1985 Volvo 745 GLE wagon - D24T w/M46 manual

[TinMan]

SOLD



I am reviving this for sale ad. I bought a house which takes up a good portion of my time and just had a baby and would rather spend my time with my daughter than trying to fix up this car. My asking price is listed below, but just make me an offer. The worst I can say is no. Who knows, I might say yes!


Here is a link to more photos. The only things I forgot to take pictures of are the timing tools and valve shims, but I will try to remember to take pics of those as well. http://photobucket.com/Volvo745GLE password is Volvodiesel


Located in Appleton, Wisconsin


I am the third owner of this car and it started life in California. I have the original window sticker and sales brochure, along with all of the original manuals including the wagon and diesel supplements. The title is clean, clear, and in my name.

The last time I started the car was about a year and a half ago. It ran great as always, but one or more of the injector seals must have dried up/rotted/torn because it was leaking diesel fuel from the injectors. Before that it never had any problems and always ran perfectly. It does need some work (see descriptions below) so I wouldn't attempt to drive it too far. I have no driven it on the road in at least two years. I will get it started this week to make sure it still runs fine.


ENGINE
The car itself shows 286,000-ish miles (the odometer DOES work), but according to the previous owner, the engine was rebuilt at 120,000 miles. It does have some blow by but it's not that bad (at least I don't think it is) and I haven't noticed it burning or leaking any oil. It sounds like it needs to have the valves re-shimmed but the it hasn't given me any problems and doesn't sound terrible. I don't know when the timing belt was last changed so that needs to be done, which is one of the reasons I do not drive it anymore. The previous owner said it was done once after the engine rebuild, but it was before he bought it, and he put 40k miles on it during the time he owned it. He also rebuilt the alternator while he had it, replaced the glow plugs, and did a few other things, one of which was changing the ball joints if I remember correctly. The power steering pump tends to leak when sitting for a while, but when the car is driven regularly it doesn't seem to leak at all.

TRANSMISSION
The M46 seems to be in great shape. I have had no problems shifting it and the overdrive has never given me any issues. The knob is loose and will pull off if you pull up on it, so sometimes you have to press the button down and give it a little twist to get the wire connections together and activate the overdrive, but it's only been a minor annoyance to me. The clutch does shudder a bit when you first start driving it when it's cold, but the shuddering stops completely shortly thereafter.

BODY
The body is straight but it's pretty rough due to rust. The front fenders are completely shot and the passenger door has a good size hole in it where the door trim was (I pulled it off because it was just hanging there anyway). The rear quarters aren't terrible (by Wisconsin standards) but they aren't good either. I did find a small hole in the floor under the driver's side, but for the most part the floor looks to be pretty solid.

SUSPENSION/CHASSIS/BRAKES
The car needs new shocks and probably springs as well. All four shocks are leaking and the springs feel a bit soft. The car still rides pretty well but the suspension should definitely be replaced. New front tie rod end are needed and the car also needs new pads and rotors on all four corners as they are a bit thin.

INTERIOR
The interior actually isn't that bad considering its age. The seats are in decent shape, although the driver seat doesn't move forward/backward on its track and the seat heaters no longer work. The carpet is also not bad. The sunroof tilts open but no longer slides back, and the headliner is out. The rear hatch struts no longer hold it open so I've been using a vise grips as a lock to keep the hatch up. There are some small broken plastic pieces on the rear seats but everything still works just fine. The fuel gauge jumps around a bit but you can still get a general reading of how much fuel is in the tank, so I'm guessing the sending unit is bad. When I got the car I cleaned and conditioned the leather seats with Lexol, which livened them up quite a bit. Also, I believe the blower motor needs to be replaced and the AC does not work. The heat does work well, but the fan just doesn't blow much out of the vents. I did start removing the interior, starting from the rear forward, since I planned on refurbishing the body. I made it to about the back seats, which are still in the car. I do have everything I removed.

MISCELLANEOUS
For a short time I ran a family member's auto repair shop and during that time I made a new exhaust for the rear 2/3 of the car. I eliminated both mufflers and replaced them with 2.5 straight pipe, with a 3 inch pipe exiting straight out the back and sitting almost flush with the bumper. I've been told it now sounds like a Cummins, and it's a little loud, but not annoyingly so. Eliminating the mufflers really allowed the engine to breath and now it has a whole lot more power than it did before and you can hear the turbo spooling quite easily. I often get confused and/or curious looks from people driving diesel trucks and semis.

The windows have some crappy 5% limo tint on them that has turned purple and peeled in places, but I never bothered to take it off because it served its purpose and the car isn't a looker anyway.

The original spare is still with the car and works wonderfully (got a flat in the middle of winter and had to change it on the side of the road), and almost all of the original tools and the jack are still with the car as well.

Wheels are five 14" Volvo wheels with hub caps. One wheel is bent so I consider it scrap, but the other four are good. Three of the wheels have good Bridgestone Blizzak tires, but the fourth is unusable. Car will be rolling on the three good Volvo wheels and the spare.


EXTRA PARTS INCLUDED WITH SALE
-one complete D24T injection pump... I don't know if it's usable as-is or if it needs a rebuild, but it would be great for someone who wants an extra pump to build the snot out of
-a complete set of valve shims in a handy case covering every size range you could possibly need for this engine, and there are anywhere from 2-6 of each size shim, with the more common sizes having the most
-Hazet tools 2599 (valve shim pliers), 2574 (valve depressor), 2574-1 (valve depressor), K-D tool valve shim pliers, and an unknown brand (I believe it's also Hazet but not positive) valve spring compressor for VW diesels
-V90 rear hatch spoiler
-a complete set of Gates belts (total of 5)
-one or two Ro-Drive belts (from Denmark)
-Goetze one piece rubber valve cover gasket
-Mann oil filter (sold by Purolator but it's just a Mann filter with a small Purolator sticker slapped on)
-one or two window regulators
-some miscellaneous interior trim
-four Borbet Type T wheels with center caps (FWD offset). Wheels are in nice shape but a couple could use refinishing, although they look fine as is. Two tires are usable but should probably be replaced, while the other two are almost new Primewell PZ900's. I do not have any wheel spacers.


There is probably more info that I am forgetting that I will add as I remember it, and I'm sure there are more spare parts that I'm forgetting as well that I will add as I remember them.


The pictures currently posted are from when I originally bought the car about a year and a half ago. It looks mostly the same now except that it's a bit cleaner, has one spare on it, the chrome trim around the wheels and on the doors has been removed, and the tail pipe exits straight out the back. I will get more pictures asap. I can also get more pictures of any spare parts that I have if there is any interest.

SOLD

I'm asking $1200 or best offer (includes all parts I have for it)
Don't be afraid to throw an offer at me, the worst I can say is no. While the price might seem high, it is my understanding that manual transmission D24T wagons are very rare, which I know does not necessarily equate to high value. Like I said, feel free to make me an offer.


If you have any questions feel free to PM me or send me an email at JGillz at aol dot com.

Jason














SOLD

[TinMan]

Take everything for $1500.

[Jason]

If I didn't just have a baby, and besides my wife would kill me for bringing home a wagon... Man I would love to have it, a wagon was what I really wanted in the first place, and starting out a manual no less...

Jason

[TinMan]

Boooooo to wagon haters lol Wagons are so practical, I'll never understand the disdain for them.

And crap, I forgot I need to take more pictures. Will have to remind myself to do that Tuesday after work...

[Jason]

My wife's mom had a '82 240 Diesel wagon that she bought new. My wife grew up being driven around in it and hated the smell, was embarassed by the smoke when she got dropped off at school, that kinda story. Ha i'm lucky I got away with getting a volvo diesel at all lol.

Jason

[v8volvo]

Nice collection of parts and tools you have there.

The manual trans D24T wagons are indeed rare and delightful. One year only (1985) and a score if you can find one. I missed out on one several years ago that was white, just like this one. Often wonder where that one ended up.

Hope it goes to someone who will care for it... maybe a member here...

[v8volvo]

BTW, putting a blower motor in one of these cars is a 15 minute job... and they make great heat when they are working right.

Maybe you should fix the heater, put timing belts on it, and drive it through the winter....?

[TinMan]

Thanks!

I've certainly thought about that, but I would also have to do brakes, a little front end work, full suspension, and the sending unit to feel comfortable driving it daily, although it would be a sweet winter vehicle. However, my Accord may also need full suspension, although it may just be the strut mount that needs replacing. Doing suspension gets really pricey, but if I fix just the Volvo...

Great, now you have me thinking. Thanks a lot

[Volvoist]

You have email.

[v8volvo]

Originally Posted by TinMan

Thanks!

I've certainly thought about that, but I would also have to do brakes, a little front end work, full suspension, and the sending unit to feel comfortable driving it daily, although it would be a sweet winter vehicle. However, my Accord may also need full suspension, although it may just be the strut mount that needs replacing. Doing suspension gets really pricey, but if I fix just the Volvo...

Great, now you have me thinking. Thanks a lot

Happy to keep you thinking.

Winter is coming soon. Want some recommendations on struts?? Need to borrow any timing belt tools? ;-)

I have a good used fuel level sending unit I could send you. Fix it up and put a set of snow tires on it, and you'll be glad you're not driving a Honda this winter. A good running diesel Volvo is much superior...