I thought all 700/900 cars had the distibutor at the back of the head (cam driven), but looking on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-Volvo-940-wagon-super-clean-no-rust_W0QQitemZ4586587168QQcategoryZ6460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I see some with it in the front location. Is there a rhyme or reason to this?
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744 & 745 16v 4+OD, 245 SE auto, 242Ti 4+OD, 245DL auto parts car

My $0.02! Have 3 940 engines all with rear mount distributors and only one has a "good" distributor. Other 2 damaged by I assume JA that used hammer to remove stuck-on rotor. Rotor shafts must be pretty mild steel. One whacked hard enough to break fiber washer under outside seal. This one with bad oil leak from inside distributor. Chucked cam end of bent rotor shaft in drill and distributor mounting plate wobbled so much, you could hadly hang on to it with drill full on. Only "good" one has a little wobble when chucked in drill. Can't imagine any wobble when they are new. Suspect this one whacked also to remove stuck-on rotor but not as hard. Have had 240's with side-mount distributor since '81 and never a problem with distributor or distributor related oil leak. One real plus with rear mount: there's a lot more room under intake manifold to replace rear temp sensor and work on PVC trap. With side mount, and my big paws, you either have to pull the distributor or intake manifold work back in there. And as others noted, side mount distributor cap is 1/4-1/3 of rear mounts.

Steve in Charlotte

I think they are mostly 94 and 95 model year cars. My bet is Volvo was using up 240 distributor stock.
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john

Keep hearing bad things about those reginas, never a problem with any Bosch I've had.........
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744 & 745 16v 4+OD, 245 SE auto, 242Ti 4+OD, 245DL auto parts car

I keep hearing people say they've "heard bad things about the Rex-Regina system" but I've not seen any specific complaints about reliability. I wonder if it is just the fact that most Volvo owners are much more familiar with the Bosch system and are thus a bit suspicious of anything different.

I have had both the Bosch and the Regina systems in my Volvos and both have been pretty reliable. The biggest problem with the Bosch has been AMM failures (2) which are fairly expensive. So far no problem with the Regina. The Regina system is a Bendix design which uses a MAP (manifold air pressure) sensor and a temperature sensor which is located where the AMM would be in a Bosch system. The temperature sensor is just a temperature sensing resistor and the MAP sensor is a rugged piezoelectric pressure sensor. Neither of these are very expensive to replace.

I may be wrong but I believe that many auto makers now use the Bendix system with great relibility. I'm not knocking Bosch at all (except for their relays) but I think we should be cautious about passing along complaints about the Regina system when these are hearsay.

I have heard quite the opposite from long term owners of both, mostly in the 700 forum. R/R is very reliable. No problems with my ’93 R/R that was Rex/Regina related. Two fuel pump relays, a crank sensor and a broken cam index pin (a lot of head scratching and 59 cents for a new pin).
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Tom F. Three Bricks, maintain two more.

Guess you didn't bother to read my NMI post below. Rear Distributor Regina.

Why are you bad-mouthing the Regina?
What are all the "bad things" youve heard?
Do you have any hands-on Regina time?

IMO, you're just propagating a groundless myth based on hearsay.

No Regina ECUs have problems like the Bosch 561.
No AMM problems like Bosch either (no AMM period).

I'll admit I may be getting due for a fuel pump (just 1) at 151k -- based on hearsay. But nothing else to complain about.

I don't mean to bad-mouth Bosch -- but I am defending the Regina based on my experience and viewing over 2 years worth of posts here. Can't recall a single Regina FI problem.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

One of the Volvos I take car of is a 1990 745 with Regina fuel injection. The work on this one is free to the disabled, retired, couple who have it for their only car. It had a bad running problem that was cured 100% with a used ECU.

It has the cam driven distributor, and it leaks a little oil. I need to replace the shaft seal in it.
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john

I have a '93 945 (non-turbo) in the family. It is equipped just like that car: side-mounted distributor, and Rex/Regina. That was a factory configuration.

The good thing about these side-mounted distributors is that a new cap is only $5 vs $40 for a rear-mounted cap.

Personally, I think the rear-mounted is a better design (fewer moving parts & less friction since no gear drive). But both are perfectly fine. The side-mounted distributors were used for decades. They have an excellent track record.

Jeff Pierce
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'93 945 Turbo (201K miles), '93 945 (140K miles/I maintain for a family member), '93 945 Turbo (sold w 145K miles), '92 Mercedes 190E (174K miles), '85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow (225K miles), '53 Willys Overland w/ Fisher plow (sold to a loving home)

I have no personal knowledge other than a post a while back that inquired about the same issue, was not Philvo who is a brickboard member here. It was confirmed by one poster that there are a few 940s out there with the side mount distributor factory OE. There are probably a few more 940s with replaced engines from older models. Even though my 1993 940 R/R has a rear mounted distributor, it has an engine from a 1994.
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Tom F. Three Bricks, maintain two more.

NA(Regina) 940s have block-mounted distributors; turbos(Bosch) are on the cam.

A friend of mine bought a new '93 Regina 945 with block mounted distributor; maybe John's right about using up old stock.