Post 789116 by pingpong on 2015-10-22 22:55:11
First off hi from a new member, looking forward to learning a lot from the community!
So where to start with this one..
I've always wanted a fast estate as I find the whole concept totally perverse and never really found an excuse to have one until now.
I have a bunch of other cars including a Alfa Giulietta as a daily, but my favourite is probably my Clio cup race car - it is the definition of grip, corners like a house fly...
Anyway, I digress: I've been looking for a estate to pull my Brian James and to do tip / building merchant runs due to an ongoing house project, it will also be used every year for the run to LM with my mates. I looked at TDI vags and a few other marques but having had a V40 1.9 D a few years ago I really wanted another Volvo. Cut a long story short my friend linked me to an ad for the 850 which in all honesty I hadn't considered as an option due to age. Anyway, the price was sub £350 so well within budget, it had FSH, towbar and once I took it for a drive I knew it was a car I needed in my life - I was shocked at the performance, the 5cyl sound and the old school addictive turbo lag :)
Exterior wise is a little rough, but mechanically it felt sweet so I shook the chaps hand and away we went.
So, engine is healthy having tested it, going to repair all the broken bits, service everything then start some upgrades which are probably the common done thing around here so not particularly exciting. I've been looking for a new project recently anyway now the clio is reliable so this is a perfect excuse to get the tools out again.
It already has a absaloute (sp?) map but I don't really like the delivery (although there may be an underlying TCS issue there). I need a decat down pipe and cat back, a bigger turbo and some other supporting bits and pieces before having a live engine calibration. Have picked up some titans from @Ettienne on here (who mentioned the forum - hence I am here) which have then been refurbed, going to chuck on some eibachs and fresh dampers. Looking for an R front bumper (imaginative...) and then I'd love to get the car repainted in Radical blue.
Any recommendations on where to locate a reasonably priced straight flange downpipe, a 18T turbo (seems to be the best bang for buck based on research) and a R front bumper would be gratefully received!
Here it is in its slightly ghetto boxy glory.
Cheers!
Took a long day on the car and managed to get the front shocks, wishbones, eibachs and track rod ends fitted to hopefully improve the super lose steering. All standard bits, aside from the springs, not interested in poly'ing or stiffening things really - it's not worth it frankly; nice compliant ride with plenty of shove it what I am after :)
Most frustrating thing is that in a past life I had a fully equipped workshop with a ramp, working on the floor makes everything just that little bit harder - hey ho!
Also did the cam & aux belt, water pump and thermostat (to solve the dipping temp on the road) as well as fluids and a few other bits and piece.
Engine generally speaking is nice and dry, no leaks either side, although underneath someone has bodged some silicon on what I think is the Turbo oil return pipe, not sure if it requires any attention however.
Belts are a pleasure compared to the F4R renault engine, its a 4hr job even for the experienced, only thing that had me scratching my head was that the new aux belt was about 6" longer than the original but after some quick research online it appears they changed the belt routing which explained the extra length.
Happy with the progress so far, more updates to follow - it has a lot of work ahead of it this week moving some other cars around so I'm pleased i've managed to get the long overdue service bits done.
Cheers
Pulled the trailer a treat, sometimes forgot it was there!
Whole trip has uncovered a few issues; there's a major steering wobble above 90 so need to look into that and the tailgate is a bit loose so I need to adjust the latch position.
Something else that I was aware of but has become clearer with some load behind her is that the power / boost curve oscillates through the RPM range. It boosts, takes off, then backs off, then repeats throughout the entire rev range - video in 5th with WOT throughout is pretty clear:
[video]http://vid1115.photobucket.com/albums/k553/pingponged/Clip_zpsqogoqbjc.mp4[/video]
Would value anyone's comments for things to look at? My view is either the map is too aggressive and the ECU is cutting back due to knock or AFR or there is a sensor / actuator issue that causes the hesitation? It's quite a smooth oscillation so I don't think its a fuel cut, good thing when its 'boosting' its bloody rapid :)
Cheers
Now looking at exhausts, choice seems pretty limited off the shelf, so maybe a ferrita will do.
The downpipe also came with a 'angled' exhaust housing for the turbo, I guess for compatibility with later cars but also possibly for a slightly higher output? Anyway it appears the stock 15g is not compatible with the housing, but that wasn't a major concern as I had intended to swap the turbo anyway, again a 16T came up on here for sale at a good price so I've picked that up as well, those bits should arrive next week. My train of thought is that in the future if I wanted to move to a larger turbo like a 18 or 19 the same housing should be useable?
Right, back to the odd engine behaviour in my earlier post. I swapped out the mapped ecu with the stock one that came with the car and the behaviour immediately stopped, that's not to say that there isn't an underlying issue with the car when its generating more beans, but it was a step in the right direction. I'm going to look at vac lines and the actuator on the turbo when I swap it - I think you can buy the actuators separately? Maybe an uprated aftermarket part might be worth looking at? I guess more reading required... :)
Once I get all the new bits on I would certainly like to send this old ECU off and get a more suitable map, can this be done remotely? Are there any good live calibration places to use? Any recommendations as to who or where to go would be appreciated!
Cheers
It sits nicely on the springs now they have settled:
So on with the maintenance and upgrades.
Hopefully by the end of the week the 16T exhaust, downpipe, turbo, manifold and injectors will be fitted. I'm hoping to get an ECU off Ettienne with a map for the job already done.
Also replaced all vac lines, Turbo oil & water pipes following Ettienne's advice. Most of the vac lines from the TCV were all shot to bits so I am hoping that is the route cause of the surging turbo pressure issue detailed earlier in the thread.
Looking forward to the run out to Le Mans with the car this year, hoping it will be fast and reliable :B_thumb:
Whilst it was apart I replaced the intercooler hoses with some Samco jobs. I would have rather they have been black but the price was good so blue it was! They have a dump valve T which I've blanked as I really don't like the sound a dump valve makes. Also changed the PAS pump as it was getting very loud!
Fitted new brakes all round and handbrake shoes on the rear - stonking 45% offer on at ECP so couldn't pass the saving!
Cleaned up the mudflaps with some stain black paint, came out really well!
Body work wise I dropped a tidy rear bumper, R front bumper and the spoiler off with a friend for painting, should be collecting today or tmrw and fitting before Thursday morning for the trip to LM. Looking forward to not having a cloud of lacquer peel behind the car on the motoway :)
Need to do something about the roof mouldings, currently researching the best option, any suggestions would be useful:
Finally my favourite upgrade:
Fear not this is just a temporary bit of fun for LM :)
So, left to do this week is fit the painted panels, fit the white injectors once they are back from being serviced, fit the ECU with the correct calibration (thanks again Ettienne!) and then go out and make sure the stock clutch is ok at least for now...
I understand the stock clutch may be approaching its limit at this spec (280-290hp ATF) so we will have to see. I also believe my car might be a dual mass type flywheel type so I think a solid flywheel and R clutch upgrade in the future may be required, especially as I would like to add another 50hp or so at a later date.
Super excited about the drive out to France with the car this week - as long as there is a regular supply of fuel available!!
Performance is quite frankly awesome -I'm over the moon with the in gear delivery, super smooth and very quick!
[video=youtube_share;PeICzfIbSS4]https://youtu.be/PeICzfIbSS4[/video]
The Lambda light is currently on and Solus suggests the following faults, they don't entirely make 100% sense due to the spec of the car.
After some digging I noted I had not reconnected the PCV nipple thing - that does not appear to have corrected the light however - but it may not be self clearing? I'll get the car down to Ettienne for knowledgeable code reading once I have a chance.
Then the return of the painted panels. The spoiler came out a treat, I refurbished the brackets as well as they were very rusty:
Front bumper - needed a few crack repairing, but again came out a treat:
Its really transformed the look of the car!
Rear bumper - this was a total b@stard to get off as the two main captive nuts on the rear brackets spun, i'll let the pictures do the talking... the old bumper had to come off in many parts....
Does anyone know what the black pads that where gaffer taped under the bumper are? You can see them in the above image on the left hand side. I am thinking they are something to do with impact detection but have not been able to find a conclusive answer...
Replaced these knackered brackets.
Gave it a wash and added stickers for LM trip:
With the other cars in the group Rapid Fit BTCC Mondeo and an M3. Volvo was the kit bus and was properly loaded up as you can just about make out in the pics below.
In terms of future plans during the trip back the car developed a misfire under full load and I'm suspecting that the plugs are not enjoying the new stress being placed on them. I've thought back and with all the work I've done on the car I cannot actually remember changing them so that's on the list. Need to solve the lamba light at some point. Would like to realign the rear bumper as its sagging on the brackets I fitted and is getting a bit melty near the tailpipe. Larger front brakes are also in the pipe line as well as some replacement doors for the passenger side to remove the key scratch that runs across them.
Have got a lot on over the next few weeks with Holidays and house renovations so might have to throttle back working on the car for now. Thanks for reading and thanks to Ettienne for all his technical support so far!
I took great care cleaning the block to ensure a good seat for the HG, as well as cleaning all the coolant deposits from the various coolant line fittings. I also carefully inspected each cylinder and there was no evidence of cracking etc. Compression test all ok.
So... what am I looking at now - heater matrix? Radiator? Water pump? Any ideas because I'm stumped!