Quote:
Originally Posted by DW42
The KE-jet injection on some models is also very good as long as you take care of air leaks in the intake and injector seals. It's my understanding that if the injection electronics fail on these they default back to operating as mechanical K-jet and run normally, if less efficiently.
|
The only KE-Jetronic models we got here in the UK were those with catalytic converters and Lambda sensors and the electronics simply controls the mixture a bit tighter than the basic K-Jet system does all by itself. In simple terms, if the electronics sees a voltage rise from the Lambda sensor, it decreases the control pressure on the injection to reduce the CO, conversely if the Lambda voltage is too low, it increases the control pressure to increase the CO - this is all set round a basic setting that was "optimal" on the day it was set.
As such, you're spot-on that if the electronics fail on a KE-Jetronic, the system then operates as a normal K-Jet but it's not really a practical solution having electronic control of a mechanical device to alter the mixture, yes it works fine for ages then when it fails.......
Quote:
Originally Posted by Othen
There have been some really sensible comments above Venomtail.
You have something of a dichotomy: if you want a car that is good for long overseas touring trips then the latest car you can find (an early 90s car) would be best; on the other hand if you want a project car with round headlamps then it would have to be a pre-1980 motor.
My car is a 1980 244 (the RB), I love it to bits but I wouldn't want to take it on a 2,000 mile touring holiday - it is reliable enough but low geared, quite thirsty (25 MPG) and has few of the safety and comfort features of the later cars - one of my other cars would always be better for that. The RB is an excellent project car though: modern and reliable enough to drive on the roads but providing just enough challenges to be interesting. It has a carburettor, manual choke, 3 speed auto gearbox and the only electronic item is the quartz clock. These are all good things from the perspective of maintaining a 41 year old car, but bad things from a long touring holiday vista.
As others have pointed out, later cars would be much more suitable to your needs, be much less prone to rust, be more efficient, easier to maintain, safer and more comfortable. Very good later cars can be purchased for £2,000 to £3,000 whereas even a middling historic car will cost over £5,000.
It is up to you, but you probably can't satisfy both your requirements with one car (and I really wouldn't think importing a LHD car would be sensible at all).
I hope we hear from you again Venomtail.
Alan
|
Nicely summed up Alan! I agree about the later cars but if the OP wants to go classic then i would avoid anything with EFi, particularly those with LambdaSond as that brings a whole different level of home servicing into the mix. Very few people left "in the trade" that understand the early Bosch injection systems, these days if they can't plug an OBD-II reader into it they're banjaxed and basically tell the victim ................ errrrrrrrrrrrrr, customer that the ECU has failed and the car needs to be scrapped.
The K-Jetronic system is devoid of electronics (except the ignition which is separate) unless as explained above, it has a Lambda sensor and cat on it.
Properly set up, it's as good as the comparable EFi system and on my previous 740GLEs (K-Jet) i've often heard the MoT tester mutter something along the lines of "I can't see a cat but it must have one somewhere to be that clean!" while doing the emissions test.
None of my real Volvos have had a cat on thankfully (wouldn't have bought them if they had!
) so my advice (FWIW) to the OP if he wants a 240 for touring is go for a post 86 240GLE with K-Jet and 4-speed (4th is overdrive) auto box which will bring the benefits of electronic ignition, depending on which model exactly it is also likely to have PAS, electric windows and perhaps central locking plus maybe a few other modern touches without getting into the realms of the early EFi stuff that had a couple of troublesome years around 1990-92 on the 240, 740 and 940 with ECU problems being more common on those years than any other time.