Gas Mileage on 940 Turbo

Discussion in 'Volvo 940' started by Dave Kaplan, Feb 14, 2005.

  1. Dave Kaplan

    Dave Kaplan Guest

    Recently bought a 94 940 Turbo wagon (automatic). I am getting 13 MPG in
    city driving. Jeez... This is like a Hummer!

    I don't drive in the turbo range very often. I was expecting much better
    from a four cylinder engine - even with turbo.

    Is this typical?

    Dave
     
    Dave Kaplan, Feb 14, 2005
    #1
  2. I don't think so. Assuming it is similar to our '85 765T (the B230FT
    engine), you should get mileage similar to ours: 20 mpg. I doubt you are
    using it mainly for shorter trips than my 3 mile commute. Is the temperature
    guage coming up to normal?

    Mike
     
    Michael Pardee, Feb 14, 2005
    #2
  3. Dave Kaplan

    arthur wouk Guest

    :Recently bought a 94 940 Turbo wagon (automatic). I am getting 13 MPG in
    :city driving. Jeez... This is like a Hummer!
    :
    :I don't drive in the turbo range very often. I was expecting much better
    :from a four cylinder engine - even with turbo.
    :
    :Is this typical?
    :
    :Dave
    :
    :

    two successive '91 940Ts have delivered city from 18-21 mpg (winter
    has alchohol mixed in - you can see the difference) and highway
    21-23mpg. something is very wrong with your machine.
     
    arthur wouk, Feb 14, 2005
    #3
  4. yea...you should be in the 18-23 mpg range...check for vacume leaks,
    cracked turbo hoses...etc...then, do a std tune up...do you see any
    black smoke while "stepping on it"?..
     
    ~^ beancounter ~^, Feb 14, 2005
    #4
  5. Sure.
    It's typical in the city ... where there's some little weasel
    siphoning/stealing half of the gas out of your tank maybe.

    Or it'd be typical if there were a rust perforation at the seam in the
    tank causing you to lose a good portion out of every tankful ?

    Otherwise, I'd say "Nope. Not typical."
     
    Eunoia Eigensinn, Feb 15, 2005
    #5
  6. i was gettin' miliage like that when i 1st picked
    up my 93 940t...turns out, i had a cracked turbo
    hose...making the car run varry rich...i has some black
    smoke when i was stomping on it....it seemed to run
    rough and rich, as well...anyway it was fine once i replaced
    the hose...
     
    ~^ beancounter ~^, Feb 15, 2005
    #6
  7. Dave Kaplan

    James Sweet Guest

    Something is very wrong, you should be getting at least 18-20mpg around town
    and mid 20's on the highway.
     
    James Sweet, Feb 15, 2005
    #7
  8. Dave Kaplan

    Henry Guest

    I was going to just jump in and quote the famous quip at you:

    'Nobody ever bought a Volvo for the fuel economy'.

    but then I converted your number (13 MPG) into my terms of reference and
    found that it is over 18 litres per 100 km. I'm sorry to say that that
    is shockingly high. Something is definitely wrong.

    cheers,

    Henry
     
    Henry, Feb 15, 2005
    #8
  9. i would guess $ on "cracked turbo hose"...how many
    miles on the car...?

    if over 100k.......i would guess hoses...hey, have you guys
    priced those babys (turbo hoses) from a volvo dealer?...
    they get, like $100 for each of the two big ones...some
    special shapes and designs in them...i tried to use a
    "getto", or home made one...it didn't work too well....the
    motor really "sucks" and "blows" a lot of air through them..I
    guess they need to be "just right" for the powerplant to
    breath correctally....this sorta dove tails into the thread on
    cone filters and the +/- of them.......outttt........

    richard
    colorado
    still driving the %$#@ out of my 93 940t...i am seeing if i can
    "drive though" my current auto tranny......it sure shifts nice
    and smooth through the gears whilst under major boost
    action...
     
    ~^ beancounter ~^, Feb 16, 2005
    #9
  10. I have replaced all the turbo hoses (except the blue piece on the turbo
    outlet) on our '85 765T. The turbo inlet hose (between the AMM and turbo)
    was the first to go and had the fewest symptoms. Feeling the bottom of that
    hose where it attaches to the turbo revealed a very soft spot that
    eventually just melted away. $150 US got me a replacement from Volvo, but I
    hear they are around $200 US now. The others, on the pressurized side of the
    turbo, produced a distinctive symptom when they failed. Acceleration was
    just fine until the turbo started spinning, then the mixture became
    extremely rich and power dropped to nearly nothing... magically restoring
    when the turbo spun down.

    I think the entire cost of the turbo hoses was about $300 US, all told.
    Labor is trivial. I would have been better off to replace all the black
    hoses at the same time rather than to let my wife be basically stranded
    several times. The failures all came around the 200K mile mark.

    Mike
     
    Michael Pardee, Feb 16, 2005
    #10
  11. I had an 86 Jetta GLI that only got about that kind of gas mileage driving
    it around SF...most trips were never over 5 miles. When I did take it out to
    the highway the gas mileage would return to the normal ~30mpg.
     
    Franz Bestuchev, Feb 16, 2005
    #11
  12. yea...i was told they 1st "go soft"...i guess
    it isn't long from there.....it is important they
    reatin their diminsions...i guess to keep the
    air/fuel in "tits" shape........
     
    ~^ beancounter ~^, Feb 16, 2005
    #12
  13. Holes are the real problem, since they change the AMM reading from the air
    really going into the engine. The turbo inlet hose can reduce the measured
    air into the engine as outside air is sucked in, but the hoses on the outlet
    side leak already-measured air to the outside world and make the AMM report
    more air used than goen into the engine. Of course, the ECU adds
    proportionately more fuel. One would think this only affects the mixture
    when running boost in the manifold, but it actually occurs when the turbo is
    pressurizing the ducts, whether the extra pressure is allowed past the
    throttle into the manifold or not. It's hard to get over 40 mph or up any
    hill at all under those conditions.

    Mike
     
    Michael Pardee, Feb 16, 2005
    #13
  14. get a Volvo tune up don't bother going to the $$$$$experts go to you small
    Volvo mechanic its cheaper and they know Volvos
     
    John Robertson, Feb 17, 2005
    #14
  15. i agreee w/john.....i have had
    better luck w/independents...heck, the
    guy i go to now lets me hang out in his
    shop and "help"....but, i still can't touch
    his tools....he knows volvo's inside
    and out...
     
    ~^ beancounter ~^, Feb 17, 2005
    #15
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