Volvo 850 2.0 20v non turbo - performance chip - ECU help

Mck1 · Post by **Mck1** » 08 Jan 2010, 08:02

Hi all,

I'm currently looking into chipping my Volvo 850 2.0.20v 1994 Estate.
I'm poss going to purchase a chip online and put in myself. Power gains advised 10 BHP +.

I managed to find the ECU boxes but which one contains the chip as need the reference number before ordering, 2.1 or 2.2?

Many Thanks

Chris.

Mck1 · Post by **Mck1** » 10 Jan 2010, 05:11

Just found out its the one in the centre of the Plastic box housing, 2.2.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 10 Jan 2010, 09:13

How are you chipping an NA engine? I heard that there was nothing you could do to an NA engine.

Mck1 · Post by **Mck1** » 10 Jan 2010, 10:51

There is a company on a well known auction site selling them for under £50 and have them for all 850 models. Does it sound too good to be true?

Once they have been supplied with the chip reference number taken from the chip housed in the 2.2 ECU they will send an EPROM chip. This will involve unsoldering the existing chip & solder in the new one. But make a mistake and your car will not work!!

850 Turbo1 · Post by **850 Turbo1** » 10 Jan 2010, 11:31

Actually my friend it's a bad idea to chip an NA 850...you will barely see any difference in power and it will only cause unnecessary wear on your drive train (Engine and transmission) some folks have had the idea of chipping their NA 850s...but didn't for this reason. Search on the forum for " performance NA 850 increase"...you'll find something.

Also DON'T go with these £50 scam ecu upgrades..they are all garbage(more harm than good)!!!...A real ecu tune is many hundreds of dollars($350+)..and is only worth it if you have a turbo.

Let us know how it goes!

Post by **IVIUSTANG** » 10 Jan 2010, 11:47

I will also mention that most of these so called "chips" in the $50 price range are in fact universal to any car and simply modify the O2 sensor signal or MAF etc. The gains are massively hyped, +50 HP +15 MPG I saw yesterday lol.

- Jesse

Mck1 · Post by **Mck1** » 10 Jan 2010, 12:12

Hi all,

I've been in two minds as it does sound to good to be true! I think I'll give it a miss & take your advises.

I'll stick with my CAI, cone filter & VVIS mods.

Thanks again.

Chris.

Post by **misha** » 10 Jan 2010, 17:22

polskamafia mjl wrote:How are you chipping an NA engine? I heard that there was nothing you could do to an NA engine.

I read somewhere that n/a 850 ecu can also be tuned,but just for about 15hp,from 170hp to about 185hp...which is nothing comparing to turbo models.

I'll post the link,if i can find it.

Post by **jblackburn** » 10 Jan 2010, 17:27

Have you taken a look at doing the 960 throttle body mod? I have no idea how much performance increases, but people with the n/a models say they notice a definite difference.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =5&t=17920

I'm not sure if the 2.0 engine uses the same throttle body as the 2.4 and 2.5 models, but if it does, it's an easy, cheap performance upgrade!

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 11 Jan 2010, 13:45

Thanks Misha. I'm no computer engineer so I don't fully understand what can and cannot be done to the ECU, but wouldn't it be possible for an ECU chip to dump more fuel into an NA engine to increase performance or am I barking up the wrong tree?