I just purchased a new (to me) 1994 940 for my (almost) 18 year old. He is enamoured with the car and a great future BrickHead.

I have been away for a couple of years (previously owned an 89 740 Turbo) and it is great to see the BrickBoards alive and well and, as ever, extremely useful.

I have three questions:

The car comes stock with 185/65/R15 tires, but mine has 205/60/R15 tires on it. I am going to go back to the stock listed tires (can easily be persuaded in other directions by input from this board) but want to know if it is likely that the 205s are still on stock wheels, or, did they likely change wheels as well?

The car has the cloth (light brown) interior, excellent condition, except that the left side of the driver's seat is somewhat torn loose from the seat frame and the foam is very soft. Are the upholsterers out there? Is there a reasonably priced replacement seat? Anyone ever tried the pairs of "racing" seats as seen on ebay?

OK, the real issue, the car is somewhat sluggish on acceleration. Especially if already in fourth (or overdrive?). When I bought it, it definitely knocked or tapped when trying to go up a slight incline and maintaining 60 or trying for slight acceleration. I changed oil (Rotella 5W-40 full syn) and the knocking is now almost non-existent unless really warm and trying to push above 70.

I expect I will do a tranny flush shortly, but want to know where to look for other things that might improve the acceleration.

Thanks in advance.

Regarding the knocking, you might try almost emptying the gas tank, then add a bottle of Techron Concentrated Fuel System cleaner and refill with a quality 93 octane premium gas such as Mobil. That minimized any pinging I got in my 240.

As mentioned, changing your air filter and checking the your ignition parts is a good idea. Maybe it needs new plugs?

Our 1994 940 (non-turbo) is also very sluggish on acceleration, so I believe it's just a characteristic of the car. It has the same 114BHP engine as the late 240's and is a bit heavier. By all means check the timing belt's alignment, and do the usual tuneup stuff, but don't expect much improvement.

A "sluggish" car is probably not a bad thing for an inexperienced young driver.
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Bob: son's XC70, dtr's '94-940, my 81GL, 83-DL, 89-745(V8) and 98-S90. Also 77-MGB and some old motorcycles.

No Doubt! :)

I am certainly not trying to spice it up too much, I am more concerned about it knocking/tapping/whatever you call that at 65mph and climbing or going up a hill.

OK, truth is I am having so much fun having a Brick again that I want it to play nice.

Check and replace air filter, seems obvious, but worth $12-$17 - WIX is a good brand, O'Reillly stocks them (I thought it was better quality than current IPD stock)

If the Timing Belt was replaced and is off one tooth on the Cam, it will start nicely, rev up nicely in Neutral but be sluggish over the road. It's easy to have this happen when doing a Timing Belt install, the Tensioner kind of pulls the slack out shifting the Cam sprocket.

Can't help you with seats.. My little experience was with 200 series seats.

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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/

Thanks, Tony. Interesting note on the timing belt. The seller just had it changed, so, hmmmmm.

OK, so I am a rocket scientist, and bought this car with one goal being for my son to actually learn something about fixing and maintaining. How hard is it to do the belt?

Headed straight to the FAQ from here.

By many other cars standards. This one is easy. first timer... keep 3 hours free.
Only issue is getting the Crank Pulley off. It will fall off in your hand BUT you have to get the 24(?) mm bolt out.
I'll e-mail you some quicky notes that I wrote down after doing mine the first time. I have a 200 series not the 900... Timing Belt change..same thing

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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/

Almost certainly the wheels have not been changed, especially for that small a jump in size.
A Honda Accord runs the 185 and is a smaller lighter car. I'd run the larger, or go to 195/60 or so.
Seat; the bottoms are interchangeable left to right, so find a good pass seat bottom and swap it in. It's not hard but taking the seat out is the recommended way.

If you do end up swapping seats play it safe and disconnect the air bag.

Dear jwalker,

Hope you're well. D E A T H - D A N G E R - W A R N I N G ! ! !

Before trying to remove the driver's seat in any 940 sold in North America, remove the negative battery cable clamp from the battery terminal, and put the clamp in a plastic bag, to isolate it. Then wait 20 minutes.

This cuts power supply to the SRS (Airbag) System and allows time for any energized components to discharge.

The airbag sensor is under the driver's seat, affixed to the floor pan.

If this sensor is banged - for example, if you drop the seat on it, or drop a tool on it - the airbag could deploy. This can be lethal, at close quarters.

An airbag deployment will also be costly: a new sensor is about $1,200. A new airbag is about the same. Both seatbelt units will also need to be replaced: they have pyrotechnic pre-tensioners, that lock the belts, when the airbags deploy. All SRS cables also have to be replaced. An airbag deployment often will crack the windshield.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook