Update:
Finally got the engine ''running right''. Now it makes it to 130 km/h in 4th gear, no overdrive. But several new problems came up, most importantly it overheated / boiled it's water (managed to shut engine off immediately only I noticed the temp gauge and steam from the front.) when driving on the highway at full speed / load.
This is what I replaced / noticed before overheating:
Redid the whole cooling system with new radiator hoses (aftermarket available in Europe), silicone parts & copper tubing for the smaller hoses, most of them were leaky / wet. Also flushed coolant system, radiator & put a new thermostat in (87 degrees). Noticed there was a lot of corrosion in the system, not only brown deposits in the hoses but actual flakes of rust coming off all surfaces when I took out the thermostat and other hoses going to the engine. Tried to get everything out with magnet on a stick but I suspect the whole engine is full of it. Might be a cause for the engine to run a bit hot?
Adjusted the valves, most of them were too tight (one didn't even have any play). Also changed the fuel filter for a new one & replaced injector return hoses. I suspect the valves being too tight was the cause for low power at high revs.
After this I went to Germany for a day so took the volvo to do a bit of italian tuneup on the autobahn. First ride was going well, went a bit easy on the car to check if nothing fell apart. Noticed the engine was running 3/4ths of the temp. gauge most of the time and when going full throttle even past it. Kept speeds down but mostly stayed at 3/4ths, sometimes half when going downhill. It burned quite some oil, 1 liter in 500 km's
On the way back I wanted to check out the top speed because it stopped smoking a lot at 110 km/h and went faster than that. Drove the car until gps said 130 while keeping an eye on the temp gauge. Went up a bit but stayed there mostly, checked my mirrors and saw mostly black smoke behind me, checked temp gauge and it was in the red zone and engine started to make a loud ticking noise. Immediatly put engine off, coasted to the side of the highway and let it cool down. It threw out quite some water through the cap but only when I was stopped. No water trail behind the car.
After refilling it (i took 10 liters of water with me just in case), starting it up and waiting a bit I drove it to the nearest parking lot to investigate.
Engine seemed fine, oil wasn't at top mark so refilled again. When starting, glow plug light didn't come on and it needed quite some cranking over to get started. Drove the car home without further problems, no overheating and no loss of coolant. Still, temp meter was a 3/4th.
Do have to admit that for the full journey I filled the car with demineralised water to check for leaks and to try and clean out the rust. Maybe part of the issue? Does coolant cool more than water?
Next day, hard to start the car, needs quite a lot of cranking when cold and smokes more on startup. Pretty loud knocking / ticking noise from somewhere in the engine, sounds like it's coming from the bottom end bearings. But the noise got a lot less after then engine warmed up a bit, still runs the same for the rest. Checked the hoses with a laser, when gauge is in the middle it's +- 90 degrees. When engine is fully hot noise is almost gone / unhearable because of other noise.
Today I checked again, cold starting the car with the noise and then loosening the injector pipes. Sounds like it goes away with injector 6. Could I have cooked an injector by overheating the engine? This is the same one that has been a bit leaky / sweaty since the beginning.
But on the good side, found a second engine nearby, 105k miles and the guy says it was running good. Let's see if its something, maybe fix one while the other is in the car. First going to do some alternative fuel experiments with this one.
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