S80 turbo

[Timmygee]

Hi guys
I’ll start by introducing myself.
I’ve loved Volvo cars since I saw Roger Moore driving one when I was a kid in the sixties.
My first encounter in the flesh came with my first girlfriend’s dad who owned a 144 estate. It was pale yellow with brown trim and brand new. I was in love, and I liked the girl as well.
Since then I’ve owned a 244, 2x66’s, a 340 and a 940. I have just taken possession of an S80 2.4 petrol. Mechanically she’s in great shape but her bodywork has taken a bit of a beating. I can deal with the cosmetics but I have a question.
I know that they produced a turbo version of the same engine and I’ve been offered the manifold and turbo.
Can it really be that easy?
Can I just bolt it on, connect it up and enjoy the benefits of those extra horses?
I’d appreciate any assistance or advice that you could offer and I’ll post some before and after photos when I’ve got them.
Hope to hear back from you.
Tim.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Timmygee

Hi guys
I’ll start by introducing myself.
I’ve loved Volvo cars since I saw Roger Moore driving one when I was a kid in the sixties.
My first encounter in the flesh came with my first girlfriend’s dad who owned a 144 estate. It was pale yellow with brown trim and brand new. I was in love, and I liked the girl as well.
Since then I’ve owned a 244, 2x66’s, a 340 and a 940. I have just taken possession of an S80 2.4 petrol. Mechanically she’s in great shape but her bodywork has taken a bit of a beating. I can deal with the cosmetics but I have a question.
I know that they produced a turbo version of the same engine and I’ve been offered the manifold and turbo.
Can it really be that easy?
Can I just bolt it on, connect it up and enjoy the benefits of those extra horses?
I’d appreciate any assistance or advice that you could offer and I’ll post some before and after photos when I’ve got them.
Hope to hear back from you.
Tim.

afraid not no, there are engine differences and ECU differences plus all the extra sensors and Intercooler to say the least !

[mcfe]

Allow me to explain it a bit, since this is something I want to do as well.

The 2.4 140/170hp engine are nearly identical to the turbo versions in all but these areas:

1. There is no oil return line for the oil feed to the turbo. There is a freeze plug that has to be removed, in some cases drilled. Of course these Volvo turbos are also coolant cooled. You need those pipes.
2. The 2.4i has higher compression, 10.3:1 whereas the turbo versions have 8.5:1. This will allow you very little boost, in the range of 3 to maximum 6 psi with a good tune, ever. This requires a turbo with a very little pressure ratio of maybe 1.2 or 1.4. Higher compressions = higher temps when compressed so much = higher chance of detonation. A top of the line intercooler is needed.
3. Camshaft overlap. Turbo versions have less valve overlap to minimize the boost escaping in the exhaust, wasting some of the charge. But this is potentially a non-issue as we've seen turbo guys use NA camshafts with little ill effects. However this does not take into account the VVT, the VVT will advance the camshaft timing increasing the overlap.
   
4. Biggest obstacle is the potential for the piston rings in the NA engine to have very little gap compared to the turbo engines. This gap is not documented anywhere in VADIS or VIDA. It is possible that NA and Turbo engines have the same small gap of around .01 to .014 inches(as documented in one single case https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineBuild...vo_5_cylinder/ ). In the turbo industry these values are considered small and do not allow enough expansion of the rings resulting in catastrophic failure if the rings bump into each other, however it is possible that Volvo's material science has determined that even under boost this gap is enough. In any case the piston ring gap is the most biggest single point of failure when turboing a NA engine.
5. Another obstacle is the ECU. The 2.4i use the Denso ECU, nobody but me has done any reverse engineering on it. More air = more power but requires more fuel. I have discovered the fuel maps after a year of research into it, however the biggest problem is if the integrated MAP sensor in the manifold will allow for proper fueling under boost. I believe it can handle 6 psi.
6. NA intake manifold is directly connected to the PCV. The PCV system needs to be moved so that the boost does not enter the crankcase and blow out the crank seals. Additionally there is either a PTC heater for the crankcase ventilation on the intake manifold or a plug in its place, one must ensure boost cannot escape there.
7. Exhaust pipe flange between exhaust manifold and catalytic converter is straight in the NA engine but curved for the turbo applications which may require changing parts of the exhaust system to suit the turbo. Easily found on the junkyard.
   
   It is doable, just requires patience and perhaps luck for the ring lands.

[stuart bowes]

Probably easier and infinitely less risk of failure to just buy one that has a turbo from the factory who knew what they were doing when they made it I would imagine

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-det...o=2024&fromsra

with the programming, and the sensors, and all the faffing about that goes with it you're bound to be in for endless trouble and constantly having various lights up on the dash, and all that work involved as well, probably not worth the hassle

[mcfe]

No additional sensors are needed. Most NA volvos are fitted with a MAP sensor to the intake manifold. And that is mostly what is required.

Basically, it is possible. I personally do not recommend buying a turbo variant, with the prices of used vehicles right now. Additionally what you see is not what you get, if there are hidden caveats with the car. Different car, different problems to solve.

However what is true that once you go beyond the spec and it becomes a custom car, most mechanics will in for a treat. There are also indeed various other things such as codes for weird airflow or whatever as the programming is expecting 14 or so psi under full throttle in the intake manifold and around 5 with closed throttle. It may trigger various codes when these values are outside the specified range for a NA engine.

[Georgeandkira]

Wouldn't your insurance company insist on inspecting every modification you made...and bill you?

[mcfe]

Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

Wouldn't your insurance company insist on inspecting every modification you made...and bill you?

Maybe OP knows about his country. We don't have anything like that over here. We can gut the cat or DPF and be on our merry way.

[stuart bowes]

I don't believe my NA has a MAP sensor, i may be wrong, it's never come up as a fault that needs dealing with

Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

Wouldn't your insurance company insist on inspecting every modification you made...and bill you?

they would want to know the details, yeah, I don't know 1st hand but I'm willing to bet that insurance on a car that is 'supposed to be that way' is gonna be a lot cheaper (or at least easier to arrange) than a car that you've done a lot of messing about with

there are specialist insurers for that sort of thing though so you can probably get it down to a sensible cost with some ringing around

the other issue of course being that the inevitable Christmas tree dashboard and EML lights would mean getting through an MOT will be drama unless you can somehow persuade the sensors to accept the new values with the mapping and so on

I'm not sure how buying a 2nd hand car would be any more of a risk or more expensive (considering the link I supplied above with an example at a pretty decent cost) than the 2nd hand car OP already purchased which is just as likely to have faults

you pays your money you makes your choice I guess, for me it wouldn't be worth the hassle when there's 'off the shelf' versions easily available

that may not be the case in other countries of course

[stuart bowes]

Originally Posted by mcfe

We can gut the cat or DPF and be on our merry way.

not so here, you'd end up falling foul of the MOT I reckon, emissions would be all over the place surely

I'd love to know where 'here' is because it sounds like cars are just running rampant all over the place with all sorts of unregistered mods and no-one caring

[mcfe]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

not so here, you'd end up falling foul of the MOT I reckon, emissions would be all over the place surely

I'd love to know where 'here' is because it sounds like cars are just running rampant all over the place with all sorts of unregistered mods and no-one caring

It is the country of Bulgaria. We have MOTs but they are more like a smoke screen. Not enough money for people to move away from old cars or to take care of them properly.

The DPF is usually gutted and software disabled to prevent problems like clogging and reducing engine life, as-is the same with EGR.