440Xi Auto - 1721cc or 1794cc?

[eeedelli]

Hi all,

I've just been looking at the V5C for the 440Xi that's been in the family for the last 20 years, having finally got it back on the road after a few years of sitting idle in the garage.

The v5c says it's a 1721cc but I always thought the Xi was the 1794cc version. The engine number starts with B18, which would seem to tally with that. This also then makes me wonder what the engine number would start with if it was actually a 1721cc version? (Was that also a B18 but just not bored out as wide, so is the engine number a red herring?)

I've just had a quick glance under the bonnet but, in the very poor light in the garage (and not having located the missing Haynes manual), there are so many pipes, valves and hoses that I'm struggling to see whether it's single injection or multi! (I think the single is always 1794 isn't it ... not that it helps if I can't tell whether it is single or multi point anyway!)

I've also found this list of insurance groups which lists the 440Xi Auto as being both 1721 and 1794, so confusion abounds aplenty! (Fortunately, it doesn't change the insurance group.) http://www.comparethemarket.com/car-...nce/volvo/440/

If it is 1794cc then I should get it changed on the V5C since, every time I go on spare parts websites (that (increasingly) insist on you putting in the reg number and then use the DVLA info based on that), it comes up as the 1.7 rather than the 1.8 and then only shows the spares that fit that version.

Any ideas?

Ta,
David.

[Anadinolin]

Take a look at the top, the injection has a black plastic thing that leads from the top down to the front right hand side of the bay as you look at it. As far as im aware theres multi injection on these, itll have a metal lump on top saying "injection" And it dosent seperate 1.7 or 1.8 as both can be injection.

Single point injection

[Anadinolin]

Found this if it helps.
http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showt...-Engine-tuning

[eeedelli]

I can be a right muppet at times - I forgot I'd got a picture of the engine bay! Here it is. (Strong evening sunlight so only the top is well illuminated.)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23255264@N02/15134330560/

Looking at the pics in that Renault forum, it's not entirely clear which version is which from the descriptions there but I agree that it would be more logical for the separate pipes of the aluminium intake manifold to suggest that it's actually multi-point injection. (Still can't see where the hell the actual injectors are though! On the 740/940, they're nice and visible but there's plenty of room on those. Presumably they're buried somewhere underneath the intake manifold on this model?)

Anyway, all very interesting though this may be, as you rightly point out it doesn't actually get us anywhere further towards establishing whether it's the 1.7 or the 1.8! :-)

[jeff t]

Have look at the front of the engine block just behind dipstick and you will see the engine plate with the engine type and serial no.
The engine type will be a b18 then a letter or 2 eg b18ep, this will tell you what fuel setup it is.

[doingitsideways]

Judging from your picture, I'd say it's a 1721cc (1.7) with multipoint injection.

As far as I know, the larger 1794cc (1.8) engines were all single point injection like Anadinolin's first pic, and came in with the facelift in '94. Then there were also a 1.6 and 2.0 multipoints available.

Very confusing!

Steve

[eeedelli]

I suspect you might well be right, Steve - and it certainly is quite confusing!

I've also found this. Although it comes from Wikipedia, where anyone can write anything whether or not it's wrong (and it often is), it must have come from somewhere. "From 1992 the engines offered were substantially different, with the range now offering 1.6i (84 bhp (63 kW; 85 PS)), 1.8i (89 bhp (66 kW; 90 PS)), and 2.0i (110 bhp (82 kW; 112 PS)) naturally aspirated petrol engines in addition to the 1.7-litre turbo option found in the mark 1 range. The 1.6 was equipped with multi-point fuel injection; the 1.8 engine had single-point injection and the 2.0 came with a choice of single-point and multi-point injection units - the older 1.7 turbocharged version however had more power."

This is a 1993 model, so it would suggest that 1794cc is at least a possibility. (I can't see it being a 1.6!) It was first registered at the end of March 1993, so it's well into the 93 model year, which I gather started in about August or September 1992, as Volvo always did.

As far as the engine code goes, I haven't had a chance to get back to it yet (and probably won't until the weekend) but I looked at the V5C for the VIN plate and using the VOC page to decode it (http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/vin_400.shtml), It looks like the following, assuming that info is correct:

XLBKX185EPCnnnnnn (n=chassis number)

XLB= manufacturer (Should be XLD?)
K = vehicle type (presumably 440?)
X = safety equipment (anyone's guess)
18 = B18F or FP
5 = 4-speed auto
E = Fixed digit (presumably a checksum digit)
P = Model year (1993 tallies correctly)
C = Factory (not sure which factory)
nnnnnn = chassis no.

Maybe the plate behind the dipstick will tie it down to whether it's F or FP but I haven't been able to find out exactly what the differences between those two are anyway, nor any direct relationship between the F/FP engine and its capacity (1721 vs 1794)!

It's like a flippin' detective novel!