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Turbo Rebuild or Buy New

M

MSGGrunt

New member
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Location
Western Massachusetts
I am planning on rebuilding a turbo motor to drop into my 1992 240 and am wondering what to do if I want to gain just a bit more power, The donor motor is out of a 1995 940. The NA motor in the 92 just ticked over 109,000 miles.

#1, Rebuild the stock 940 turbo motor and add a little more boost?

#2, Buy a new or used turbo that is an upgrade?

If #2 what is the suggested upgrade? I don't want to change from the original exhaust manifold.
 
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A 15g from an 850 turbo is a nice upgrade over the stock 13c. You will need to reclock the turbine housing which is easy to do. You can use the stock exhaust manifold.

109k on your n/a motor? Dont touch anything. Replace the crank, aux shaft, and cam shaft gaskets and roll out.

Squirters really don't matter. They're nice to have but you'll be just fine without them.
 
The motor came out of a 1992 940 if that matters. And I've collected all the correct 240 turbo intercooler, piping, fan shroud, etc to make the install as easy as possible. Maybe I'll just save the turbo block for a future swap and do a +P for now.
 

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None of the 92 red blocks that I've opened up have been squirters; those started somewhere in 93 per TB urban legend.

Agree with the 15g suggestion; you don't want to run much boost with higher compression NA pistons, unless your goal is engine destruction.
 
I miss spoke, the turbo motor I have was out of a 1995 940, so the benefit of squirters.

So if I wanted more power by way of increased boost, rebuilding the lower compression turbo motor would be ideal. The cost really isn't a huge deciding factor.
 
Marvelous3 said:
A 15g from an 850 turbo is a nice upgrade over the stock 13c. You will need to reclock the turbine housing which is easy to do. You can use the stock exhaust manifold.

109k on your n/a motor? Dont touch anything. Replace the crank, aux shaft, and cam shaft gaskets and roll out.
Squirters really don't matter. They're nice to have but you'll be just fine without them.
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+1, but use OE Volvo seals!

DET17 said:
you don't want to run much boost with higher compression NA pistons, unless your goal is engine destruction.
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MSGGrunt said:
I miss spoke, the turbo motor I have was out of a 1995 940, so the benefit of squirters.

So if I wanted more power by way of increased boost, rebuilding the lower compression turbo motor would be ideal. The cost really isn't a huge deciding factor.
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Don't rebuild anything, you will likely cause more harm than good. 109k on a well maintained NA motor is practically brand new. And it's not 1989 anymore, 9.8:1 compression is much much better as a daily driver than an 8.7:1 b230ft. So much more off-boost torque, and when boost hits it's much more aggressive. Just run a good quality 93 octane and try your best to avoid engine knock. It is easily doable with modern fuels and tuning.
 
I would definitely keep the n/a motor in there. 109k is nothing.

Go through and replace anything that is questionable like plugs/wires/cap/rotor, intake manifold gasket, clean the breather box, etc. to prepare for the +T.

My '92 240 had a TD04-13c added at ~130k miles and I bought the card at 132k. It just recently rolled passed 240k, and the n/a bottom end is still alive (although noisy like piston slap). My car also came with a 93+ B230FT but I sold that thing as soon as I got the car home. I knew I wanted to stick with the B230F for the higher static compression ratio, and likely less wear on the bores.

The 15g is a great turbo for these engines if you're running mild boost and want instant response. You will need to reclock a 15g and fab a wastegate actuator bracket but it's not too tough...I just recently did this for my car. I bought a used 15g for $100 and sent it to G-Pop Shop (http://gpopshop.com/services/rebuilding/) for rebuilding. The total with return shipping was $345. I've rebuilt a Garrett T3 myself, and it's pretty easy to do. I've never done a Mitsu turbo before and just wanted a fresh ready to install turbo that I knew would work on my daily driver without complications, so I had it professionally rebuilt.
 
iLoveBeingTeaBagged said:
Don't rebuild anything, you will likely cause more harm than good. 109k on a well maintained NA motor is practically brand new. And it's not 1989 anymore, 9.8:1 compression is much much better as a daily driver than an 8.7:1 b230ft.
...........It is easily doable with modern fuels and tuning.
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Certainly the 89 block is nice and tight in the bores (presuming they ran an air filter). My concern with an 89 would be that is ~ the end of the skinny rod/55mm crank mains, a.k.a. the "low friction block". Over the last 10 years I recall at least one thread where any 89 was opened up and those internals were discovered.

I don't doubt the subject block/crank will take some boost, but I'd certainly suggest changing those rods to at minimum the 13mm version rather than the wimpy 9mm rods.

To the last comment about tuning, what specifically do you run/recommend on your +T engines? I've MS'd one vehicle and loved it, but I'm wondering if you are suggesting LH2.4 which the 89 will have. It has been proven to be a stable platform, albeit requiring more effort (in my experience) than MS with Tuner studio.
 
I have a 92 244 turbo -the turbo needs rebuilt and I?d like to get a little more power. So you are saying a 15g is a direct bolt on ?

Thanks for the info
 
DET17 said:
Certainly the 89 block is nice and tight in the bores (presuming they ran an air filter). My concern with an 89 would be that is ~ the end of the skinny rod/55mm crank mains, a.k.a. the "low friction block". Over the last 10 years I recall at least one thread where any 89 was opened up and those internals were discovered.

I don't doubt the subject block/crank will take some boost, but I'd certainly suggest changing those rods to at minimum the 13mm version rather than the wimpy 9mm rods.

To the last comment about tuning, what specifically do you run/recommend on your +T engines? I've MS'd one vehicle and loved it, but I'm wondering if you are suggesting LH2.4 which the 89 will have. It has been proven to be a stable platform, albeit requiring more effort (in my experience) than MS with Tuner studio.
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AFAIK, none of the engines OP is talking about are from 1989:) I was simply stating that "it’s not the 80s-90s anymore", so there’s no need to use 8.7:1 compression engines to run boost. We have GOOD 93 octane gas now, as well as ethanol fuels. Both of which make it easy peasy to make decent power, even with a 96mm bore and 9.8:1 compression.

I am using stock LH2.4, that is my only experience with +T management. Well....technically I boosted an 88 with LH2.2+Chrysler. I installed 850T injectors and an LH2.2 turbo ecu. Can’t remember the number..I kept stock Chrysler ignition which is actually pretty aggressive apparently. This is not recommended but I only drove the car for a couple months, then parted it and crushed it.

Anyway, the lh2.4 NA>+T conversion is a direct swap. Like literally unplug NA ECU and EZK, install turbo ECU and EZK (both from lh2.4 turbo car) and that’s it. No more work needed with computers at all. Then 850T injectors, 3 bar FPR (recommended), 1 step colder plugs, reroute AMM, then all the turbo bits and bam. You have a +T.

That being said stand-alone is probably better in every way, but I didn’t need it and I don’t know how to tune, and it didn’t fit the budget.
 
iLoveBeingTeaBagged said:
AFAIK, none of the engines OP is talking about are from 1989:) I was simply stating that "it?s not the 80s-90s anymore", so there?s no need to use 8.7:1 compression engines to run boost.......
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It must have been your first reference to "it's not 1989 anymore" that mislead me.

Good to know you found a straight ECU bolt on solution, as apparently many have, for +T. My son just bought a 92 944NA and he also intends to add boost. I've never attempted the +T as all my cars have been factory turbos.
 
DET17 said:
It must have been your first reference to "it's not 1989 anymore" that mislead me.

Good to know you found a straight ECU bolt on solution, as apparently many have, for +T. My son just bought a 92 944NA and he also intends to add boost. I've never attempted the +T as all my cars have been factory turbos.
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Keep in mind the 940 might be Regina which can make things a bit different.
 
DET17 said:
Thankfully it is LH2.4
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Sweet. In my opinion that makes it easier for boost, but others have had good look boosting Regina too. That may be in the future for my buddy?s 945 NA Regina car. Locking diff and aw71l, it?s like it?s asking for boost. But all it does is sit
 
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