Tuning a B230E engine for power and economy.

[Offgrid]

OK, so I realise that power and economy could be conflicting ambitions. So, I guess the answer is to try to improve efficiency. btw I use E5 petrol. the engine seems to be a standard n/a version at the moment. Now foir the questions.
- How can I discover which camshaft and head I have?
- I'll probably start with some obvious things, such as cleaning the sensors and airways.
- I'm considering removing the exhaust manifild, and polishiung the internal airways.
- I've got an ultrasonic cleaner, and I thought that I could use that to start to clean the injectors and other bits.

What other things canb I do to help me to understand the redblock engines?

[classicswede]

Stage zero is first thing to do. Thats a full service including new injector seals and inlet manifold gasket

Head will be a 530

Cam either an A or V
There are no sensors to clean but you can clean the throttle butterfly and the flap in the metering unit.

No point in cleaning the manifold, the engine running right will keep it clean.

If you want to clean the injectors use a strong dose of fuel treatment like forte.

What can you do that will improve MPG and Power?

1) free flowing exhaust system. 2.25 inch gives the best balance. You could also go for a 4 branch manifold but not the best bang for buck

2) increase the CR. Raising the compression will both help low and mid power along with improved MPG

3) convert to the early flat flywheel or a lighter version of. Improved throttle response that will also give a small MPG gain

4) change ignition timing. By using a 240 internal shaft you can fit a 123 tune distributor. The other option is wasted spark but is more involved

5) porting. Done right will see improved power and consumption however most porting I see reduces power and makes consumption worse. Gasket matching and polishing are the two worst things you can do.

Cam changes will deliver more power but usually at a cost to MPG. If you have the V cam that is a pretty good balance. If A then switching to a V is what I would do

[TonyS9]

Economy is more difficult.
I believe the main problem in red blocks is overfuelling by the ECU. I think the best way out of that is to fit an aftermarket system like megasquirt with wide band O2 feedback, a throttle pot and MAP sensor.

You might also go for sequential injection.

Once you work all that out it will need tuned on a dyno.

It is a significant project, and I haven't done it myself, but would love to see some else do it for economy.

I have fitted an mpguino, and have seen what the ECU is doing. I can coax it to 40mpg at high speed using pulse and glide or by keeping it in closed loop below 40mph.

A big factor I noticed in the winter is that the mpg is 10mpg lower than normal when the gearbox and final drive is still cold, long after the engine has warmed up, so heating pads might help here.

[classicswede]

It would be a lot of work converting to EFI, let alone stand alone

[Offgrid]

Originally Posted by TonyS9

Economy is more difficult.

I have fitted an mpguino, and have seen what the ECU is doing.

I've had a brief look at that, and it seems someone has fitted it to a B230F engine in a 240. Mine is a B230E engine taken from an earlier 240, so there may be some useful info available. It would be great if I could install a Raspberry Pi, and use that to generate the info. However, I guess that is an interest project for later this year after I have sorted out all the basics.

[Chris1Roll]

Your B230E is mechanical injection, not EFI.
The only ECU (if you even have one at all, being that you have the engine from a 240 of unknown age) is for the very basic ignition map.

[classicswede]

Originally Posted by Offgrid

I've had a brief look at that, and it seems someone has fitted it to a B230F engine in a 240. Mine is a B230E engine taken from an earlier 240, so there may be some useful info available. It would be great if I could install a Raspberry Pi, and use that to generate the info. However, I guess that is an interest project for later this year after I have sorted out all the basics.

You are not going to have anywhere to plug in or have any data to collect from a mechanical system

[baggy798]

What's your budget and what are your power and economy goals?

[Offgrid]

Originally Posted by Chris1Roll

Your B230E is mechanical injection, not EFI.
The only ECU (if you even have one at all, being that you have the engine from a 240 of unknown age) is for the very basic ignition map.

Thanks, that just shows how much I know about Volvo redblocks. You guys are helping me to learn though.

@ baggy
As cheap as possible, as I am a poor pensioner.
What are my goals? to have fun, and learn about redblock engines.