a Volvo in my future?

[allczns]

hi all, my name is Glenn, live in southern Ontario about 1.5 hours northeast of Toronto. I've been driving diesels since the mid 90's but they have all been 7.3 litre Navistars in Ford pickup trucks. All normally aspirated, no turbos here thanks...and with 7.3 litres available, who needs a turbo? lol. Current daily driver is a '93 F350. Have a 6.9 litre project engine sitting in the corner of the garage.
Anyway...recently been thinking about a "little" diesel...and that led me to this forum. I'm in no rush, here to listen and learn and will see what's available as a project car.
To be honest though guys, the idea of a cam driven by a BELT scares me!!!
cheers,
Glenn
ps: hope my fondness for big V8 diesels doesn't disqualify me here.

[Jason]

Hello Glen,
no problem with bigger diesels... Obviously not going to be towing a boat or camper with a 2.4 liter! I have had a few Ford diesel trucks, currently I've got a 2000 F-350 Powerstroke with a ZF-6 speed.

You'll want to opt for the turbo diesel version of the D24... With only 2.4liters available, they are pretty slow going without the turbo. The belt is only a problem if you don't change it. I have never heard of one failing within its rated service life. I'm sure its happened, but very very seldom. VWs newest diesels are still using the belt setup, so it cant be all that bad!

Jason

[v8volvo]

There's nothing scary about a belt as long as you make sure you change it on time, and do the job right when you do it. I would bet there are many, many more instances of timing *chains* breaking on old school pushrod V8s than there are of timing belts breaking within their rated service interval. If you let one go too long, well, yes, it will break... but change it on time and it will never give you any trouble. Changing them is not a hard job if you have the tools, and they make the engines quieter and smoother and more efficient than an equivalent chain-driven motor. A good running D24T with a stock exhaust can be amazingly smooth, quiet, and refined, and that's partly because of that timing belt.

The big Navistars are great, I work on a lot of 6.9s, 7.3 IDIs and Powerstrokes. Even had to do the big EGR cooler upgrade on one of the infamous 6.0L Powerstrokes a few months ago... that was fun. The older Navistars are great motors, except for the coolant cavitation issue on the 7.3s... but as long as you keep your coolant in good condition they are great rigs. I like them better without turbos as well... if you have ever had to replace the rear two glow plugs on an IDI Navistar with a Banks kit on it, you will know why. :eek:

Volvo diesels are even easier to work on than the old Navistars. They are quite different but very nicely designed once you get to know your way around them. The turbos are much nicer to drive than the NA ones, though. Don't be scared of the turbo, it's all a very accessible setup and the stock turbos on D24Ts NEVER fail. I mean never. I have one with 280k on it that is still as tight as when it was new.

D24Ts are small diesels but they sound and feel big... listen to one with an open exhaust, it sounds like a little Cummins. When they are running well, they have lots of torque in the middle of the rev band and great flexibility. Driving my 760 feels a lot like driving a car with a small gas V8. Tons of midrange torque and good power right up to 5000 rpm. :cool:

[allczns]

...for the warm welcome Jason and v8volvo. I sorta figured that long production meant that the belt was a proven concept so long as it is changed at recommended intervals.
This is salt country up here in winter so may take a while to find a solid car.
You may have even talked me into considering a turbo if I stumble across one...lol.
cheers,