greetings,
i am new to this forum. i have some experience with the 122 section on this site. i've owned a 145, 2x122 wagons, and a '88 244 with a b230. i recently saw an international harvester bus that had been modified by...
http://www.greasecar.com
and i am looking for a suitable 240(preferably a wagon) to do the modification on. knowing NOTHING about diesels, but a fair amount about internal combustion gas cars and motorcycles i would appreciate ANY firsthand suggestions on purchasing a volvo diesel.
thanks

I've been running an 84 diesel wagon for about 2.5 yrs and about 120k mi - get 30-40mpg. With good set of glowplugs it will start in cold weather (don't use ether!) Important to use synthetic lube oil. I started out using Delo10-40 (dino) and shifted to Mobil 1, then to Delo synthetic and have been changing oil every 20-25k. Valve adjust every 20k. Further POSITIVE and knowledgeable comment can be found occasionally on the Swedishbricks list. Mechanics who know and like these engines are Chris Bogue, Canby OR(near Portland) and Tom Bryant, Bath ME

i appreciate your input. unfortunately it seems that the consus seems to be that a mb diesel is a better option. i WILL check out the other site for more information because as we all know 240s are long lived cars and there is an incredible wealth of cheap parts available for them in junkyards and from others compared to any other non-american car i have ever owned. i seem to recall a friend who bought a new transmission for a benz...$$$.

thanks again

It is not my intention to discourage your knoble thoughts, but the Volvo diesel (made by VW) is about the worst thing you could start this type of project with. They are difficult to start in cold weather even WITH all the glowplugs in working order, the rear two plugs take hours to change (as opposed to minutes for the front 4), the injection pumps are crappy but they do feature a nice auto-advance mechanism, that helps power some. The rings are VERY sensative to oil change interval, and quality of oil. It is not at all uncommon to find the compression rings completely stuck in the grooves due to long oil drains and/or low quality oils. You cannot do much of anything to thses without special tools, and many of the service books list inaccurate data and procedures.

With exemplarly maintence I would expect a 2.4L Diesel Volvo engine to "last" about 150,000 to maybe 200,000 miles, and even at that you WILL need to replace/rebuild the injection pump roughly every 100,000 to the tune of $1200!!!

A "normal" VW vahicle with a diesel would be FAR better, but still a distant second to a REAL diesel AKA Mercedes.
--
JohnG 1989 245 MT @216,500

noted. thanks. you have made some important points that i'm afraid to say may help to be the final nail in this idea's coffin. with a modified fuel delivery system, the last thing i need is a motor that is known for not tolerating high miles, because i tend to rack 'em up.

I've never actually had a vegetable oil powered diesel, but have seen and ridden in and driven Mercedes 300 series cars, both oil and diesel fuel powered. Power pretty much the same.
I don't remember there being a ton of extra room in the 240 Diesel's engine bay, and you will need some room to install the extra lines for the oil system and the pre-heater for the oil. There's plenty of room in the trunk for the veggie oil fuel tank, so no worries there. And you could do a very nice looking install of the veggie oil fuel level gauge and a rocker switch to control when you switch from diesel to veggie oil.
I know there are systems available (but I forget where and how) to allow you to run on vegetable oil from start-up to shut-off, but most systems have you start up on diesel until the oil is heated and ready to flow, and then have you switch to diesel a few minutes before you shut off the car, so that the oil does not cool, harden, and clog in the fuel lines. Sounds like even more of a pain than the shut-down idling for Turbos.
The MB diesels are pretty much bulletproof, and great motors, and also run well on vegetable oil. The VW diesels I know little about, so I would suggest you try to find someone running one on vegetable oil and see how it is working for them. But engine reliability aside, I think you could do a much cleaner installation into a 240 than any of the MB or Peugot conversions I have seen, with aux gauges and fuel lines and switches just bolted everwhere in the car.
I would love to see one of the 700 series Turbodiesels in a 240 body running vegetable oil. But I don't know if that is possible.
The environmental impact of converting a diesel to vegetable oil is much debated. You are using less petroleum than you would be otherwise, but many of the chemicals commonly mixed with the oil are incredibly bad for you and the environment. Bio-diesel is a very dangerous substance to be mixing in your backyard or basement, but some vendors do carry it now, so you might want to ask around at local filling stations. The commercial versions allow you to simply pump it just like normal diesel, no second tank and fuel lines, and no annoying start-up and shut-down procedures.
Any way you decide, good luck. It would be nice to see a 240 Diesel or two on the road, as long as I'm not stuck behind you... ;)
--
Logan
1981 242GLTi 1967.5 122S Automatic (tempermental)
Seattle, WA

If you want a diesel, get a diesel. Don't look to us to justify your purchase of a 240 diesel however.

Nobody's said that buying a diesel is bad.

However, there are many reasons to avoid the six cylinder VW engines. There are many more worthwhile diesel cars out there from Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Isuzu, and even VW or Volvo (the 700 turbo diesel is only slightly less of a stinker IMO).

- alex

'85 244 Turbo

My thought is this - stick with gasoline, and be happy.

i've always been a big fan of gas and scared by cold start problems and anemic power(things i've often heard people complain about when disccussing diesels) buuuuuttt....check out that website like. the whole point is to burn used fryer oil not fossil fuel. if there was a non diesel way to do that i'd try it too.

thanks

I am familiar with the vegetable oil process in diesel engines. It has been done for well over ten years now. Nonetheless, it is not a cure all for automotive emissions, and the fuel itself becomes a bit of a bio-hazard over time. Even regular diesel can promote biological growth and is treated with biocides in certain conditions.
If you are driven by environmental or political considerations, then the best you can do, seriously, is to purchase a hybrid car (although I have reservations about them too) or a modern Japanese compact car which gets the ULEV rating. No diesel engine can compete with them for efficiency or low emissions.
Other concerns aside, the more modern the vehicle, the cleaner and more efficient it is.

From what I've heard, the diesel 240s are complete junk these days. They require a lot of preventative maintenance. (For example, You can't afford to let the timing belt break I believe.)

On the plus side however, most of the ones with problems are probably already in the junk yard by now. If you find one that runs, it's probably been taken care of.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"

The diesel engines in Volvo's were not very good and just made the car heavier and slower than it already is. Get a 245 with the bullet proof 4 cylinder engine. Dan
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85 245 M46 189K, 92 245 A70 116K

oh man....if you want a diesel go witha mercedes benz 300td. they have wonderful mechnaisms, such as timing CHAINS and inline injection pummps.
volvo used a volkswagon diesel with a timing belt, an aluminum head and some very small, weak pistons and crankshafts. if you wnat a volvo diesel, you had better be a top notch mechanic, and if you're going to ge tone, it would be strictly to screw around with all day long.

i've met some die hard mercedes fans who have emphatically dissed the company's GAS cars so i get the impression that their diesels are the way to go. it seems that 300k and up on stock mercedes engines is not at all uncommon. volvos have treated me well and i'm familiar with 240s and volvo parts suppliers. i am also a little leary of high mercedes parts prices. but it seems that not one person has had anything positive to say about the volvo diesel.

i believe Volkswagen make the diesel engine for the volvo.