Hi everyone,
i'm new to this site and i have a question for you.
I've made a search but couldnt find the anwser.
I have a 95 940 wagon volvo with the B230FT engine.
I bough a MBC and a turbo gauge today.
I also have a K&N air filter.
I'd like to know how much boost can the engine safely take?
Is around 12-13 safe?
The engine is stock.
Thanks you all for your help :57:

no one?

Hi!
You can raise the boost at that point, even at a higher level but you must first consider the more fuel that the engine will need! So the only thing that you are going to do increasing only the turbo pressure is to feed your engine with much more air not fuel. You are going to run lean and gradually destroy your engine. So the best solution is to place a "chip" in your ECU and then you can raise the boost even at ~14-15psi. Then you can enjoy about 220Hp to your Volvo without any doubt of affecting the reliability! :thumbsup:

chipping is only one side. you also need an upgraded turbo. higher boost will not translate into more power. the factory pre-sets the boost for these things. a chip will tell the turbo to boost more and the turbo can't. get all your info first then buy smart. good luck and keep us posted.

i dont think you can chip the 940 as it has motronic lh 2.4 ... you can put megasquirt into it, or something on the ipdusa website called perfect power 6.

you must also consider that the stock intercooler probably wont take that pressure for long as the sides will pop off, found out the hard way with my 940 :P

also the fuel injectors will be running about 80% duty cycle now anyway so you will want to consider upgrading these to bigger ones aswell as the ecu stuff.

getting a better more free-flowing exhaust often helps with low end torque, better intercooler, a new/modified turbo is a must for high pressures, but this must be matched to the engine and there is endless information about this on the net and in books etc...

the 940 b230ft puts out around 175bhp according to the manual i have here, another good thing maybe to do is from ipdusa also purchase the vx3 sport turbo camshaft, i have it and it helps a bit, though knocks back low end a bit but hey, nothing is ever perfect!

oh and a side note to raising the boost, run a higher octance fuel, normal unleaded in the uk is 95/96ron and super (tesco own) is 99ron,. higher rating of octane is needed when running higher boost to get the power and prevent pre-detonation within the engine, which can ruin it.

also watch for signs of inlet/exhaust/head gasket giving way at these pressures as the standard ones on the car arent really designed to do anything above 13ish for prolonged periods of time i have found.

wouldnt push any more then 250 bhp with the standard pistons cranks and rods though, especially if it hasnt been re-weighted balanced etc... as these can just shatter/melt so i have heard, gearboxes are good though m45 m46 and m90 are all good to 500 so i have been told, still remain suspect.

another side note to that, if you still have the standard CBV (dump valve, blow of valve, compressor bypass valve, many names) then i would be especially careful running more than 8-10 as it is only a thin rubber membrane and will split easily.

message me if you want, others feel free to correct me if i have strayed off or completely wrong on parts or all of it lol

Matt

+1 matt, good info. well done.

i also read somewhere isnt it circa 1psi of boost to equal about 4-5bhp at the flywheel? and 2 or 3 at wheels ... that aint a exact figure, i think there are some quite complicated algorithms in there somewhere, as i have been reading A LOT of books on turbo's recently

M

something like that, but there are a crap load of variables that go with that. ambient temerature, air density, etc. it's not like just overboring of old, then you would just slap a new carb, some new heads, headers and bingo, instant race car. now you have to worry about fuel pressure, constant voltage, psi regulators, and all that. that's why i always caution new owners to make sure what they want and to do it all at once. i made some seriously expensive mistakes on my turbo R and don't want them to go through it like i did.