VW LT40 4x4 x2 and VW T4 TDI

[Marlow]

Here's a video somebody send me on one of the forums, from when I went over that container ramp.

http://youtu.be/G3TdwbSMKUY

/M

[m-reg]

funny thing back in the day i never would have thought I`d end up wanting an LT van lolll

[745 TurboGreasel]

I have never seen an LT, and the dealer here does not know what one is.

[Marlow]

Originally Posted by 745 TurboGreasel

I have never seen an LT, and the dealer here does not know what one is.

The Mk1 VW LT was the big brother to the VW Transporter T3/Vanagon. It could be got in a gross weight load rating from 2.8 tonne to 5.5 tonne (that's what the number behind the LT indicates) All 4x4 LT's were either LT40 or LT45, so rated for 4 or 4.5 tonne. There were also non 4x4 LT40 and LT45.

They were build from 1975 (4 years before the launch of the T3) until 1996 and that's where the original D24 and D24T engine comes from.

Volvo made a deal with VW for that engine to go into the Volvo 260, 740, 760, 940 and 960 as their diesel offering. They also agreed with VW, that VW never would use that engine in a car, so that the Volvo would be the only car with that engine. If you ever open the bonnet of your Volvo, you'll see, that a lot of parts are badged VW/Audi. That's because it's a VW engine in the Volvo.

Other vehicles with that engine are for example the Pinzgauer.

VW LT's were also build on license or rebadged in Spain by Pegaso and named Pegaso Ekus.

The 4x4 variant (like mine) of the VW LT were originally developed by a company called Sülzer who build the first (I think 156) 4x4 VW LT's. All which had the 6-cyl petrol engine.

The drivetrain and chassis is based on a normal LT40 or LT45 with leaf springs front and back. The chassis is lifted, 26mm anti-rollbars are added to cope with body-roll and the axles are replaced. A transfer box from New Process was installed in the drivetrain, which is propshaft-driven and cable-operated. The same transfer box can also be found in Chevy Blazer and Jeep Cherokees.

The axles were replaced. The first 6 Sülzer LT's had Dana axles, then production was changed to axles from the italian company Clark-Hurth. All 4x4 LT's came with rear and center diff-lock standard, front diff-lock optional. From 1991 and on, front diff-lock also was standard.

VW eventually took over Sülzers development and build another 1250 or so 4x4 LT's in either tin-top, high-top, single-cab or double-cab pickup. They also added the D24 and D24T options to the portfolio of the 4x4, which already existed in the normal LT from day one. (well, I think the D24T came in the early 80's. 82 or so.)

The D24 option was soon dropped, as it didn't have enough power for the 4x4 drivetrain. So most 4x4 LT's are either the 90 bhp 6-cyl petrol or the 102 bhp 6-cyl D24T.

From 1993 then, VW introduced the D24TIC with 95 bhp, but more torque, for the LT (and LT 4x4).

At the end of the day, there's about 5 million Mk1 VW LT's build, where the majority have the D24 or the D24T engine. Out of these, there's only 1250 4x4 LT's build from around 1982 and onwards.

In 1996 the Mk2 LT was introduced, which shares the body with the Mercedes Sprinter, but has the 2.5 TDI engine, that also is in the VW EuroVan (or T4 as we call it in Europe). That same engine also sits in the Volvo 850 TDI's.

The current successor of the VW LT is called VW Crafter and is as of 2 years ago also officially available in a 4x4 variant.

/M

[v8volvo]

Interesting info. How common are those gasoline 2.4L sixes there? Wonder what they call them by -- "gasser D24" doesn't sound very official... If it was a Volvo motor they probably would have called it a "B24", but I know VW generally uses a different, and less logical, naming convention.

I remember reading somewhere that Volvo was involved in the engineering for the adaptation of turbocharging to the D24. If that is true, then VW got a lot of use out of Volvo's contribution in all those TD LT's. Have you ever heard anything about that part of the relationship? I'll try to find where I read that claim -- think it was in a Volvo official publication somewhere.

[Marlow]

Originally Posted by v8volvo

Interesting info. How common are those gasoline 2.4L sixes there? Wonder what they call them by -- "gasser D24" doesn't sound very official... If it was a Volvo motor they probably would have called it a "B24", but I know VW generally uses a different, and less logical, naming convention.

The 2.4l petrol (or gas) inline-6 was LT only.

Volvo uses their own petrol engines (like the B20 and B23) or Renault engines (like the 2.7 and 2.8l V6 engines), when it comes to petrol.

Originally Posted by v8volvo

I remember reading somewhere that Volvo was involved in the engineering for the adaptation of turbocharging to the D24. If that is true, then VW got a lot of use out of Volvo's contribution in all those TD LT's. Have you ever heard anything about that part of the relationship? I'll try to find where I read that claim -- think it was in a Volvo official publication somewhere.

I've had a look at the timeline again. From 1975 to 1977, the diesel LT's had a 2.7l Perkins engine. The petrol ones were a 2l Audi inline-4.

This was replaced in 1978 with the D24.

In 1982, the D24T then was introduced together with a massive facelift (mostly interior and engines) of the LT and the introduction of the 2.4l inline-6 petrol also.

I'm not too sure, if Volvo had input with the adaption for use with a turbo, but the Volvo variant has usually more power than the LT variant of the engine, due to Volvo often using bigger injectors and a bigger turbo.

So Volvo always has added their little touch to VW's engines.

The same applies to the 2.5 TDI inline-5 engines in the Volvo 850.

/M

[v8volvo]

Originally Posted by Marlow

I'm not too sure, if Volvo had input with the adaption for use with a turbo, but the Volvo variant has usually more power than the LT variant of the engine, due to Volvo often using bigger injectors and a bigger turbo.

So Volvo always has added their little touch to VW's engines.

I'll try to find where it was that I saw that Volvo had a role in developing the turbo for the D24. I seem to remember it was in some kind of official Volvo publication, where Volvo was trying to take credit for some part of the D24T engine whose smoothness and power they were so highly praising.

Volvo uses their own petrol engines (like the B20 and B23) or Renault engines (like the 2.7 and 2.8l V6 engines), when it comes to petrol.

I had a late '80s 760 with the 2.8L French Peugeot/Renault gasser V6 once. It was a pretty nice engine to drive, smooth and quiet. Only problem was it wasn't much faster than a good running D24T and used about twice as much fuel!

[Marlow]

I had a look around again and it seems, that the brazilian version of the VW LT was rebadged in the US under the name Peterbilt Midranger.

From looking at pictures, these might only having been the MAN engined vehicles with the LT cab. These are called the G Series and were a joint venture of VW and MAN.

Would be interesting though, if the smaller LT's with the D24/D24T engines also exist as Peterbilts.

/M

[Marlow]

A few more updates. It's been an eventful week.

On Wednesday, I stripped the Volvo down and we removed the engine from that.



On thursday, we spend all day stripping down the LT, to get the engine out.
That was no easy task at all.


We had to strip all propshafts, the transferbox and the gearbox first.


Bring the engine crane into the cab


Then lift the van up on the 2-poster, while we were maneuvering the engine downwards and behind the front axle. With some kicking and a lot of swearing, we finally had the engine out.


Here are the two engines on the ground, side by side.


Today we started moving parts, that we needed from the LT engine to the Volvo engine. Because the injector-pump of the Volvo has a problem, we couldn't test-fire the engine, before it came out. So this was done on the garage floor today, when we had the LT injector pump mounted.
http://youtu.be/_dAXQzyzu2o

It was a glorious moment.

On monday, we should be able to finish the work on the Volvo engine and then stick it into the LT.

/M

[RedArrow]

Originally Posted by Marlow

this was done on the garage floor today, when we had the LT injector pump mounted.
http://youtu.be/_dAXQzyzu2o

It was a glorious moment.

/M

Glorious&happy it was, indeed, but sooo much revving for me. (Was the block as happy as you? :-) ) It`s out so there`s good access to inspect+replace otherwise problematic parts.
(I heard changing the oil pan gasket is a `PITA`! ? )
What colour are you going to paint the engine maybe?