Sorry I don't just go with the IPD (cheaper one)

 

I plan to do it at the beginning of summer (around May). I'll let everyone know how it goes.

 

Good luck!

 

Just thought I'd throw my $.02 in here. Everyone's being very helpful on the subject of adding boost to your car, but I have a few concerns (being the father of an 18 year-old who is currently unemployed). You mentioned your father telling you to check your oil, which makes me think you are relatively young. You also assume your car is at stage zero because it has new plugs, dist rotor and wires. The fact that your PCV system is plugged makes me think the car has close to, or more than, 100K on the clock. You didn't know about the PCV system clogging, so the car is definitely not stage zero. My guess is that you have not changed things like the coolant and turbo hoses, which will also be subjected to increased abuse with higher turbo output.

If you have a budget of $300, my guess is that you have $300 in your pocket but not much more. You're already spending $100 on the PCV. You will probably need the rest of that $300 for other maintenance items such as brakes, tires, etc. not to mention the fun surprise events that are constantly popping up with these cars as the threads all over the forum attest to.

My suggestion (and it's only a suggestion) is to save your money in case you need it and hold off on boosting your engine until you truly have extra money, and enough of it to do it right.

 

Sorry for the long post guys....got carried away

Well, yes, I believe my profile says I'm 20 years old. A few of your assumptions are wrong though. I actually have much, much more than $300 and I am employed for $12/hr. I know you don't mean to be rude but you are trying to put me in the typical teenager stereotype. The only reason I said I have a low budget is because I actually set a budget. I even have enough money to throw in an 18T turbo and buy the $700 ECU from ipd but I know the car is old and has become a hole in my pocket. I have calculated my budget and I know my car drains on average $500 a year on unscheduled maintenance.

The car has close to 150,000 miles on it, yes it is over 100k. My brother owned the car before me and he replaced the turbo hoses and put in an ipd intercooler hose kit. I know that coolant should be changed every 30,000 miles and the last time it was changed was 2 years, 15,000 miles ago. The only other thing I have plans to change is the fuel filter. They are cheap and I don't know when mine was last replaced. Also, the car just got a new timing belt ($700 job).

There are 3 people keeping an eye on this car. Although my brother could not afford to maintain the car, he still remains in love with it and makes sure I don't mess things up. My dad is an avid car lover who has owned Fords all his life and was astonished with a Volvo's performance. I, myself, am close to a newbie on this stuff but am actively participating in forums like this to gain knowledge considering I am getting a masters in Mech. E. and love cars more than anyone in my familia.

Because of the car's old age and the fact that I would like save money and buy a really nice used car out of college, I have chosen not to buy a boost controller or any gauges.

But you are right, I have chosen to save my money only for necessary maintenance. I should have mentioned that I dropped operation "boost controller" earlier in the post but I forgot to after I got carried away with the PCV.

I now have a new respect for Volvos but if I can afford it, I want to buy either an RX-7, subaru wrx sti, or a Volvo S60R out of college. Eventually, if I make enough salary I plan to import an FPV (ford performance vehicles) FG F6 from Australia. If you have never heard of FPV you should definitely google or youtube them. They are truly unique and exciting cars. They are professional and sporty at the same time like an Audi but they have a muscle car tone.

I would, however, like to request some opinion though from you Bur Jr. What, in your opinion, makes a car stage zero because some believe it is just the electrical system?

 

Sh*t your 20....I am turning 20 on Sunday! Not that Age has anything to do with this topic.

A solid stage zero would be to get it to how it left the factory.....
it includes, but not limited to:

Plugs
cap/rotor
oil/transflush
filter (oil)
hoses (the little vac lines)
02 sensors
fuel pumps
clean injectors
clean IC/IC plumbing (Turbo Models ONLY)
Air filter
plug wires

My car is a 91 (260,000miles) and I am still modifing her as far as my mind/wallet takes it.
I might be buying a 82 244 turbo and moding that as well. The age of the car means nothing. Just keep up with regular maintenance and oil changes...etc, and your car could boost 20 psi many years to come. Now thing over time do wear out, like Piston rings and other related items, which do call for some overhaul, but these cars are getting older, more are going to the junkyards, and parts will cost the same as my 745T.

Once you get your PCV system cleaned out, then boost till you feel you want to stop!

 

Saleen,

It sounds as though you're an intelligent and responsible young man who has it together. I apologize if I came across as haughty or such, it was just a fatherly reaction. It looks as though TIPSP covered the stage zero pretty well, far better than I could as I am fairly new to Volvo ownership myself. I purchased a 1997 850 GLT for my son to drive within the last year and a half and liked it so much I bought 1997 850R for myself last year. Everything I know about them, which is probably a good deal less than most here, has come from this forum.

I would make one recommendation, and that is to find a decent indie shop that knows Volvos for items you can't or don't want to handle yourself. $700 for a timing belt job sounds a bit high. When I first bought my R, I had a local Volvo-only shop do the timing belt, plugs, rotor, cap and one of the Turbo oil lines and the total was somewhere around $550. While I thought that was fairly reasonable (the turbo oil hose is about $100 just for the part), I have since done any maintenance or repairs myself that I can manage.

I must say, I do like the orange and black combination on your car.

Jeff

 

Ok so you have more money then you say you do. Ok cool... What it comes down to is, or seems your not going to be doing anything to this car with $300. Stage Zero can cost that to do it right.

So just keep the car maintained and you'll be set. Once you take your budget limit and expand it then lets talk. Like lets say upwards of $2k for starters. Stage Zero, Intake, Downpipe, Catback, ECU upgrade. Right there can cost close to around $2k and maybe less if you go the custom route for the Intake, Downpipe and Catback systems.

Don't put money into a car that is already burning a hole in your pocket. The mods you do will decrease the durability / reliability of the car.

 

Bur Jr,
We may have got started off on the wrong foot, but I see your point-of-view and completely agree that $700 seems really high. That $700 was actually from one of the specialists garages in my area. The Volvo dealers wanted to charge around $1000. Our family mechanic is cool with prices but he won't to any specialty work on foreign cars.

I love my Volvo like most Volvo owners and I would love to dump 2k into it if that was my budget but unfortunately its not. If this was 4 years from now and I was actually making more money than I would do it in a heartbeat. For now, I'm just going to maintain, sit back and relax, and wait to go ape-sh** with upgrades on my next car. I don't know if anyone here watches the show Top-Gear but they reviewed the S60R and loved it, so that may be my next car.

Hey TIPSP what is the IC/IC plumbing?

 

Intercooler and Intercooler pipes

 

I hate to revive this thread but I have one more question about the PCV. I have the symptoms for a problem, oil build up around the dipstick and white smoke from the dipstick.

Could the EGR also be a problem? I mean the car has 150,000 miles and I don't know if the EGR has been replaced. How do you maintain the EGR. The volvo-book recommends checking your EGR every 20,000 miles.

 

Not related to the EGR.