• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

My 940 T4 swap

KoduKoer

New member
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Location
Tartu, Estonia
I am burdened with the hellish task of fitting a small 1.9L whiteblock into my 940 diesel. :oops:

I have the engine and tranny in place and am about to start creating necessary engine mounts. When mounting the M90 to the engine, I noticed that bolt holes on the tranny line up with the engine block like they should, but wont line up with holes on the T4 oil pan.
Any advice on how to solve it? Do I even need to solve it?

Other thing that is concerning me is the drive shaft. Since the M90 is shorter than M46, the front section of the shaft will not reach.
Is the easiest option here to weld the two together?

I am apologise for any questions that might be too stupid, but I really want to get this thing done and will not hesitate to ask for advice.

Thank you
 
The T4 engine is basically a 6 cylinder 960 engine, minus 2 cylinders. You need to take a 960 oil pan and cut a piece out of the middle to shorten it and then weld it back together so it fits on the T4 engine. The same needs to be done with the oil pickup tube from the 960. I'm not sure about the T4 engine, but on the 5 cylinder ones you can also just use the 960 engine mounts and it'll bolt in. As Volvo designed this engine series (4,5 and 6 cyl) to be modular, I wouldn't be surprised if the 960 mounts just bolt on too. As for the M90 and the driveshaft, just get the front section of the driveshaft from the car you got the M90 out of. It bolts right on.
 
Sounds like a cool project, though I am partial to the diesels myself lol. Any pics of the bellhousing bolts that don't line up?

Yes I want it to be kind of like a bit modernized tribute to the old redblock 940 turbo. Plus I love the weight of the engine and hopefully with it being so short, it will improve the weight distribution a little bit.
No picture of the housing bolt holes since I dont have an oilpan attached and I bolted the crossmember back on, so the oil pan will not fit at the moment.


Just get the front section of the driveshaft from the car you got the M90 out of. It bolts right on.

That is what I did, disassembled the U joint and took the front of the 960 shaft. But I had a 10mm spacer fabricated because the rear axle flange on 960 shaft was different, more bolts and thicker. So the hybrid-shaft was just that much too short.
As for the 960 pan and mounts, it is a real headache. In Estonia, 960s are kind of rare and to find one for scraps is complicated and expensive. It seems that it is equal or even cheaper for me to have a custom oil pan fabricated out of the stock T4 pan. A guy who put a T5 in his E36 and faced the same problem with his oil pan, he welded it slim, rerouted the oil filter lines and said that he could do the same to my pan for around 100 euros. Finding, buying and modifying a 960 pan will probably set me back a little more than that...
 
Lower bellhousing bolts for transmission are not that important. It will last without those even with +800hp engine.
 
What are you doing for wiring? I?ve been considering this idea lately

I have never done any swap, so I really cant answer that yet. If I get the big bad bits sorted out, I can start tinkering with electrics. I have the T4 factory loom, but the ECUs immobilizer has failed, or so I was told, so I might just connect the essentials and go for MS or speeduino ECU. Will decide when it becomes necessary.
 
I just got my custom oil pan and it fits (mostly...) :)

1.jpg


3.jpg


4.jpg


I have decided that I will go for MS2 for ECU. My biggest fear was the oil pan, now that it is sorted, I will start sorting out the intake manifold and turbo flange adapter.
Cylinders and the block itself is in good condition, for my relief, I didn`t have to reposition the steering box. But I sacrificed the oil cooler for this. You see, the T5 does not have this problem because oil filter/cooler bracket is in front of the cross member, not on top of it.
 
Here's a picture of what I did on the 6 cylinder in my 242. You can see the bypass plate at the front of the oil pan and the setrab thermostat sandwich plate. I used the 960 angled filter adapter but you can also run the filter directly on the sandwich plate if you have the space for it.

vuedGrUh.jpg
 
I've thought about it for my 240, but unless the engine gets moved ahead SUBSTANTIALLY, the oil filter and the crossmember will occupy the same space. I'd love to run a super light engine that's practically set completely behind the front wheels :).
 
Here's a picture of what I did on the 6 cylinder in my 242. You can see the bypass plate at the front of the oil pan and the setrab thermostat sandwich plate. I used the 960 angled filter adapter but you can also run the filter directly on the sandwich plate if you have the space for it.

vuedGrUh.jpg

It is also possible to use a oil cooler adapter from 960.
It replaces the plate under the crank pulley.
 
No big updates as of yet, but today I started working on the intake manifold. I will use a newer 5cyl manifold runners and have a custom plenum made for them. For exhaust manifold, I am going with stock, but rotated so turbo will sit at the front. Using an adapter plate, I can use a T3-flanged turbo.

Also thanks for oil cooling suggestions, that is some really good advice!

I need some suggestions about fitting a starter motor. Stupid thing is that I dont have the 960 M90 starter motor bracket and I was wondering if anyone had a picture of it? All 960 stuff is very hard to find in Estonia which is worrying me.
I have the T4 automatic starter motor, but I probably cant use that even if I had the bracket?
 
Would it have been easier to swap in a 5 cylinder petrol engine from an Audi?

Well I'm not sure. Audi 5cyl turbo engine is hard to find and I don't know what trans to use on an Audi engine and so on.. That T4 was super cheap and I just went for it, Volvo 5cyl hpt engine would have cost about 4 times as much. And that got me thinking that maybe it would be nice to fit a 4-banger as sort of a tribute to 940 turbos. Newer aluminum engine is much lighter and the block itself is so short that it is almost front mid-engined, crank pulley sits just over the cross member. I am really excited to find out what the handling is going to be like since my 940s have always been a bit understeery at times.
 
I would guess the front springs may be to stiff with a lighter engine.

I had not thought about that... If the springs are stiff, that I can live with, would probably help cornering with the BMW 17 inch rims I have installed. But if it also sits higher than rear, then it is a problem and I am going to have to adjust height.
 
Back
Top