D24 NA snapped camshaft
 

Hello, I have a 1982 Volvo 240 GL ( D24 NA) with a snapped camshaft. I bought this car about 8 years ago in this condition from a garage who towed it off the Cross Bronx Expressway. The mechanic from the garage told me that the previous owner claimed that the timing belt and head gasket were just recently installed prior to the failure and they did appear to be intact. The plan was to fix the car, but other things came up. I removed the head, bought a used one with cam on ebay and have the green books. The wife is now threatening to junk it, so I'm determined to get it running. The car has very low miles and the body is in mint condition.

My questions:
1. Can you guys guide me in the right direction on the repair or suggest another site who does non-turbos?

2. Is it possible or feasible to add a turbo to this engine?

The car has been sitting in my garage for about 8 years with the head removed. Today I cleaned the block a little and put some oil in the cylinders. Next I will turn the engine over to determine how far the pistons protrude from the block so i can order the correct head gasket. The gasket that was on there was a 2 notch. If anyone is interested, I could post pics as the job progresses. I would sure appreciate any advice. Thanks, Harry

Welcome to the forum!
 

She knows that you`ll have a second wife. I`m glad you ended up here with your dieseling plans. Thanks in advance, for waking up the sleeping monster. Of course we all want to see pictures of the progress!
I`m happy that someone showed up from the hood. I hope you get it running very soon! There`s a `sticky` with HG part numbers, in the `Drivetrain` section of this forum.
Isn`t it a strange feeling to think about it that the car was already 23 years old 8 years ago? but it Will run again. You will find a huge amount of great info here. Good luck and keep us posted!

You`ll find several threads here about revived d24(t) engines that had been sitting for years.
http://www.d24t.com/showthread.php?t...engine+runaway

We really want to see the video of your startup!
I would pay serious attention to the timing belt. Not to forget a possible runaway situation caused by a malfunctioning injection pump (too much fuel I guess).
A friend had this issue with his d24t long ago but he managed to avoid damage, he blocked with a rubber mat or something, idk, and then he was very happy because shutting off the car with key did not work and he smoked up his garage like kraZy.
That car actually sat a couple of years before. When put on road again, for a while it just had multiple issues-- stuck rings (terrible smoke, bad starting, low on power, at least one bad glowplug, ip messed up, misadjusted -by him:)-), way too tight valves, low compression, a constantly clogged fuel filter (dirty fuel used: `HTO`= `household heating diesel`, very low quality as a fuel, very acidic, not filtered and too thick) , peeing nozzles=not spraying nicely, 10W40 regular engine oil, also, ran from a bottle under the hood, etc etc ...ha-ha, you can imagine how bad condition his starter was in. (I used to help pulling him with a rope to get his brick started...m46 power :)) If it started, it came with huge white smoke, then a non-stop black when warm. I told him not to play with the fuel screw and get the rear two glowplugs out. What a pile of neglected maintenance...
BUT that car finally ended up being a very nice survivor and I heard it`s still on the road with a fully rebuilt IP and a partially rebuilt motor. It`s a 1987 760gle factory td m46 sedan, I remember only because I had the same year&color (grey) Volvo that time (1996?ohh).

I can`t wait for your pictures! :)

Runaway tank
 

I like going through older d24/d24t postings; found one that`s great to read, just to know how cruel it can be. Thanks, Anders, for sharing the details (but I can`t see any pictures). :(

http://www.d24t.com/showthread.php?t...t=kibbles+bits

She knows that you`ll have a second wife. I`m glad you ended up here with your dieseling plans. Thanks in advance, for waking up the sleeping monster. Of course we all want to see pictures of the progress!
I`m happy that someone showed up from the hood. I hope you get it running very soon!

Hey RedArrow, appreciate the warm welcome and the info. Yeah she's a hood rat straight out da BX. Let's hope we can get her up and running like one. I meant the car, not the wife... lol. I will definitely keep you posted with pics and that start-up vid. I'll be off to a slow start as I must do some research and part/tool gathering (only had 8 years to do that). Plus we are now getting into the Fall fishing season...priorities you know.

There are plenty of members here who are running naturally-aspirated D24's, so despite the site's name, of course the versions without turbochargers are welcomed as well. You'll notice that right next to the big "D24T.COM" logo on the top of this page, there's a picture of a non-turbo D24 sitting there. ;) The motors are mechanically identical in almost every major aspect, so advice and info that applies to the turbos usually applies equally to the NA versions.

It is possible to add a turbo to the NA cars and a IIRC a few around here have done it, but the turbo motors have some internal differences meant to support the turbo and compensate for the additional stresses it creates. No data on the long-term health affects of "plus-T" NA engines; I suspect one can last a long time if the motor is otherwise strong and the driver is careful about using the power and avoiding situations that lead to high EGT. Certainly would be possible to hurt it if the fuel were turned up and the driver was leaning on the pedal frequently for long periods of time, but if executed, tuned, and used appropriately I imagine it could have no long-term detrimental effect. However, if it were me I would probably want to get the motor put back together and all straightened out and running good in stock form before thinking about adding modifications. Makes it easier if you end up having any issues to diagnose after getting it on the road -- limits the scope to what's already there, rather than having to wonder whether you might also have introduced a problem in any of the non-stock components that were added.

One thing -- I would plan on taking a close look ASAP at the front of the crankshaft and timing belt gear and assessing them for damage. Given your description of how the motor failed, I think there is almost 100% likelihood you will find that the timing belt gear slips or spins on the crank. Combination of a broken cam with an intact timing belt more or less guarantees that engine timing slipped somewhere, either front cam sprocket came loose or crank sprocket spun on crank due to insufficient torque on center bolt or missing/loose allen screws securing balancer to crank sprocket. Failure at the crank is much more likely because without special tools it is close to impossible to get enough torque on the center bolt, this is unfortunately a fairly common way for these motors to get hurt. More than likely whoever put that last timing belt and headgasket on is responsible for what happened. You want to be sure to find and fix the cause for what broke it before you get it running with the new head!

Sounds like there's quite a group of members in the Northeast on the site these days, at least a couple in the boroughs of NYC, one or two in Boston, and also a couple I believe in Maryland and maybe in Virginia as well. We have been talking about organizing a meet-up for members here in the Northwest for a long time; maybe about time to think about a gathering back East too? Get enough people together, you guys could have this 240 put together and on the road in a weekend...:D

v8volvo--Thank you for the sound advice on figuring out what lead to the failure and getting her up and running before considering a turbo mod.

After letting the cylinders soak with PB Blaster for a few days I decided to see if I could turn the motor. First thing I noticed was that the crank nut was practically hand-tight. Well, I can say for sure it's probably torqued beyond spec by now as the motor would not budge (stuck rings I figured). I'm sure I came close to snapping something, so I stopped and added more Blaster and let it sit over night. Still wouldn't budge this morning, so i broke out a dead blow hammer and a 5 pound sledge, striking the dead blow with the sledge on the pistons-voila. Got it turned to TDC, got my measurements and ordered the 2-notch head gasket, M12 head bolts and other gaskets.

Checking out the old head and scavenging the injectors etc... I noticed that the larger valve on #2 cylinder was stuck open-bent I guess. So between that, the intact belt and the loose nut (not the one behind the wheel lol) on the crank, I suppose the failure story is told.

East coast volvo diesel meeting
 

Great idea!

I`ve also been thinking about a Diesel-party or a `d24t drive` somewhere. I would love to share info& see other diesel Volvos.
East coast members, let me know if any of you have a good idea about possible location(s). Hurry, the weather gets nasty around November.

Yes it is a great idea. I'll probably be a little late to the party considering mine is still in pieces. It'll be great to get out there to socialize her once she's up and running though.

damage that can happen from sitting/runaway
 

Before you start the engine I would check out the injection pump, I can almost guarantee it will malfunction. You might be okay if the fuel lines where never removed (high pressure delivery, fuel supply and return) But if those have been removed and the injection pump has been sitting moisture finds it's way in and will rust the flyweight/ governor. I would pull the top cover off the IP and check it out.
Here are some pictures of the kibble and bits engine.

Thanks for the IP advice, Anders. Wow, those pieces/parts look like they experienced a high order detonation. I'm looking on eBay for timing tools but can't determine what if any can be used on my IP. can you recommend a specific model and site for these tools? I really just need the dial indicator and holder but some mention 5mm or 3/8 shank size. The one I have in mind is on eBay item #111153009562 (can't post link from phone) by el Paso Tool but just now noticed it's with 8mm shank. They all mention which engines they're for but never D24.

Also, is it possible that the timing is already set from the last time it was in service since it hasn't been touched? Would it be risky to try starting the engine before I can set with the tools so long as everything is aligned?

Than you

Injection timing will not be set if any of the timing belts have been off.
The dial indicator and holder that I purchased new a few years ago looks like it's no longer available. When I get some free time I will try to track one down..
8mm shank sounds right, but can't be for sure.

Any timing tool that says it works for VW IDI will be fine.

It is possible to R&R the pump and keep it in time if you keep the belt and pulleys mated.

If you don't have the tools, aligning the marks gets you close enough to start the engine in every case I've seen. I've also been 180* off, and got started, you cant get much worse than that.

745 TurboGreasel--thanks for the info. I wound up purchasing the above mentioned kit on eBay from El Paso Tools. First I called Baum Tools to confirm it was the right tool which it was. He quoted me a price of about $190 for the indicator and holder. I referenced the one on eBay and he looked it up and said the $65 on eBay was identical but he could match the price. He didn't car where I bought it, so I hit buy it now as it was the last one on eBay.

Update: I removed the injectors from the old head last night. They are now soaking in mineral spirits. Should I open them for inspection? I have no way of really testing them.

You need to be careful with the injectors, you don't want to get any debris inside of them, if your soaking them its likely that you will get dirt into them. At this point I would disassemble each one individually and clean them thoroughly with brake clean, re assemble and hope the injector bodies won't leak.

You can always have a shop pop test them for you. Before getting them pop tested I would look at the face of the injector nozzle where it seats with the heat shield, if you can see some erosion around the pintle, I would rebuild them.

There are a few members here that would gladly pop test them for you for free if you pay for shipping.

I have four never used rebuilt d24 injectors I can sell you ( you would need to get two more) I also have a set of six low mile rebuilt units that tested good also.

Whenever disconnecting the injector lines I like to close up the injector inlets. Since I have not been able to locate the appropriate plastic caps I use aluminum foil to cover them, pinched tightly into the threads. Same for the IP delivery valves.

Soaking the injectors in solvent doesn't seem like such a good idea. Too much chance for floating grit to find its way into the injector inlet. The exterior of the injector is not nearly so important to clean or keep clean. Solvent CAN help to clean (I like ultrasonic better) the interior components of the injectors AFTER you disassemble them, and maintain cleanroom standards. Oftentimes the sealing faces and discs need refacing (figure-8 patterns on fine-fine sandpaper on flat glass surface) but upon reassembly, keep all dust, fibers from a piece of thread from a rag, fingerprints*, etc. off the components!

DO try to avoid deforming the protruding pin of the nozzle pintle. Pretty fragile, and will deform if it gets knocked around.

Now I reread your post and see you have no way to test the injectors-- no reason to open them up, and lots of reasons not to.

Here is a good step-by-step to see what is involved:
http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?opt...d=20&Itemid=28

More details (not exactly our injectors):
http://dieselgenerators.tpub.com/TM-...400-350084.htm
"To check this fit, lift valve about one third of its length out of the body. The valve should slide down to its seat without aid when assembly is held at a 45 ngle."

This dropping the pintle into the nozzle when held at a 45deg angle so it slides home by its own weight business is sometimes hard to achieve (*fingerprints here will ruin your day)...

But it is one of the pieces of the puzzle necessary for a good-performing injector.

In the end you want:
1. Correct pop pressure (ideally equal across the injectors)
2. Good spray pattern
3. NO drips or seepage between injection events.

Probably the injector nozzles and IP fuel delivery piston are the highest tolerance machined items in your car.

OOPS!! Just got that sinking feeling...Bad idea to soak them.

Anders- I'll let you know about buying those units.

Ngoma-- Thanks for those excellent links and advice.

I got a handful of 'furniture caps' at my local ACE hardware. They are in the nuts and bolts section, and like a colored plastic vacuum fitting cap. Yellow and gray both fit injectors and delivery valves pretty well.

While cleaning up the "new" cylinder head I was checking the valves to see if they would hold brake parts cleaning fluid that I sprayed into the ports. A few of them were seeping, so I cleaned around the valves and seats with a wire brush, but still can't get a complete seal. I was hoping this would be a easy swap, but it looks like it's gonna be a lot more involved. My first thought is to scavenge the good valves off the old head or do I replace all valves (maybe have them ground?) and seats with new ones? The head is otherwise in good condition with minimal to no warping. The valves and seats look great as viewed from the combustion chamber.

Ok I was in denial. A valve job is in order. Minimally I will remove valves, inspect them, the seats, the guides and lap them or maybe send it all out to the shop. Can't see spending $600 or more on a valve job though.

the exhaust guides usually wear the fastest. Pretty sure Turbo uses sodium filled valves,and NA do not.

Any progress been made to the car?

Thanks for asking, Anders. Not much progress in the last month or so because I've been busy working on the boat and fishing. Got the boat hauled and just about winterized, so I'll be getting back to work on the car soon. I have the head disassembled and cleaned. Next , I'll lap the valves and reassemble. I will post my progress.

5years went by....

How is the motor?

It's been a while...
 

I'm back and ready to complete the job. Everything is removed from the engine and all replacement parts are in. I had a hell of a time removing the bolt for the harmonic balancer. I don't have the special tool for that, so I used a strap wrench around the pulley and a breaker with a four foot pipe attached. The first strap wrench from Harbor Freight broke its rubber strap, but had success with an old webbed one I have from my Army days. Now all that needs to be done before reassembling the engine is lap four leaky valves and reassemble the cylinder head. This thing is leaving my garage soon, whether on her own power or by hook.

Have you checked around for someone close to you that can loan you the special tools? Otherwise, how are you going to tighten that bolt sufficiently? If it comes loose it will ruin your day. :(

Ngoma--I'm thinking of making a tool for that when the time comes.

One weird thing I noticed on the cooling fan is one of the blade tips is broken off. Should the fan be replaced?

Fanhttp://d24t.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1133&stc=1&d=151976679 2

Yes you should replace that fan. Safety and/or balance issues. What condition are the motor mounts in?

Don't make the tool, I can loan you the necessary tools and I'm not far from your area.
I just need to plan a few d24 projects myself but we'll figure out how and when to have " a d24 meet. "

Ngoma-- The motor mounts seem pretty solid and there's no damage around the fan shroud. So it's a mystery as to why only one blade would be broken. I've been looking around for replacement fan, but to no avail. If anyone knows where there's one available, I'd be interested.

RedArrow-- Thank you for offering to lend the tools-very nice of you! It will be a while before I get to that point. Right now I'm having issues with the four valves sealing for cylinders 5 and 6 in the replacement cylinder head. I tried lapping them twice, but they're not passing my compressed air test. I'm still getting tiny bubbles. The surfaces on the valves and seats look good, so it could be that I need new valves, seats or springs. Next I'll get out the books for specs and take measurements. I didn't want to get this technical, but just can't, in good conscience throw things back together knowing there are deficiencies that can be corrected within reason. The other valves are sealing good though. Could it be possible that the compressed air is popping open the valve a bit? I'm blowing about 100psi into the ports with a less than airtight seal around the air nozzle and port. Is there a better way to check the valves?

With some more lapping (the old fashioned way), the valves are sealing well. The camshaft and seals are installed. Now I'm looking at the injectors. They've been sitting in a stainless bowl, covered with rag in my garage for the past five years. I know the best thing to do would be to have them serviced and tested, but short of that, is there a way to clean them real quick for now? What about the heat shields? Can they be reused? I plan to eventually have the injectors tested and rebuilt if necessary. For now I just want to see if I can get it running.

Nice nice...progress!! After how many yrs? 3+8plus time spent at Prev Owner.
 

Please do not reuse injector shields, EVER, they are designed to deform specifically for best possible sealing... every time you torgue an injector into the cylinder head...so reusing them is strongly discouraged. Maybe some owners do!!!? Bad!
Especially because it is appr $2 each. An investment of $12-16 will make sure your injectors wont leak anywhere...AND you will not have to redo that sensitive AND OFTEN DANGEROUS injector project. So many things can go wrong...
These cyl heads are known to get broken threads there and that would be a sad moment. Because injectors often already spent 5-10-15-20yrs in there.
Use caution to make sure the holes are all cleaned (i vacuumed) while somehow plug the holes so absolutely nothing gets in (dirt, rust, aluminum thread particles, old carbon pieces, etc.etc...it is easy to cause damage. Use antiseize on thread at installation but dont use too much. I used copper antiseize but there are other variations.
It was a huge project to keep my inj holes clean right after taking them out. Because it was so rusty and so dirty in there! And i did not want anything to end up falling inside. And some of the injector thread was not in perfect condition and looking worn. :( This makes doing injectors a project that is riskier than many of us think. Try doing it just once....or as little number of times as you can...for best insurance and long lasting vw diesel sounds:)

If your old injector seals dont come out immediately after you finally get your injectors out safely, be very very careful. Don't use a crap quality pick tool. If parts or chipped metal lands in the hole, the motor wont be happy. A fraction of a second can result having to do huge projects. :(
I used the core of an extremely strong copper welding stick that I bent to form a hook of proper shape and size. Make it very long and/or bend a large handle on the other end so it cant fall in. I had to fight 2 of 6 seals like a mad cave man, #5-6 was extremely stubborn.
I went thread by thread to scrape away all dirt while seals were still in and i used a right-size thin plastic pen to plug the tiny hole of the seal itself, pushing pen down while other tool was scraping dirt that kept falling down on the seal. Lots of differently angled picking tools were used. Then vacuuming then redo until inj holes look very satisfying.

Took me a looong time. And i cant even complain bc my injectors only spent 6-7yrs in this cylinder head. Getting the injectors out was still a real biatch. Step by step...back and forth. Rust powder was shooting out and loud squeeking (and cursing!) heard...despite my 3-days of soaking the entire area at each injector in wd40 (or pb blaster?) that was sprayed on. Such a painful couple of days. Stressful too :)
Do your best to make sure the cyl head doesn't get hurt when taking out injectors that stuck in there. In general.
Also when doing injector torqueing, or when taking them out, please take *extra care* to apply force/pressure in a way so the area under the injector itself does NOT get too much pressure because it can easily break off. Ask me how i know...grrrrrr! @$%&?!!!
One head is out of order now. The little area where the injector threads in, is very sensitive to accept downward force.
Someone here wrote a lot on how to position yourself tightening and how to do it when loosening them. Basically never apply much force to the wrong direction (position your bar so you won't force that area *away from the cylinder head itself and also *not pointing towards the ground).
It is common sense but i think many dont think of it.
I will, forever...my cyl d24 has a huge chunk missing now under injector #6. Someone beefed it the wrong way or was hitting a tool while fighting with a stuck injector or a breaker bar to get it loose..maybe by hammer etc??)

About how to clean them, idk.i got away with cleaning 3sets of injectors but it is really so messy and challenging (to keep it all clean) that i would leave cleaning AND ESPECIALLY setting them, to a pro. I took mine completely apart, marked them, kept them and all tiny parts all separately from each other, soaked them too, did and tried all then did my best and put them together by the greenbook and torqued them then the engines ran but on a car and pump that is getting built I would only use the best (known to be clean and well adjusted) injectors. Idk what to say about you cleaning them...you may get away with a good careful brake cleaner flush, blowing air then redo but honestly idk.

If sat years, the hard lines are also probably a little rusty inside. And the pump.

I bought the proper injector tool from eb@y so injector nipples wont get damaged at my next injector project. A regular deep socket often interferes with those nipples which is not too good of a thing. ( Now my injectors are jb welded and finally do not leak at those "accidentally loosened" nipples.)
Good luck...keep bricking...
give yourself plenty of time to work around the injectors.

Thanks RedArrow--Wow, I'm glad I asked! The donor head had three heat shields stuck in there. I soaked them in PB Blaster and was able to tap in a tapered punch through the holes to extract them. I was going to order new ones from RockAuto, but they only had four in stock. So, I called a local auto parts guy (Parts Plus) and he will have them in tomorrow with a better price to boot.

I tested the glow plugs that I pulled from the bad head and all six lit right up. As for the injectors, I think I'll run them buy my friend's shop for advice. I would eventually like to build an injector tester someday.

The best glowplugs are the duratherm bosch ones. Rockauto usually has them for around $5-8 each. I think part # is bosch 80010.

You will need them. And you need the best ones.
Change it as a set. I would not trust Champion and any unknown brands. And i would not mix different plugs either.
Do it while the engine is out...it is the best time to get it done. Esp if your injectors are out!

For the injectors: If you capped the inlets and avoided any shocks to the delicate needle in the other end, there is not much more you can really do to "clean" them without risking dirt entering. Hopefully you also stored the injector lines in a way to avoid foreign material from entering.

Reusing injector heat shields: There is a way to reform them, with a 1/2" or 3/8" ball bearing, an appropriately sized socket, and a vise. The idea is to squeeze it back into the original shape, judging alongside a new one. Inspect for any cracking along the circumference of the inner hole.

Red Arrow, please share where you are getting heat shields for $2.

Helpful link for refurbishing injectors:
http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?opt...d=20&Itemid=28

Im pretty sure I had it from multiple sources already (ipd fcp eeuro groton etc ebay amazon) but here's one. I will search for bosch ones too.

https://m.eeuroparts.com/Parts/PartR...or+heat+shield

Let me edit myself bc of the size of the "fuel filter " hole... LMAO

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vw-...al-068130219my

Get me 13pcs pls so when we meet in LI I could pick it up from you. Thx

Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry for the delay but got caught up with other things. My last post was a year ago and at that time I was going to the parts place to pickup the heat shields and filters then get the injectors tested at my buddy Don's shop. Well, while at the parts place, I told the guy behind the counter that I was heading over to Don's to test the injectors. He told me that I'd have a tough time doing that since Don is dead. So that was a setback which led to more delays and now here I am.

At this point, the head is reassembled and waiting for the injectors. I couldn't find the heat shields I thought I bought so ordered them online,-should be here in a couple of days. Now I'm cleaning up the block by running a thread chaser through the head bolt holes and prepping the mating surfaces. I made four dowels out of the old head bolts for positioning the head during installation. The Green book says to install the exhaust and intake manifolds before installing the head. That seems awkward. Today I'll work on installing the new timing belt, crank gear and dampener so that I can turn the engine back to TDC. It must've moved off the mark while I was removing the crank bolt??


So, that's where I stand. Hope everyone is doing well.


Harry

While the engine was in the car I R/R the head with the exhaust manifold detached but the intake manifold still attached. It was manageable with two people.

Main difficulty was that I made the locating dowels too long and made the head interfere with other components during installation. Like you, they were repurposed old head bolts. I cut them down further to ease the installation.

ngoma--I cut slots in the ends of the dowels to fit a flat tip screwdriver. Right now I'm trying to figure out how the coolant pump is used to adjust the timing belt tension.

Yes, that seems to be the common method for fabbing the head locating dowels. My suggestion was just to not make them too long.

Two of the mounting holes in the waterpump are slotted in an arc, which allows it to pivotally swing in and out to tension and detension the TB. Don't make it too tight. Should be able to twist the TB almost 90deg by using just a few fingers.