1988 Volvo 240 DL review from North America

Mass air flow sensor went out at about 160,000 miles. A friend got me a refurbished one for only $170.00.

Oil cap is leaking a lot (now).

Valves are sticking a lot.

AC system needs to be recharged.

Vacuum system in cabin has a leak, I just cut the line and sealed it, so now I can't control the heating and cooling settings except for temp and fan speed.

It's been in the ditch twice so it needs a good front-end alignment.

Currently does not have a muffler (thanks to the last wreck). This gives a 7-10 hp boost and higher low-end torque though.

This is a 1988 Volvo 240DL 4-door sedan with a 2.3L port-injected in-line 4 cylinder.

After tweaking with the timing and installing a new Civic Twin Cone air filter it's maxed out at 105 in third gear (it's a four speed auto with OD). It doesn't have enough power to get into fourth at full throttle, but at three quarters throttle I've gotten it up to 107 (very low rpm in fourth). It also has a 0-60 of about 9 sec and a quarter mile run of 70mph (but this includes slowing down to get in the driveway). When I maxed it out in third (105mph) it was on a one-half mile long road with a 90 degree turn at the end.

Its speed to gear ratings at full throttle are as follows:

first-40mph

second-75mph

third-105mph

fourth-not yet known.

I could probably get it to max out (high rpm) in fourth if I got the injectors bored out.

I don't know if I want to get some serious performance parts for this (i.e. racing cam, performance exhaust, turbo, new injectors, and a performance chip) or just get a 1988 Civic CRX si hatchback with a 1.6L. What do you think?

I got it from a friend of the families for only $300 and put about $1500 worth of new stock parts.