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EvoStevo
05-03-2010, 10:27 PM
Hey guys, so a D24T car has finally come up for sale in my area. The owner claims fairly low mileage (117K), but the car hasn't started in about four years. She says it just needs a starter, but I'm kinda skeptical. So when I go to look at it, what can I do to verify that there's nothing nasty going on internally (seized pistons, grenaded head, etc.)? Ideally I'd like a known running motor but this is honestly the first one to come up after more than a year of searching. Thanks in advance.

volvo d6
05-04-2010, 06:33 AM
Turn the engine a few rounds and check that the seal back on the pump is not leaking and the engine should not make som special sounds when you turn it.

EvoStevo
05-04-2010, 08:10 AM
Can I turn the crank by hand? Just get a breaker bar on the main pulley and rotate it? It sounds like she's saying it doesn't turn over using the starter motor, but I'm not sure.

bjs2oo7
05-04-2010, 01:51 PM
yea use a breaker bar and if I am not mistaken its 32mm

Jason
05-04-2010, 02:40 PM
its 27mm...

It would really be helpfull if you can turn it over with the starter or hear it run. Just verifying that it isn't seized is a ok start, but theres no way to know if it has decent compression, is it running on all cylinders, there are all sorts of problems that could be going on that you wont know unless the engine is running. You really cant tell much just turning over by hand unless its major internal damage or problems. It had better be cheap!

Jason

EvoStevo
05-04-2010, 02:56 PM
Yeah, it's really not the best possible candidate but who knows when another one will come up. I was planning on using it as my rebuild project for next semester. She wants $500 for the whole car and it comes with a spare head and pump (hopefully an injection pump, but she didn't specify). The big problem I'm facing right now is finding a place to store the car until I can get the engine out.

ngoma
05-04-2010, 04:36 PM
Wonder if the starter from your sig (1984 245 D24/M46 Still not running) would fit? If so, you could swap your starter to the candidate and would learn a lot more about it real fast.

EvoStevo
05-04-2010, 05:18 PM
I was thinking about that too and I do have a spare, but I think I remember looking up the starter for a D24T in an online parts catalog and seeing it was a little different. Anyone know if they're the same or not?

bjs2oo7
05-04-2010, 07:54 PM
it is 27mm thought it was different from injectors, I would assume the starters are the same, maybe try jumping the solenoid with a screw driver first just hit the two terminals on the thing mounted atop the starter.

EvoStevo
05-06-2010, 01:32 PM
Bump. Can anyone confirm if the starters are the same?

Jason
05-06-2010, 06:20 PM
I would bet they are, the flywheels are the same for a turbo or non turbo, and the block is the same bolt patern and whatnot, which is what the starter is bolting though. I would just try and throw it in. If its been sitting for a while, I would dump some diesel in the injection pump, and squirt some oil into the manifold.

Jason

volvo d6
05-07-2010, 05:46 AM
I have changed between big and small starters many times and i never had problems. But the big starter on the na 240 is best because it rotates the engine very fast and that is important in cold.

EvoStevo
05-07-2010, 01:55 PM
That's good to hear! Hopefully I'll be able to take a look at it by Monday.

v8volvo
05-08-2010, 02:11 AM
Starters are the interchangeable. There are three D24/D24T starters, a small Hitachi and two Bosches, a large SR38 and a small gear reduction SR97. All will work on any D24 or D24T of any year, manual and automatic both. Upper bolt is a little tricky to access especially if doing it on the ground but a worthwhile experiment to try to replace the starter and see what the car does.

I would put the starter in, get a strong fresh battery, pull the black ground wire off the glow plug relay and the wire off the injection pump solenoid so it doesn't start before you're ready for it to. Take the timing belt cover off and check that the belt doesn't look like it is about to imminently strip or break. If all looks OK there, then I would proceed to next change the oil. Then I would pull the valve cover, dump oil on the cam, and squirt some lubricant into the intake manifold (pull the boost relief valve off the front of the mani and squirt in copious amounts of WD40). If it hasn't run in 4 years the motor may still be good and not even need a rebuild, but you will quickly turn it into an engine that *does* need a rebuild if you are not careful in how you go about getting it running. I would do the above steps, then reinstall valve cover, connect the battery, and then finally turn the key and let it crank for a while. Do a few bursts of 30sec cranking. You want to get oil pumped up into the engine before starting it. Last, reconnect the glow plug relay and the pump solenoid, and go through the normal diesel starting procedure. I bet it will fire right up and run fine.

Seller may not be interested in letting you do all this before you buy the car. However, $500 is a pittance for a complete D24T car on the West Coast. You are getting a good deal even if it turns out not to be a runner so I would buy it before someone else does, then worry about trying to get it running.

What is it in? 740/760? Year? Automatic or stick? Wagon?

EvoStevo
05-08-2010, 02:23 PM
What is it in? 740/760? Year? Automatic or stick? Wagon?

All I know is that it's an '84 700-series. I have a feeling it's an automatic sedan though. Thanks for your advice. That does sound like a fair bit of work, but I'm willing to do it if she'll allow me and as long as the car's not half sunken in mud or something.

I guess it's just dumb luck that as soon as I find one donor car, another one pops up in the yards! This one appeared to also be an '84, but with 244K miles and an M46 attached. The timing belt was intact and the turbo had no play in it. There was a fair amount of oil around the valve cover and intake manifold. I didn't have a 27mm socket on me to try turning the crank. There was writing on the windshield that read "pump leaks." They quoted me $260 for the engine.

While it would be somewhat easier to get it out at the yards, I'm just a little iffy about the mileage. It is nice to know that I have options though.

EvoStevo
05-11-2010, 04:53 PM
So it seems like the one I was originally looking at may have been sold already. I was supposed to check it out today so I called to get her address. She didn't answer and never called me back. Three hours go by and I decide to check to make sure the craigslist ad is still up. Sure enough, it's been taken down :confused:. I may have missed out on this one. What do you guys think of the junker that I found in the yards? Is it worth it?

Jason
05-11-2010, 05:46 PM
On the one in the yard, will they carry a battery out there so you can hear it run? Leaking pump isn't all that big a deal. Is it a turbo or NA?

Jason

EvoStevo
05-11-2010, 06:40 PM
The one in the junkyard is a turbo. I will ask if I can hear it run. If anything, I can bring my own battery but would I also have to bring some diesel? I don't know if there's any fuel in it.

Jason
05-11-2010, 08:14 PM
I would try to start it for sure. Being a TD, theres a better chance the engine is in decent shape. With the block being more wear resistant, and the engine being less likely to soot up the rings like the NA engine, it may be alright. If you can get the pump sealed and do some maintenance on it, it may be fine. I just checked the bores on the engine I'm planning on building for my car. Its got 177k miles on it... I doubt it ever saw a drop of synthetic oil, and actually still had the original timing belt! So maintenace probably wasn't the best. Even so, the bores are only slightly worn, and still within spec. These engines really do hold up pretty well if they are even half way taken care of.

Jason

EvoStevo
05-11-2010, 08:40 PM
So the lady just e-mailed me back. Apparently it wasn't sold, she's just really flaky. I guess I'll still check it out, but that junkyard motor's looking better by the minute.

Jason
05-11-2010, 08:44 PM
I would give both a try. See if you can get her engine to start, and if not go to the yard... The low mileage engine would sure be nice, but man thats pretty damn low almost too low for one of these cars at this point in time. You'll know if its worth a damn as soon as it starts, and by how long it takes to get started.

Jason

EvoStevo
05-14-2010, 11:26 PM
So the car wasn't what it was cracked up to be. While it did have a bad starter, there was apparently something else causing it not to start. I'm not ruling it out just yet, but I will take a closer look at the junkyard motor now. Hopefully it's still there tomorrow.

EvoStevo
05-16-2010, 11:06 PM
Did some more scouting in the junkyard and might have found out a few things. First, the yard doesn't allow the engines to be tested beforehand. The battery cables were cut and the oil had been drained (some California law, I think). Apparently the car has been on the lot since January and there are no records of whether or not it was running when it came in. Second thing was that the transmission didn't seem to want to go into any gear, so that might help explain why the car is there. I don't know if crappy camera phone pictures can tell you anything, but I took some anyway:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i173/Lightning_KP61/IMG00388.jpg
Turns out it's actually an '82. Turning the crank by hand was very easy. I was expecting a little resistance from the compression, but it took hardly any effort at all. I heard a slow ticking sound as I turned it clockwise, then when I turned it counter clockwise I heard the sound of air escaping.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i173/Lightning_KP61/IMG00391.jpg

I removed the valve cover and turned it over a couple more times to watch the cam rotate (mostly because I'd never seen this before). The oil was pitch black, but otherwise things looked ok. That's about as far as I got that day. I also took note of the coolant color:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i173/Lightning_KP61/IMG00392.jpg
green and mostly clean, save for a few small white specs floating around and a little oily film at the top.

Any red flags thrown up for you guys? I probably don't have much time before this one's sent to the crusher. I still have to figure out some of the logistics of getting this thing from the yard to my garage, but I'd like to make a decision fairly soon. Any advice is much appreciated.

Jason
05-17-2010, 05:35 AM
The coolant looks good, no major oily film... I would go for it, these engines aren't around every corner anymore.


Jason

EvoStevo
05-26-2010, 09:48 PM
ok, so I just bought an engine stand (I have to go back for the crane. Long story...). What size bolts will I need to secure the engine to the stand? Also, does anyone know approximately how much a d24T weighs? Thanks!

EvoStevo
05-27-2010, 01:20 AM
So I read for the VW 1.6 diesels it's M12x1.75. I'm guessing it's the same? They also say you can use old head bolts but that sounds like they might be too long (plus I don't have any of those laying around). What do you think would be a good length? I'll be going to the hardware store tomorrow. Thanks again.

77volvo245
05-28-2010, 09:34 AM
My 84 D24T 760 has a D24 Starter it does not matter witch one you use.