1988 Volvo 240 DL from North America - Comments

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.

Stick with the volvo.

Man volvos can be put throught any thing and every thing keep the volvo. and a turbo set up is not that hard.

I would actually go against the turbo idea unless you know what your getting yourself into. I had an 88 740 wagon. That was turbocharged and was nothing, but a pain in the ass. The car blows a quart of oil through a ridiculously hard oil line to get to. No matter what I tried I could not fix this problem. The first turbo just stopped working, the second worked then, basically fried itself. The intercooler went bad, the fan blades seized so it no longer functions, but has managed to create more problems than I can locate. I'd stick with the stock motor anyway. It's way more hilarious to meet a rice burner at a light then smoke him in what appears to be a standard Volvo 240. I would suggest a 4 speed manual tranny with the 5th overdrive though. I got my 740 up to 116. I'm sure you could have fun with it.

All you need is good injectors and the 5 spd tranny.

Its called a MK47. Would never sell my volvo!