question about high mileage D24T

[TinMan]

I apologize if this is in the wrong section, but I wasn't sure where else to put it...

There is an 85 Volvo 745 GLE that I'm considering buying. It has 282,000 miles and the guy is the second owner. He claims the owner before him maintained it "impeccably", although I have no idea how accurate that claim is. He's had it about five years and says in that time he's replaced one ball joint, front suspension bushings, overdrive solenoid (4-speed manual with electronic overdrive), glow plugs, and alternator brushes. Has a small power steering leak but he says it only leaks when it sits, which it does quite a bit now.

When I looked at the car he said it had been sitting for a couple weeks, and when I went to start it the engine fired after about a half turn of the starter. It had a little upper end clatter (maybe from unadjusted valves?), but it ran very well. I took it for a drive and it rode very nicely considering the tires were pretty awful, and the power seemed pretty darn good, A LOT better than I expected. It shifted with no problems and the overdrive worked perfectly as long as the shift knob didn't pull off the shifter, which it did very easily and often, but it was easy enough to push back on. After I finished my fairly lengthy drive (took it through town and the highway), I popped the hood again and took another look/listen. It still sounded great, but there was some blowby coming out of the breather. It didn't seem like a lot, but it was there and was noticeable.

The body was straight but was getting a bit rusty around the edges, especially around trim. The underside was a bit rough, to the point where the car might not last too many more years. It was also set up to run on veggie oil, and the system looked ok, although I don't know a whole lot about those systems.

I guess my question is, with 282,000 miles and being a bit rough on the outside (the inside was actually pretty decent for being 25 years old), is this something I should stay away from? I had a 1st gen Cummins powered Dodge at one time and want another diesel in the worst way, but I'm admittedly a little scared of this one since I don't know a whole lot about it and there is, of course, the negative info on the net about the D24T, which I'm not sure how accurate it is since Americans in general tend to be quite ignorant and hateful towards diesels.

Anyway, any opinions? It looks like I can get it for somewhere in the vicinity of $1200 and $1500, which again, I'm a little hesitant to throw at that old of a car with that many miles with a fairly rough body.

Thanks in advance! :)

[Jason]

I think you can get a car with less miles in the same price range... I paid 1500 for mine, but the engine is kinda tired. Its low on compression and hard to start when hot. If rebuilding one isn't out of your skill set, then I wouldn't be too scared off. The body on my car has close to zero rust though... Do you live in the "rust belt" area of the US? A little rusty may be all you'll find unless you travel south somewhere thats dry.

These engines will last and last if you keep the oil changed and run synthetic in them. They also need to warm up before you run them hard. The main reason they got a bad rap is from the timing belts breaking and ruining the engines. Unlike the Mercedes diesels, these have a belt that has to be changed. People ignored this and when the belt goes the engine goes. Simple as that. I guess many of these same people just figured no big deal, if the belt breaks like a gas engine, you just replace it and your on your way. Obviously, with the high compression, when belt breaks the valves hit and the engine is done.

Jason

[TinMan]

I'm sorry, I thought I had already put my location in my profile (just added it now though). I live in Wisconsin so I'm definitely in the rust belt. This state could rust a DeLorean. 99% of the time if you see a for sale ad around here with words "rust free" in it, what that means is you buy the car and you get the rust for free. As much as I hate rust, I've come to accept that no matter what I buy around here will have at least a little on it, and honestly the rust on this car doesn't bother me much at all.

The two other diesels I've owned (92 Dodge D350 and 86 Isuzu Trooper) were always plugged in under 40 degrees, were always warmed up prior to being driven, and Rotella-T was always used.

I'm not worried about the timing belt since if I do buy the car the first thing I'll do is change it. I don't trust the timing belts in interference engines when I don't know their history, so the car would get driven home and wouldn't move again until the belt was changed. I've done some light reading for the past couple weeks and it looks like IPD has the tool needed. I have no fear of an engine rebuild either. In fact, it's something I'd like to eventually do so I can built the snot out of it! :p

I guess the main reason this car intrigues me is because I want another diesel really bad, I need a wagon (I haul my dog around in a crate inside the car), I refuse to buy another vehicle with an automatic transmission, and I want a European car. So far the only vehicles I've found locally that meet this description are this 745 and an 83 Mercedes 300TD (with a 4-speed manual surprisingly enough), with the Mercedes costing twice as much as the Volvo.