[ngoma]

Originally Posted by VolvoGabe

I was told they don't like to idle to warm up, but be driven pretty quickly after the D24 has started.

As you already know, diesels in general will not warm up to operating temp. from just starting and idling as a gasoline engine would.

Mine is up to temp within 5 minutes of easy driving from start.

Best practice is to start it, give a few seconds for the idle to smooth out, and drive off babying it somewhat for the first few minutes. Not extreme baybing it, but avoid pushing it hard, excessively loading it, and of course, no WOT. You don't need to restrict the revs so much, but avoid loading it. Give the oil time to get up to temp. (given a properly functioning cooling system, the oil temp should roughly follow the coolant temp) and remember the engine components have differing rates of thermal expansion due to different materials (ex. aluminum head, iron block).

I bought one of mine that needed a new engine. The PO lived at the bottom of a long steep hill and she would boot it up that hill from a cold start every morning, quite effectively shortening the life of that engine.

Best thing you can do is to ensure you have the correct thermostat that correctly blocks off the bypass port, and use full synthetic diesel-rated motor oil. This is a must.

Originally Posted by VolvoGabe

I end up causing a line up of cars behind me because it is so gutless.

Are you saying it is gutless because you are hesitant to rev it into its powerband? Is your situation that you enter a high speed highway immediately from your starting location?