The #3 piston on my 89 740 has a chunk missing out of it. The local U-pull it has engines for $129, and a decent selection of Volvos. They don't have any 1989s with the 5 speed though. The only manual tranny car they had was an 80's 240. They have about a half dozen 740s, but they're all automatics. Will an engine out of an automatic bolt up? This car is by all accounts a beater/commuter that I don't plan on keeping for a long time so ease of installation, price, and availability trump reliability and longevity.

I've never done an engine swap in a manual tranny car, or a Volvo for that matter. Just domestic dinosaurs...

Is the fuel injection system different for certain years? Should I use my existing intake manifold instead of the junkyard one?

Thanks for the help!

I just completed a swap of an 86 B230F into my 88 765 to replace a badly hurt B230F "K" block. Using the electronics for the turbo application and the existing fuel system, I am now getting 25 mpg over the 22 mpg with the turbo motor. I removed the turbo some time ago and had already installed the B230F exhaust on the car.

I don't think that the engine lower end is an issue on the older models unless you are going to drive like a mad man, then you should probably consider a V-8 conversion.

Regards,
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Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles

I just changed the engine in my 88 765 to an older one from an 86 244 N/A. Since the turbo had already been removed and the exhaust off of the same 86 B230F was being used, the swap was relatively painless. The mileage jumped to 25 from 22mpg with the turbo injectors and electronics. The 86 B230F had a manual tranny, but removing the pilot bushing was easily done and the auto tranny convertor slid right in to its bushing. The only electrical change was to the sidew mount distributor which is a direct plug in to the existing harness.

Regards,



--
Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles

Don't concern yourself with auto vs stick. Installing a new pilot bearing in the back of the crank (something you'd want to do anyway) is all that's needed to make it work. Be more attentive to year... 1988 got larger main bearings but there were two versions - thrust bearing @ #3, and later moved to #5. Connecting rods were also larger since 1988. A 1989 or later engine assures you of the stronger version. Start with donor car year. The actual date code of the engine is cast into the block between the bolt holes for the passenger side motor mount bracket. You'll have to unbolt the aluminum casting to read it. An engine dated later than 880520 (20 May 1988) will be 63MM mains with rear thrust bearing.

If your car ran well, re-use all your intake/fuel injection/wiring. Be sure to also transfer the coolant temp sensor if the donor engine has LH 2.2 with ignition pickup in the distributor. (The dual sensor from 2.4 can be used on either, but not the other way around.)

The older engines are just fine and powered many cars, but considered weaker by most. Avoid a turbo block as there are many differences.

When installing the flywheel - you MUST, MUST, MUST be sure to position it correctly or you will be redoing the job. With front pulley marks near TDC, the "missing" hole on the flywheel should be inline with the starter opening. If you instead position the closed hole straight up, inline with the crankshaft pickup, the front pulley mark will be at approx. 9:00 position - viewed from front. I warn you of this because the flywheel can be installed in eight positions. Seven of them are wrong.

Thanks for the heads up with the flywheel. I'd have goofed that up. So basically as long as I position the crank the same on the old engine and "new" engine and install the flywheel the same way -- that will work?

How can I tell which computer I'm using (2.2 vs. 2.4?)

Thanks again!

Use the method of checking the relationship of the front mark and the "odd" hole in the flywheel without relying on trying to put two engine in the same position. You should, however, put your original engine in the correct position before unbolting the flywheel just for the sake of getting familiar with how the marks line up on a running engine.

1989 was the one year that used both LH 2.2 (turbo only) and LH 2.4 (non-turbo only). The obvious difference is that LH 2.2 uses the hall sensor in the distributor for crank reference signal, and therefore the ignition timing is adjustable. The LH 2.4 system uses a magnetic pickup coil at the back of the block. This is why the flywheel position is important. Another outward difference is the underhood diagnostic unit with the 2.4 system.

Another poster said something about manual and automatic crankshafts. I believe that the information is incorrect as every automatic B230F and B230FT that I've seen was able to receive a pilot bearing. Conversion from auto to manual does not require an engine change. If I am wrong, we'll both hear about it.

Greetings,

My 2 cents worth.

There also were REX/REGINA non-turbo 740's sold in 1989, I have one and the flywheels are different than the Bosch equipped cars, both manual and auto.

The rex/regina cars have a diagnostic box also. So investigate well before you buy, rex/regina electronics and bosch flywheels don't work well together, nor the other way around.

Hope this helps,rcs

Your point of different systems is exactly why I told the original poster to re-use all his car's external parts. Besides the Rex/Regina, later engines could have LH 3.1 - which (if I remember reading correctly) uses a slightly different number of holes.

How did the piston get damaged? and is the block damaged? If all you need is some pistons. I just did an engine swap or tried to. I got one of the earlier engine with an auto and the crank is not setup for a pilot bearing. Some cranks will only work an auto trans or manual. If you block and crank are fine you could just swap some pistons onto the old rods. I only mention this because of all the trouble I had with mine. I basically took two B230 engines completely apart and put them back together over the past two weeks. You can get another B230 and it can be the wrong engine. The main deffernce is in the crank. Some have the small main journals and some have the large. Some are set up for a pilot bearings and some are not. And they don't make a different size for the earlier years. I guess if you can find an ealier year B230 from a manual car it would work OK. Feel free to e-mail me directly at bjersr@bellsouth.net. If you need some pistons I've got some extras.

Barry

Barry -- thanks for the suggestion. The piston has a 1/2" chunk missing out of the edge. It looks like a chip, although I suppose it may have melted away like that. Someone used "stop leak" in this motor and clogged up several of the coolant passages. I suppose it overheated and melted that piston.

I actually replaced 3 pistons in a Buick Regal when I was in high school. Didn't remove the block from the car, just pulled the heads and dropped the pan. slid them right out the top. Put some rags over the crank and honed it right there in the car too! Outside, in January (in Pennsylvania) no less! I can't believe some of the stuff I used to do.

I'm leaning towards replacing the engine because the coolant passages are probably clogged in the block as well. Definitely in the head. Yeah -- I could have the head baked -- but $60 for head work, $50 for a gasket kit -- I can get a running junkyard motor for $129.

On the flipside I suppose I could clean out the coolant passages with pipe cleaners, and maybe a bath in the parts washer...

I dunno... I'm trying to sell the whole car as a project so I don't have to deal with it, and it doesn't go to the crusher (hate to crush a pretty blue 5 speed wagon)

too many options!

Thanks for the advice. I have a picture of the broken piston if anyone would like to see. Barry I'll send it to you right now.

Rob