Old Volvos with Fuel Injection

There’s a ‘71 Volvo 1800e for sale nearby that looks interesting and I'm going to look at it this weekend. But it has fuel injection and that concerns me. My old ’68 1800S that was my daily driver back in the ‘70s had SU carbs, and I was familiar with tuning them. I have no experience with fuel injection. Is it better or worse than carbs on these old Volvos? Anybody have any personal experience?

Incidentally the car that's for sale supposedly has an IPD reprogrammed variable fuel injector control box. Is that a good thing?

It's Bosch D-Jetronic injection, and it works great when it's working right. It's generally very reliable, but you are looking at parts that are 37 years old now, and for some of which new replacements are NLA. It's not hard at all to convert it to more modern, mappable injection if it comes to that.

The IPD box is not programmable at all, it just lets you make overall mixture adjustments on the fly manually. There's no need for this if the stock stuff is working as designed -- it was meant to compensate for modified engines, which the stock D-Jet does not do well.

'70-'71 models had the best performance of the whole 1800 line, and many consider them to be the most desirable ones. If you like the car overall, don't let the injection scare you off. Here's an overview of the system:

All About D-Jet

Thanks VClassics. Here's the full description of the car:

"Volvo P1800e 1971; This is a very nice car with a rebuild and minor restoration preformed at 116,190 miles in 1984. It was delivered new in Beverton, Oregon and remained there until 2002. There are many upgrades which have been made to this car and here are a few of them. ENGINE: Hardened exhaust valves & seats, double springs, HD lifters & retainers, steel timing gear set, polished IPD 1971 cam grind, bored .020 over, balanced crank and rods, lightened & balanced fly wheel, heavy duty clutch & pressure plate, new injectors, fuel pump, oil pump with updated retainer ring, motor mounts, IPD reprogrammed variable fuel injector control box, remote oil cooler and oil filter. SUSPENSION; Bilstein shocks, reinforced upper shock towers, lowering coils, front & rear oversized anti-sway bars, floor pan reinforcement kit rear, urethane bushings front, delrin upper A arm & panard rod bushings, new rear bushings, front steering rod & ends, SS brake lines rear. Additional items: Laguna driving lights."

The price seems right for all the mods. Any additional comments based on that description?

I had a used 1970 Volvo 144(E?) in 1975 and the fuel injection never was problem for the two years. My problems were: Rust Auto transmission Brakes Alternator Radiator Steering linkage

I used good repair shops at the time and the costs killed me.

Cheers Ron

Gary, those mods are what was considered to hot setup in 1984, and although we've raised the performance bar quite a lot since then, they're still generally desirable. I wouldn't say that they add or subtract value -- depends on what the buyer wants.

The cam is an Isky VV71, which has a stronger midrange than stock (up to 5000 RPM) but usually doesn't wind out quite as high.

Current consensus is that the Bilstein shocks are much too stiff in back, but those can be revalved. They're pretty good in front. The added rear swaybar makes the car quite tail-happy for my tastes, but the front is a very good upgrade.

If I may ask, what's the price?

Ron, the first injected 140-series Volvo was the '71, and only the two-door. Yours may have been a '73 (and yeah, there were a lot of quality problems creeping up around then -- I sympathize).

VClassics, the seller is asking $5,500, but of course price is negotiable.

VClassics:

I was going through my timeline of cars and you likely know more about the models. It was a Canadian FI Volvo four door and the FI never failed. Most problems were salt corrosion related. This was the earliest of the more sharp-edged of the boxy shape. The good: Great interior and seats in leather Excellent highway cruiser Very good handling It impressed the neighbors Big trunk Electricals were very good. Always started in the worst cold. Story: I was at a motel and the weather dropped to minus 30's overnight. The car was plugged into a line supplied by the motel but that morning I saw it went nowhere. The big truck near me was placing a can of lit sterno under the oil pan and I realized it was time to go. We got in the old Volvo. Will it start? I was asked. If the engine moves, this car will start. I turned the key and slowly the motor turned over. Once, twice and it fired and labored against the oil that had turned to paste. I put the car (automatic) in reverse and waited 5 seconds for something to happen before we crept out of the lot and headed up the road. It still took 5 minutes before it would shift into second and find its legs.

Cheers Ron

Gary, if the car is straight and not a rustbucket, $5500 is a very fair price. If it's a nice car, it's a steal. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, either here or off the board:

editor AT vclassics DOT com

Ron, '71 was the first year injection was offered in the 140, and only for the 142E. I think (not sure) it could be had on the 144 and 145 in '72, and I know it was available on all variants in '73. '74s got K-jet (CIS) instead of electronic injection. '72-on were low compression B20s (8.7:1), while the '71 had 10.5:1.

--Phil

OK, thanks Phil. I'll take a look at it this weekend.

I had D-Jet on my '74 164E. I can attest that it is a pretty solid and reliable setup - the ignition points were much more of a pain than any part of the FI system!

Sounds like a good deal.

Yeah ... maybe too good to be true. The seller (actually the broker for a mystery owner) seems to be playing hard to get. My first call to him on Saturday morning he haid he was "on the way to a funeral" and to call hem back later. I called several times later but didn't get an answer, and he never did return my calls. Maybe the funeral was his own. In any case that raises a giant red flag on this whole thing.

Bummer... did sound like a decent car, but I agree this has the makings of, "Paypal a deposit for the car and..."

I have a bunch of vintage Volvo FI parts including a couple of the boxes. If anyone needs anything let me know. I am in a major basement cleaning mode. That clean up may even end up including the fearsome GRM 122 Project Car.

Aaron

Aaron:

Do you own the old GRM 122 project car?

Is this it at the Jacksonville Cars and Coffee last month, or a look-alike?

http://www.carsandcoffee.info/forum/showthread.php?t=4325

I may be interested in the FI parts. Let me know what you have: ifurqueron at ipsdb.com

Yeah, I own the GRM 122 Project Car. Or I do for the moment. I have been considering selling everything. I am having a mid-life car crisis. It's a great car, and it starts no matter what. But I am just done with cars for the time being.

If I come to my senses down the road, I can always get a Factory Five supercar.

Aaron