I've just joined the (operational) 940 owners club!

[kiloran]

I've got a spare cap I think as I swapped it to rule it out when I was tracking down my coolant loss. Hopefully still in the car in the box of random bits. If it is you can have it on Thursday. BTW, Luke says the roof rack just needs a 14mm socket.

[Badger vs Bodgers]

I've been forgetting to update this the last couple of weeks, so here goes!

First off, many thanks to Kiloran for transporting the roof rack down from Worcester, to 360Beast for helping fit it, and to Gristom64 for selling it to me!



I've taken it off again for now so I don't have the weight/wind penalty for daily driving, but it's going to be very handy for odd jobs in the future. I've also figured out how to fit/remove it singlehandedly, with the help of a strategically placed engine crane.

I also took the opportunity to replace the front indicators and side repeaters with some clear ones that came with my other 940.



Finally this weekend I've focussed on de-boating it a bit, and trying to make it handle a bit better - it was rolling worse than a 2CV in corners! To sort it I fit Bilstein B4 shocks to the front, new strut bearings, did the camber mod (-15mm offset so about mid-range) and fit the 40mm lowering springs off the other 940. I also replaced both the control rods with new items and fit poly spaceship bushes.



The ride is a lot harder now - harder than I thought it would be in honesty - but certainly not the worst I've ever driven. I'll have to see how I get on with it; if it's too harsh in the long run I may revert to normal springs or chop some, but for now I'm enjoying being able to go around corners!

Unfortunately fuel economy is still a bit of a sore issue; I average 24 mpg on my first tank (which included a 100 mile drive at 70) and 26 mpg on this second one (which has been about 2/3rds motorway at 60-65).

The steering has started creaking when stationary or manoeuvring at slow speed; need to investigate this, but it seems to be intermittent which is odd.

Coolant loss continues - it's fairly slow though. A lot of steam when the car starts during a cold morning - more than I'd expect in honesty - but nothing when warm.

At least that's a few things crossed off the list!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Badger vs Bodgers

Unfortunately fuel economy is still a bit of a sore issue; I average 24 mpg on my first tank (which included a 100 mile drive at 70) and 26 mpg on this second one (which has been about 2/3rds motorway at 60-65).

Are you running it on supermarket fuel?

[Badger vs Bodgers]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Are you running it on supermarket fuel?

Funnily enough I just read your post on this subject. The first run was on Asda's finest (needed fuel to get back and this was the closest!) and the second on Sainsbury's. I've only just filled up again today - that's how I can figure my average MPG - but will give it a go from the Shell garage down the road next time.

It's just a little bit of a shock coming from a diseasal BMW that had 200hp and averaged high 40's to low 50's with sympathetic driving! Otherwise I'm loving the car though. I think it may be a long term project of mine to figure out ways to improve the fuel economy, but they're fairly low priority for now.

[griston64]

Nice Rack !!

Mid 20's is not that unusual in these tbh. I managed to get 29mpg on my 9 mile dual carriageway commute at 55mph. I use my wife's little 1.0 Skoda for short local journeys as the 940 is pretty horrific for that

It is a bit of a shock compared to my D5 which will similar to your Beemer consumption and power wise.

[kiloran]

Good to hear things are going well. I like those clear clusters, they really suit a blue car

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by kiloran

Good to hear things are going well. I like those clear clusters, they really suit a blue car

Just noticed the clusters, my word they do suit the blue, nice touch!

[baggy798]

The ride will improve after a bit.

Shell fuel won't improve the economy.

[Badger vs Bodgers]

Only a minor update to this for now as I continue to work my way through the repair list. Hopefully I've found the water leak - it seems the bottom hose from the water pump had a bit of a leak around the joint, so given it a tweak and we'll see if that's done the job.

I've spent a fair bit of time trying to stop my creaking steering, including taking out, cleaning and greasing up the top mounts, all to no avail. The noise is actually quiet outside the car, but fairly loud inside. It definitely seems to be coming from the top mounts, it's a bit like a creaky rubber noise. They're practically the only thing I haven't changed on the front end suspension, so I guess they're the next port of call.

Also I have some funky steering going on - it's vague, and tends to tramline or skip on bumps. Also when turning medium to tight corners the self centring turns into the wheel trying to turn in further, which is a new one on me!

My current best average is 29MPG on Texaco fuel, but the fact that it includes about 250 miles of cruising at 65 MPH on the motorway skews that somewhat! Thinking new Lambda and temperature sensors may be on the cards just to eliminate those possibilities.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Badger vs Bodgers

Only a minor update to this for now as I continue to work my way through the repair list. Hopefully I've found the water leak - it seems the bottom hose from the water pump had a bit of a leak around the joint, so given it a tweak and we'll see if that's done the job.

I've spent a fair bit of time trying to stop my creaking steering, including taking out, cleaning and greasing up the top mounts, all to no avail. The noise is actually quiet outside the car, but fairly loud inside. It definitely seems to be coming from the top mounts, it's a bit like a creaky rubber noise. They're practically the only thing I haven't changed on the front end suspension, so I guess they're the next port of call.

Also I have some funky steering going on - it's vague, and tends to tramline or skip on bumps. Also when turning medium to tight corners the self centring turns into the wheel trying to turn in further, which is a new one on me!

My current best average is 29MPG on Texaco fuel, but the fact that it includes about 250 miles of cruising at 65 MPH on the motorway skews that somewhat! Thinking new Lambda and temperature sensors may be on the cards just to eliminate those possibilities.

Check your steering column upper bearing, also the nacelle/surround on the steering column and the UJ in the column inside th car. Any of these could be the source of your noise as well, especially if it's louder in the cabin than outside the car.

It sounds like you have one or more of the following :

Incorrect tyre pressures
Incorrect wheel alignment
Worn front dampers
Worn spaceship bushes
Worn Track Rod Ends (TREs) or other ball joints
Worn bushes in the front suspension

My first guess would be the first two and thouse are probably easiest to eliminate.

That economy doesn't sound out of the way, in fact it sounds quite good. You may get an improvement with a new Lambda sensor, especially if it's more than 100k miles or 10 years old. This is the generally accepted service life of a Lambda sensor so ideally should be renewed if over either of those limits.
If the CTS isn't misbehaving, leave it be.
If you do change the Lambda sensor, pull fuse #1 for at least 30 seconds and then refit after to reset the fuel trims and fault codes in the fuel ECU memory.