, especially filters and clean all the vacuum lines, check your brake and bearings make sure they are not dragging, check your rear diff oil as well, mine was really burnt, not dragging but bad
6. I tried E-fan conversion, it will free up your engine quite bit, but my alternator is tired so I went back to mechanical
7. keep your AC off (if you have a working one), unless necessary, I turn it on mostly when i'm on highways. When reaching long downhills, I will turn on the AC and let off the gas, my car smh reaches a good balance at big downhill, with AC on it will roll at about 100km/h
8. When in town I usually keep my tank half full, no need to carry extra fuel when not going anywhere
9. I added a fuel economy gauge (pretty much a vacuum gauge), not gonna physically help but will scare you when you step on the gas too hard, indeed improved my gas mileage a little bit because I always trying to set the needle to the good zone
10. get an RPM gauge, stock, after market wont matter, it really gives you a lot of information, I would suggest a voltmeter as well, weak battery or alternator can also bring down your MP (Mine is definitely on the weak side)
11. keep your trans fluid clean, manual or auto, inspect and change when dirty, don't flush the old auto if you have one tho, bad things could happen
12. Many suggested remove the rain guard and use later model front/back glass which doesn't have the molding to improve aerodynamics and reduce wind noise (I still have mine on)

You gonna get worse gas milage if you got a wagon, that's just the way it is, but things I mentioned above should help improve your MPG regardless. I consider my sedan a little bit heavier than average because I added extra sound proof material, hood mats, E-code headlights, headlight wipers, extra stereo (rear door and rear deck small subs, nothing crazy) and a full size spare with jacks and tools, so I'm pretty happy with the kind of MPG I'm getting. Yes, I do drive like a turtle sometimes but never to a point of blocking traffic and I always stay on the right lane, the NA 240s are just not made for speed, at least the engine part, so you gotta be extra patient.

Hope my answer helps. Enjoy your 240!

 

Thanks for the detailed info, Chaolizi. I found it very useful. My car is in fact a wagon, the reason I'm buying it actually. I like wagons--they're a poor man's SUV. I thought it would have a tach, but where I'd expect it to be there's a clock instead. Analog clock. I'll likely be checking in with other questions as I get into the car. I appreciate the reply.

 

You are welcome! The one you have is the big clock option, there are OEM big tachs but quite pricy nowadays, that's why I mentioned aftermarket options, aftermarket 52mm tach works great, the 240 came with slot for it, just get a cover if you want it look nice. the tach signal wire is there. You will figure out when you play with the car, after all it is simple and straight forward. Cheers!

 

I’ll look at the options for a tach, it’s good you mentioned the wire should be there already. I’ll also post pics of the car when I have it out in the light of day. Stored in a barn now.