[v8volvo]

Starters are the interchangeable. There are three D24/D24T starters, a small Hitachi and two Bosches, a large SR38 and a small gear reduction SR97. All will work on any D24 or D24T of any year, manual and automatic both. Upper bolt is a little tricky to access especially if doing it on the ground but a worthwhile experiment to try to replace the starter and see what the car does.

I would put the starter in, get a strong fresh battery, pull the black ground wire off the glow plug relay and the wire off the injection pump solenoid so it doesn't start before you're ready for it to. Take the timing belt cover off and check that the belt doesn't look like it is about to imminently strip or break. If all looks OK there, then I would proceed to next change the oil. Then I would pull the valve cover, dump oil on the cam, and squirt some lubricant into the intake manifold (pull the boost relief valve off the front of the mani and squirt in copious amounts of WD40). If it hasn't run in 4 years the motor may still be good and not even need a rebuild, but you will quickly turn it into an engine that *does* need a rebuild if you are not careful in how you go about getting it running. I would do the above steps, then reinstall valve cover, connect the battery, and then finally turn the key and let it crank for a while. Do a few bursts of 30sec cranking. You want to get oil pumped up into the engine before starting it. Last, reconnect the glow plug relay and the pump solenoid, and go through the normal diesel starting procedure. I bet it will fire right up and run fine.

Seller may not be interested in letting you do all this before you buy the car. However, $500 is a pittance for a complete D24T car on the West Coast. You are getting a good deal even if it turns out not to be a runner so I would buy it before someone else does, then worry about trying to get it running.

What is it in? 740/760? Year? Automatic or stick? Wagon?