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b204ft tuning???

okoye

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Location
Connecticut
Are there any mods I can do without causing too many problems? I have a 50 trim that I'd love to throw at the car. Obviously with bigger injectors and maybe get rid of the m46 transmission.

I've seen through my searches and tons of reading that the Volvo 960 b204ft has a tcu that controls boost levels. I'm hoping to make the best use of this engine.
 
Are there any mods I can do without causing too many problems? I have a 50 trim that I'd love to throw at the car. Obviously with bigger injectors and maybe get rid of the m46 transmission.

I've seen through my searches and tons of reading that the Volvo 960 b204ft has a tcu that controls boost levels. I'm hoping to make the best use of this engine.
Either go all out, or leave it stockish. No point in throwing an eBay turbo at it.
 
my brother has a B204GT (no cat) , i seem to remember that he tweeked the electronics inside that TCU so it would allow higher boost. 0.8 bar i believe he said.
That TCU uses EGT sensor input. I hope your sensor is in good condition because these sensors are expensive and might be unobtanium by now.
He also installed an IPD boost solenoid valve which is controlled by the TCU. It seems to allow the turbo to spool up faster.
We also swapped the gbox for an M90, this makes the car drive a lot more refined.

a larger turbo would make the car more powerful up top but even in stock setup boost comes in kinda late. Maybe you could try NOS controlled by an additional management so you can bump up low rev torque by improving spool up. see video to see what i'm getting at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjRsIVlJ0pw
 
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Stock turbo is good for up to 270 hp (probably more) and spools up very quick if you don't have a bad Knock- or EGT-sensor.

The M46 gearbox on the other hand......

I recommend to upgrade the gearbox before installing a larger turbo.
 
Stock turbo is good for up to 270 hp (probably more) and spools up very quick if you don't have a bad Knock- or EGT-sensor.

The M46 gearbox on the other hand......

I recommend to upgrade the gearbox before installing a larger turbo.

So I can just turn up the boost with no issue with an mbc?
 
Leave it stock and make her shine! It would be a shame to hack it up just to make big HP. If you want to do that, then go with the typical 16v b230ft build... Replacement parts for the b204ft are hard enough to find.
 
So I can just turn up the boost with no issue with an mbc?

ehh, no...

you can't just add extra air without extra matching fuel delivery and expect the engine to survive. The extra air will lean out the AFR just when it is most unwanted, at wide open throttle.

So, if you want more power, if you want to use that larger turbo and raise boost you also need to increase fuel delivery to the engine: bigger fuel pump and injectors that have a higher flowrate. (CC's/minute@ 3bar fuelpressure)
 
I was thinking of using 550 cc injectors but I'm not sure if they will match the size of the turbo. Also does anyone know if it uses the same number of ecu pins as a regular 1994 960 6 cyl because they make a plug and play megasquirt for that generation.
 
You could tune the b204ft with a hi-tuning chip a.k.a. fred's chip and an mbc. This gave 270 hp and 330 Nm (@crank) with stock turbo, stock injectors and 18 psi of boost. But they are not available anymore. Fred left t-bricks and the hi-tuning website closed a year ago.

There are a few t-bricks members who have lots of experience with the b204ft fuel and timing maps. Maybe one of them can burn a custom chip for you.

If you install an mbc make sure to put it in the hose between the turbo and tcu otherwise the tcu will activate the boost valve, to lower boost to the stock boost level

Or you can do ipdowns tcu mod and raise the boost control level in the tcu. This requires replacing two resistors in the tcu.
 
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Proof

Stock turbo is good for up to 270 hp (probably more) and spools up very quick if you don't have a bad Knock- or EGT-sensor.

What psi levels and rpm are you talking about? Please explain where you got this knowledge from. And please don't spread rumours without showing any evidence whatsoever for that statement.
 
Wait, you have a B204FT in Connecticut!? Even if you did, I am assuming it is missing a bunch of stuff like the EGT sensor, boost control solenoid, wiring, etc.
 
Stock turbo is T3 with a 55 trim .42 A/R 60mm compressor and a .48 A/R turbine housing, Cosworth style but not as nice as the real deal.

There is some restriction in the tube to the compressor, alongside the block. Also found an air leak there, the arrangement with the O-rings can be troublesome.

I'd:
-Ditch the balance shafts and plug the feeds/drains. Airbox mod.
-Increase boost via the mod Ipdown did. Maybe a tad more wastegate tension or experiment with different actuator, worked for us.
-Better exhaust (DP is already 2.75" and good material so I would leave it alone)
-Later on, something like a T3 Cosworth with 69 mm compressor. Fits almost like stock. Or something more modern. Of course that turbo can move 350+ hp worth of air so this wont spool with everything stock in the EMS side and supporting mods like better IC (id save up for a drop in one from do88), more fuel yadda yadda. A set of H-beam rods would be nice too then considering the low price.

The B204FT/GT my brother has in his '82 760, with the above things and for now a T3 Cosworth 60 trim 60mm compressor and .63 A/R turbine, some more boost, 3" exhaust, I forgot what we did with the chip (drove around with Ostrich and changed stuff), light flywheel+M90. Goes nicely, not many extra's so its a light chassis compared to a 960. Good enough to annoy some good modern cars. 80-120 in 3.5-ish seconds.
Next summer GT3071R so more better next year.
 
What psi levels and rpm are you talking about? Please explain where you got this knowledge from. And please don't spread rumours without showing any evidence whatsoever for that statement.

OK then, here are the links to the rumour-pages:

Fred' chips/chipping faq: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=84817

Hi-tuning: http://hi-tuning.com/item_list.php?maingroup=Trimchip&secondgroup=Volvo&sort=item&lang=se

Ipdown's TCU mod: TCU resistor mod was explained here: http://linuxfan.org/~ipdown/mybrick.org/tcu_mod/

The last two are no longer available.
 
OK then, here are the links to the rumour-pages:

Fred' chips/chipping faq: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=84817

Hi-tuning: http://hi-tuning.com/item_list.php?maingroup=Trimchip&secondgroup=Volvo&sort=item&lang=se

Ipdown's TCU mod: TCU resistor mod was explained here: http://linuxfan.org/~ipdown/mybrick.org/tcu_mod/

The last two are no longer available.

Sorry, but Fred doesn't support your assumption in any way.
"The 2.0L 16v turbo engines (B204FT/GT) will gain 70HP+ and 55NM+ (40lb/ft+) of torque."
And: "Recommended setup: More than 300HP. Your imagination is setting the limit (well... your credit card and your balls will probably be the limit)."
If only this is reason for you to claim what you did then I suggest you try it first and tell us afterwards what went wrong. Clear case of wishfull thinking...
 
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