Volvo and/or Volkswagen D24 Diesel, What do we Know?

Found a super clean looking (photos well anyway) Volvo 240 Wagon (245) with a N/A D24 diesel.

I know what Wiki tells me, it's a VW I6 diesel, with a whopping 82 HP 103 Lb-Ft of torque.

So 82 Hp, with an auto (3 speed ?) in a ~3300 lb wagon, just how slow is this thing?  Like glacial, terrifying to merge into traffic, 0-60 measured in minutes, or just like, hey pay extra attention to oncoming traffic's speed, and don't be in a hurry to go anywhere?

Anything else to know about these?

I've found D24t.com, but they're primarily focused on the later turbo versions.  I've seen some chatter of folks turboing N/A D24s, and a few youtube videos, but they've cut a hole in the hood for a stack, and are "rolling coal," not something I'm interested in.  I assume most of those +T builds are just turning up the fuel on the N/A injection pump, and since it doesn't have a boost reference it's over fueling, and blowing a lot of smoke when not in boost.  I'd wager to do it right you need a turbo injection pump too.

Other than the fact that it's a clean looking wagon, my affinity for Volvos, and all things diesel, is it worth the effort, sub challenge money list price, probably some wiggle room?  Are parts available?  Seems these were fairly rare.

Think it would be worthwhile to gather whatever info you can find about the car, create an account, and post your questions to https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/sigrequest/d24.

There is a lot of knowledge about those engines there and they are a very friendly bunch.  Might be worthwhile to poke around the list archive.

Good luck

I’ve owned the sedan version back in the late eighties.

I'm not saying they’re glacial, but one or two might have been overtaken by continental drift. 

The d24t is slow, i can't imagine the non turbo. Buy it and swap in an Audi engine.

It IS an Audi engine.   It's a longer version of the Audi 034-block five-cylinder, which is similar-to-but-much-different-than the VW engines.  Same cylinder head geometry and bore spacing but Audis have crank snout oil pumps, timing belt driven water pumps, and an Audi specific bellhousing pattern.

From all I have heard about the 2.4l Diesel, it is known for running just fine until one morning it will have no compression.

Thread is useless without a picture of this engine as used in telco backup generator sets.  Which I can't find right now.  (It was mounted vertically!)

I once bought some Mercedes wheels from someone who had two of them, one of which (a whole car) he had purchased for an extra set of pistons to rebuild the other one.

The D24, at least in our cold climate, was good for almost a third of the lifespan of a red block gasoline engine.  They were, though, much, much more expensive to rebuild.

I wouldn't use one to anchor a boat to, since the bendy aluminum head isn't heavy enough.

I've converted a dozen or more to gasoline powertrains over the years, because the bodies were quite sturdy, and they generally rusted less, due to the fine mist of diesel particulate matter settling all over the underside.

The D24T was worse.  Less slow, but I never saw a head gasket make more than 100,000 miles.  Ever.  They made the cylinder walls barrel shaped more quickly than the n/a versions, too.

Have you ever seen a camshaft break into seven pieces because of a slightly over tensioned injection pump belt? 

I occasionally look at the special tools I have for those things, and wonder why I don't sell them for scrap.

Actually, I just remembered one good thing about them- as a flat rate tech at a Volvo dealership in the 80's, they were a fine moneymaker.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

You're not giving me the warm and fuzzies...

I see this though, and I'm like, oooh, I want that:

https://youtu.be/68ombFrRdjQ

I guess the embed feature is still berked?

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

But other than that?

Growing up a guy down the street had one. It got phenomenal fuel mileage because it was often dangling off the hook of a wrecker. As crazy as it sounds he regretted trading a slant six Dart. The Dart never missed a day of work.

Was this the silver one for sale on facebook in spring hill, fl? If it is, I've been wondering about it too.

EDIT: NVM, the one for sale on facebook I saw is a sedan with the same motor