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  #1  
Old 07-07-2014, 12:59 AM
clivealive44 clivealive44 is offline
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Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Vehicle: RHD 1995/6 Volvo 945 manual M90 gearbox
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Default Hi, New Member from Edinburgh Scotland (and question about pump)

Hi, I am very happy to join this forum, which I only just discovered through the Volvo owners forum.
I am happily the owner of a Right Hand Drive 1996 940 diesel estate which I have now owned for 8 years. I have owned several rear wheel drive volvos in the past including a LHD diesel 245 (converted from petrol), but, by far, my present vehicle is the best car I've ever had . When I purchased the car it had only just done 110k miles, it has now almost reached 220k and am hoping it will reach at least another 100k.
Before the present car I had learned a bit about the engine from owning the 245, which had a burst cylinder head gasket, and the pump packed in. Someone had told me that because the head is alloy, and the block is steel, when you cold start the engine, it heats rapidly, and the steel, and the alloy expands at different rates, thereby causing a lot of pressure on the head gasket, and so the more cold starts you do, the shorter the life of the head gasket. So when I purchased the 940, the first thing I did was install a Kenlowe Engine Pre-heater. (Kenlowe also say that up to 70% of engine wear is due to cold starts). So since I've owned the car, It has done very few cold starts, and I don't know if this is the cause or not, but the engine seems to run just as powerfully, and as fuel efficient (if not more) as the day I got it .
When the pump packed in on the 245, I had to take the car off the road for 3 weeks waiting for my local diesel injection specialist to recondition it, and then pay them £500 for their services. So when I got the 940 I put a search on ebay for a spare pump, and found a brand new one on sale from Bosch on ebay.de for only about £500, which I purchased, and still have in my loft.
Fortunately I've had to do almost nothing to the engine since I got it apart from changing the oil and filter every 5k miles, changed the timing belt, the brake servo pump and connecting rod, reconditioning the injectors and changing the glow plugs, and the usual fuel and air filter changes.
The engine is now due a timing belt change, which I am getting my local trusted mechanic to do ( i used to do the timing belt on the petrol ones, but I find the very high torque setting on the crank shaft pulley bolt on the D24 too scary for me), but he won't do the pump belt because of the special tools needed, he says I should take it to a vw specialist for that. I was wondering whether I should get the new pump fitted at the same time, rather than wait for the old one to pack in, now that it is 18 years old and done 220k miles. Does anyone know what the life expectancy of these pumps are before they need reconditioned, or replaced?
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  #2  
Old 07-07-2014, 08:35 AM
v8volvo v8volvo is offline
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Welcome to the forum, and nice wagon!

Given your description of what your mechanic has proposed, I would look for someone else to do the front belt as well as the rear. Removing the rear belt is a necessary step for correctly changing the front belt. The front belt takes a lot of special tools - more than the rear belt does. If you look through the procedure for changing the front belt, you'll see that what the mechanic is suggesting makes no sense. If he wants to just do the front belt and not the rear, then unfortunately it's clear that he doesn't know how to do either of them. The risks are much higher with the front belt than with the rear belt. Any missteps there and the engine, which you have carefully cared for all these years, stands a large chance of catastrophic damage.

If it's running well and the pump is not leaking, then there's no strong argument for replacing the pump preemptively. As long as it is cared for with timely fuel filter changes and no questionable fuel run through it, the VE pump has an almost indefinite possible life span. It is sensitive to overtensioning of the rear timing belt, which can wear out the input shaft bushing and lead to shaft seal failure, but beyond that, mechanical problems are relatively unusual.

I would try to find a VW/Audi specialist that is accustomed to working on 5cyl 2.0L Audi diesels or VW LT van engines and have them do both of the timing belts, as well as the water pump and idler rollers in front. A Volvo specialist who has direct knowledge of this engine and can show you his set of D24 special tools would be fine also. Based on what you have said, I would avoid getting your current mechanic involved with this job, even if he may have served you well in the past on less particular work.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:10 AM
ngoma ngoma is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clivealive44 View Post
Does anyone know what the life expectancy of these pumps are before they need reconditioned, or replaced?
Agree with v8volvo about the IP, when always fed clean high quality fuel, can last indefinitely.

One thing that can shorten its life is running with a clogged fuel filter or other fuel supply obstruction. This can cause the IP's internal fuel feed pump to disintegrate and send metal shavings throughout the rest of the IP.

Another problem (usually not catastrophic) is seal leakage, often caused by fuel reformulations or other major changes in fuel type. Many here have replaced the various o-ring seals on these IPs. On second thought, seal leakage resulting in fuel leaking out of the IP CAN turn catastrophic, when the fuel leaks onto the rubber coolant hoses below the IP. The fuel-soaked (now) deteriorated coolant hoses burst and the engine overheats quickly. There goes that aluminum head you mention above.
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  #4  
Old 07-07-2014, 11:10 AM
clivealive44 clivealive44 is offline
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Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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Many thanks for your quick and detailed response to my question, I will take your advice onboard. Although I am a bit confused,my mechanic is a long-time served mechanic, him and his father have been running the business since the 70's, and he has done timing belts on the D24 before, and he did the timing belt on this car the last time, including changing the water pump and idler roller without changing the pump belt, all for a very reasonable price.I have been using him for about 15 years, and all the work he has done for me has been first class.He is one of the few mechanics I completely trust, and have complete faith in his abilities. When I approached the Volvo dealer, they also gave me the option of changing the front belt without changing the rear belt for a considerably lower price.
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  #5  
Old 07-08-2014, 01:00 AM
clivealive44 clivealive44 is offline
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Many thanks ngoma, and v8volvo for the info and advice, will bear it all in mind
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  #6  
Old 07-10-2014, 09:57 AM
clivealive44 clivealive44 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by v8volvo View Post
I would look for someone else to do the front belt as well as the rear
You were right, and I was wrong , sorry for doubting you, it must have been a fluke that he got it right last time, but I had already booked it in at the time of posting, and didn't want to risk endangering the excellent working relationship I have with him by cancelling at the last minute. He admitted he had ballsed it up, and charged me next to nothing for a full days work and parts and sundries, now the valve, and injection timing is out, and it is smoking like a chimney! I am now taking it to a guy with loads of experience of D24t s, and has the full set of specialist tools, and is going to do both belts from scratch.
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  #7  
Old 07-10-2014, 12:04 PM
ngoma ngoma is offline
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Incorrect valve timing can cause real damage, as this is an interference engine, meaning the valves collide with the pistons when the timing is out more than a minute amount.
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  #8  
Old 07-10-2014, 01:08 PM
clivealive44 clivealive44 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ngoma View Post
Incorrect valve timing can cause real damage, as this is an interference engine, meaning the valves collide with the pistons when the timing is out more than a minute amount.
Yes, but I suppose any damage would happen when the engine is first started after the new belt was put on. It seems to run ok once a bit of speed is up, it runs a bit unevenly and is very smokey at idle. I suppose we will just have to wait and see how it runs once the belts have been put on properly to see if there has been any damage.
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  #9  
Old 07-25-2014, 01:15 AM
clivealive44 clivealive44 is offline
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Well, it all worked out fine in the end My mechanic put me on to a very nice man who was a Mechanic/foreman for the local Volvo dealer between 81 and 96, he trained on these engines, and has worked on "hundreds of them", and has all the special tools needed. He replaced the ip belt, and did the valve and pump timing. The car is now going better, and is less smokey than ever, the ip timing must have been slightly out since I got the car. He also gave me a few tips on maintaining the engine, like cleaning out the egr valve, and advised me to fix my engine temperature gauge which hasn't been working for a few years (I've just been checking the coolant level every morning).
I read that usually it's not the temperature sender that is the problem, but the circuitry in the dash, which is a nightmare to take out, so I've installed one of those Australian made temperature gauge/alarms, where the sensor is just bolted onto the outside of the cylinder head, and the gauge gives a digital readout, and you set the alarm to sound when the temperature goes a few degrees above normal working temperature.
I also purchased a coolant expansion tank from a breaker which has a float switch and sensor fitted to it ( I think it's from a 960) - it says on it the part number is 9142001, and the part number for the tank without the float switch is 9142002. So when the expansion tank is empty, the circuit is closed. So I'm going to fit it, and wire it up to an alarm and warning light, so now I will have triple protection: high engine temperature alarm, low coolant alarm, and daily checking of the coolant (when I plug my engine pre-heater in)
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  #10  
Old 07-25-2014, 09:12 AM
ngoma ngoma is offline
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Excellent find (the D24-savvy Volvo-trained mechanic)! Great to hear you got it running better than before and no damage was done. Don't lose that mechanic!

Quote:
Originally Posted by clivealive44 View Post
I also purchased a coolant expansion tank from a breaker which has a float switch and sensor fitted to it ( I think it's from a 960) - it says on it the part number is 9142001, and the part number for the tank without the float switch is 9142002. So when the expansion tank is empty, the circuit is closed. So I'm going to fit it, and wire it up to an alarm and warning light...
Excellent plan. These engines have plenty of exterior coolant hosing that is susceptible to failure which can end catastrophically if a major loss of coolant occurs quickly. That low-coolant level alarm is the best insurance. I'm going to do similar on mine, planning to wire the alarm lamp to one of the unused lamps along the bottom row of the instrument panel.
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