Volvo had the D24 and the D24T engines, one was n.a. and one was turbocharged, respectively.

The D24 was a 6-cylinder inline powerplant that fit well under the 240 hood, with only minor modifications such as heavier front springs. The engine itself was rather weak. In this country the D24T was only available in the 7-series cars.

The D24 was a derivative of the Volkswagen 1.6 liter four cylinder engine. In fact, it was the VW diesel four with two cylinders tacked onto the back, essentially. The design was rather ill-conceived and had problems such as ring and piston failures. On top of the built-in shortcomings of these engines, Volvo in their infinite wisdom recommended oil changes at every 7500 miles. Now, if there is one thing you do NOT do with an already weak design is push it's oil change interval out to three times what it should have been.

The D24/D24T was a maintenance-intensive monstrosity as well. Valve clearance adjustments were recommended frequently, as were fuel filter changes. They did not take kindly to having broken timing belts, as the design of the engine was of the crashing variety. Camshafts were known to break before 60k. The glow plugs were nearly impossible to change on cylinders 5 and 6. Also, those same cylinders often didn't wear as well as the rest as the design was a modified four cylinder. THe lubricating and cooling systems weren't quite perfeced in the last 2 cylinders.

Now... having said that: I had a 1983 245GL with the D24 engine. (I guess, then, it would be a 265GL). Coupled to the M46 4sp+OD it would routinely get 36mpg, and that was either city or highway. I never had cold-start problems until the car was running up in the 230,000 mile range. It ran on #2, #1/#2, or K-1 kero/diesel mix, for those challenging winter months. It had one valve adjustment. It _never_ had a head gasket or any engine work that required it to be opened up. It also got oil changes every 2000 miles, and was driven primarily on the highway. I know of only one other person who had a good, long term diesel experience. The rest were pretty ugly.

Basically, because I didn't listen to a lot of recommendations, I got a lot of life out of the engine. Volvo shops know virtually nothing about this engine. It's a mystery to them. If it doesn't run, they'll try to replace everything bolted to the engine, and you can run up several thousand dollars of maintenance bills per year. So... what I'm saying here is: DON'T CONSIDER ONE OF THESE. Unless you are like me and know about _diesels_, and not just about engines in general, do not even bother. Even if you do, it's not the best choice. It is a slow car made even slower by the diesel engine (yes, even the d24t), and it smokes more than a dump truck.

Basically, I'd say you're not going to save a penny on fuel when you're spending three times your cost savings on maintenance. Keep filling up with gas!

Chris