What engine is in the 1983 gle? And tuning question

That's a B23E, in other words 2.3L engine with K-jet mechanical fuel injection.

It will probably already have a k-cam, which is a reasonably aggressive cam. Not much to gain in changing it without also doing porting, bigger valves, etc.

Free flowing rear muffler will definitely make it feel faster.

K-cam with a manual gearbox is a pretty good combination. I agree with @VolvoHordz the best thing you could do is a free flowing exhaust.

You can also advance the ignition timing to 15 degrees or so (factory is 8-10 degrees) but you'll need to run 98 octane.

Just get it sorted to begin with, don’t mess with it until it’s running sweet and the KJet is all good. Once you have a good baseline, then start messing with it. The autos are the biggest thing that makes them sluggish, a manual car, regardless of which motor, is already way better in the “go” department.

Maintenance always comes before modifications

This is a 40 year old classic car with unknown repair history

Mini1964

Thanks Fellas.

Good advice. I'm seeing all these cool Volvos on Youtube and got a little excited.

More questions..

Is the mechanical injection tweekable in the future?

Does any one have a 1983 aussie PDF brochure or manual or be able to direct me to a website?

Thanks again for your help.

check out ozvolvo.org/archive

plethora of old information in there

The red '972' sticker on the timing belt cover is the last 3 digits of the engine's part number, which is 498972:

B23E with Pulsair, K-Jetronic. 1336775 cam (i.e. K cam), and Bosch 0 237 002 017 dizzy. The parts book says it has a p/n 1317612 head, but I don't know what casting number that is. (The casting number for the head appears on the exhaust side of the head, and will be something like 1000161, 1000398, or 1000405 - known as the 161, 398, or 405 heads -ordered from least to most desirable. However, each casting has various different part numbers depending if the head's been drilled for Pulsair, etc, and the parts book doesn't link casting numbers to part numbers).

Engines before #3650 are slightly different partswise to engine numbers 3651 on.

Is the mechanical injection tweekable in the future?

Who knows about the future? ? In the present, however, there's not really much that can be done with K-Jet to radically increase engine output. Fuel pressure checks, cleaning the injectors and fixing vacuum leaks helps it to deliver optimum performance for what it is. Ditching the Pulsair system and plugging the holes may be good for a couple BHP, but will then likely fail roadworthy.

B23 engines with their M-rods, forged crank, and generous bearing sizes however do make for a very strong bottom end.

What are the intentions?

You say you have not driven the car yet, so drive it then come back to ask something you're unsure of.

Is this going to be a race, rally or just a road car? Whatever the case, I would like to make sure that some (if not all) of the 40 year old critical components are given some thought, nothing lasts forever after all

Not a nice question, but what is the budget? You can spend a figure not too far from $10,000 restoring a car mechanically, specifically making the worn out engine parts, brakes, steering and suspension new again

After all of this, you will still have a car that only has 140 horsepower, and in a vehicle that weights 1,300kg that will still feel slow. So if you're looking for a tyre smoking powerhouse, maybe the 244 isn't right for you. It will get you there in a reliable fashion, but not quickly

I do hillclimbs my 83 240 with its factory b23e. Has basic intake and exhaust mods. Runs great and pulls well but definitely isn't powerful. A decent set of sticky tyres will make you go much faster than any na engine mods you can do at a fraction of the price. Plenty of other things you can do to make the car quicker without touching the engine. Really depends on what you want to do with the car.

Congrats on the purchase and the learning potential for your son.

Pay attention to the radiator flush and hoses,

and check service records on cam belt and importantly the tensioner (bearing) and budget for new of both.

Factor in Universal joints on front and rear tailshaft and the centre donut bearing on the rear shaft.

Fuel pumps need to be quiet and replace fuel filter. For Intank pump undo the petrol cap and have a listen to pump.

Engine and k-jet mechanical fuel injection wise, a lot depends on its current condition, and hopefully it all works and engine runs nice.

Performance wise its pretty optimised as long as the engine has good life left and k/jet is running sweetly.

Education wise its the suspension and spring updates with a few bushes that are more rewarding handling wise on the 240 and this carry over knowledge to the next vehicle.

Anthony

185/70R14 is the original tyre size. Personally I have found the best setup is a 195 tyre with sports tyre grip. It keeps the steering light and for a stock 240 it is plenty of grip. I use RE003s.

Non-op blower fan will be caused by one or more of the following (from best to worst case scenarios):

Replacing the blower fan motor is one of the Volvo 240 Owners' Rites Of Passage.

There's the proper way to do this job, or the butcher method. The proper way is to remove a lot of the lower portions of the dash and a lot of clips.

https://cleanflametrap.com/ tells the story - LHD and RHD methods are very similar for these cars.

With yours being an '83, it's similar to everything else 240 partswise with the HVAC, until about YM 1990.

had a good look just now, and yes there is a compressor but no condenser!

Is there an evaporator fitted inside the HAVC unit? What about the AC controls in the centre console, hoses, etc?

My 1985 244 (Reddington, previously known as Big Red) has a York compressor fitted to the engine, but has no condenser, evaporator, or any other AC components. Looks like the compressor was installed in the factory, but the first owner didn't opt to have the dealer fit the AC.

If you have the rest of the gear fitted, the condenser may have been removed due to a front ender by a previous owner and never replaced.

Pic below shows the LH side view of an HVAC unit removed from a car and now sitting on a trolley at a 45 deg angle in my mainland shed. Note where the two rubber hoses spring forth from the box - they're the AC hoses; the TXV can be seen connected to one of them. The black butyl-covered rectangle to which they're connected is the evaporator.

(hmmm, just realised that one's a 73 model HVAC, but they're very similar)

Chances are that if you can't see the TXV on the LH side of the HVAC, you don't have an evaporator in there.

If you're adding an evaporator to the car, there's a rectangular blanking plate on the LH side of the HVAC box which needs to be removed. Then for RHD vehicles, the evaporator slides into the cavity just underneath and below the air intake, from the left hand side of the HVAC. You don't need to pull the whole heater box out to fit an evaporator (dealers didn't) but there's 30+ years of dirt in there now, so I would these days, just to clean all the leaves and dust out of there.