Diesel power...the D24TIC 940 rolling restoration project

[AllHailKingVolvo]

Hi all,
As some of you may be aware, in October I became the proud owner of a '95 940 diesel estate, purchased from our very own Owen (Oman5) via this forum for an absolute steal of a price.

I gave Owen my word that I would take care of all the maintenance required, sort all of the little odds and ends that need doing and keep the car on the road as a rolling resto project and daily driver, much as I did with my old 740 saloon a few years ago. I love projects like this, and the scarcity of the diesel cars makes it all the more of a labour of love and duty...I must do my bit to make sure these cars don't die out entirely!

The big red beast got me home to Dorset from Newport with no dramas, just a nice, smooth pootle home. I noticed on the drive back that the heater didn't blow particularly hot, which is of course untypical of Volvos of this era, so immediately I ordered a new 87 Deg thermostat whilst stopping for a coffee in Bristol on my way back.

Unfortunately, two days after getting the car home I became, unexpectedly, very unwell with endocarditis, three brain abscesses and a streptococcus blood infection and was whisked off to hospital for close to a month, then endured another month of IV antibiotics as an outpatient, so, whilst I cannot express how grateful I am to the NHS for saving my life, I was in no condition to crack on with working on the red beast, and she was SORNed for a little while whilst I recovered.

Thankfully, by last week I was feeling human enough to get started on the car, and made the stat my first port of call. I fitted it with great ease, which was a relief, then drained, refilled and bled the cooling system with the green book spec antifreeze (the car came with both green books, which was a huge bonus!) and voila, the car came up to temp, idle dropped correctly (previously it had been idling at 1100 or so as per the warm up phase, but now settles at 850 when up to temp), and ran a lot more smoothly.

I still felt she was down on power compared to the published figures...of course, a 26yr old car with 280k on it is bound to have lost a few ponies, but I knew there was grunt waiting to be unleashed with some TLC and sleuthing. On closer inspection, I found all of the vacuum hoses to be completely knackered-all perished, most of them holed, so ordered a spool of fetching blue hose and fresh clips, and set about replacing them all. Unsurprisingly, this improved matters...throttle pickup was keener and the car idled more smoothly after a good run.

There was still some grunt missing, however, and I noticed the car tended to churn out a great deal of white smoke (not steam, the eye watering unburned diesel type of white smoke!), Which immediately led me to suspect that the injectors were either gummed up or in need of a rebuild. I decided to try the cheaper option first, so bought a new Bosch fuel filter and a flagon of Forte injector cleaner, always my favourite for such tasks. I spun the old fuel filter off and filled the new one to the brim with Forte, then spun it on. I then fired up the car, let it run for a full minute on injector cleaner to make sure the injectors were properly filled with the stuff, then switched her off and let the car sit for 20mins whilst the Forte went to work.

After letting it rest and percolate, I fired her up and a hefty ball of black smoke was emitted, presumably the detritus from the injectors getting blown out, then she settled to a smooth idle with NO smoke whatsoever! A quick punch of the throttle saw a small puff of black smoke as per all older diesel motors, but the cloud of white stuff was nowhere to be seen!

A good blast down some country lanes revealed that the missing ponies had come galloping back, and the car performed absolutely magnificently. Tons of power and torque and that heavenly straight six burble. I'm amazed at the difference the injector cleaning process made, and absolutely delighted.

Next up is a fresh MOT and a cambelt and injector pump change. I have had a very good quote from a Volvo specialist near me so I will use them-they look after three D24 cars, one of which has just ticked over the half a million mile mark, so they seem experienced and trustworthy. After that, I'll be refitting the cruise control module, doing the oil and filter, extensive cosmetic work inside and out, prepping her to have her bonnet and roof resprayed, then a thorough cleaning and waxoyling (or similar) of the underside...whilst I'm under there, gearbox and diff oil will be changed too.

There's a ton of tasks waiting, which I'll report back on as and when they happen. It's exactly the sort of project I need whilst I'm recovering and I'm so pleased to be the keeper of this car. Thanks for trusting me with her, Owen! You won't regret it.

[Selby]

I wanted to buy this but was just a bit too far from me. Glad to see it’s getting the love!

[jpliddy]

hi
i think i commented on your grand car a while back as i have the same car except for mine being a AUTOMATIC .my car has been a great servant ,but not without the odd gremlins popping up .latest being ive had a diesel leak on the throttle shaft .it had to go to the local diesel engineers for this as its way out of my caperbllaties after 2 attempts they fixed it plus they had to mess with the cold start device as its part of that set up . but my car does not seem quite the same now ,they did say once you start repairing O ring seals other leaks can appear if the said parts have to be adjusted ,so now i have a very slight leak on the cold start , so it will be repaired soon . my cold start is playing up again too i had changed the wax stat end many years ago myself .you mention injectors mine where replaced 6 years ago i have the old ones so maybe need the old ones serviced and swopping back . i have used a diesel clean for the last 15 years its millers brand , only 60 mils to 6o litres, according to the speck, keep us informed of your progress .
regards jim

[AllHailKingVolvo]

Thanks gents! She's in for MOT next Wed, have been going around the car today doing some pre MOT checks, changed a couple of bulbs that were blown and replaced the hydraulic boot struts as it kept trying to eat me whenever I was fetching something from the back!

The car is great, a really lovely drive. I need to adjust the clutch bite point as it's currently very low, you need to bury the clutch to get it in gear, and it sometimes drags a little in traffic. The issue goes away if you knock it into neutral and pump the clutch a couple of times, so I suspect it needs bleeding and flushing with fresh fluid. It's perfectly driveable but is another thing on my list to sort out.

The main issue with the car is cosmetic-it has succumbed to some major lacquer peel on the bonnet and roof, which takes away from the otherwise excellent panels that will come up beautifully with a decent polish. I need to get the bonnet and roof resprayed, but at the moment funds preclude this. I really don't want to tackle it myself and leave the car looking less than great, so I will hang on a little and get it professionally sprayed. It seems to be largely rust free however, which is excellent news.

Once the MOT is done, next job is cambelt and glowplugs-it always starts on the button but is a little lumpy and smoky from cold for 30 secs or so, and I suspect one of the rearmost glowplugs (the inaccessible ones!) Has gone open circuit. When the cambelt is being done, injection timing of course has to be set too, so the injector pump can be dropped off and the plugs replaced whilst it's in for the work.

It's such a nice drive...the engine has thumping torque and really comes on song when the turbo kicks in.

[jor]

Can I ask why you need to change the injector pump?
Also interested in how one would adjust the clutch bite point?.
I tried bleeding the clutch and had one of those oh no I've done it again moments (the pedal lost all pressure) until I saw that the clutch fluid pipe joins the reservoir at the very top, so you need to keep it almost brimmed.
I wonder if the clutch in the words of Angela Rippon is nearing the end of it's useful working life?

jor

[360beast]

Originally Posted by jor

Can I ask why you need to change the injector pump?
Also interested in how one would adjust the clutch bite point?.
I tried bleeding the clutch and had one of those oh no I've done it again moments (the pedal lost all pressure) until I saw that the clutch fluid pipe joins the reservoir at the very top, so you need to keep it almost brimmed.
I wonder if the clutch in the words of Angela Rippon is nearing the end of it's useful working life?

jor

As far as I know as the clutch is hydraulic not cable there is no adjuster so if the bite point is high then your clutch is on it's way out. For bleeding the clutch the best thing to do is buy an ezi bleed kit, you just deflate a tyre to 20psi and hook it to the resi and it keeps it topped up and forces the fluid out under pressure so no air gets trapped, best bit of kit I've bought for a long time.

[AllHailKingVolvo]

Originally Posted by 360beast

As far as I know as the clutch is hydraulic not cable there is no adjuster so if the bite point is high then your clutch is on it's way out. For bleeding the clutch the best thing to do is buy an ezi bleed kit, you just deflate a tyre to 20psi and hook it to the resi and it keeps it topped up and forces the fluid out under pressure so no air gets trapped, best bit of kit I've bought for a long time.

I've got an ezi bleed-brilliant bit of kit!

My issue is the bite point is too low, not too high-I need to investigate, but first port of call is to flush the clutch fluid and make sure it's bled properly methinks.

Jor, I don't need to change the injector pump but will be changing the injector pump belt as it makes sense to have it done at the same time as the cambelt and glowplugs, as the pump needs to be loosened and moved out of the way a touch in order to access the rear two plugs anyway, and I have no record of the last time the injector pump belt was changed.

[jor]

You will be able to get at the glowplugs without moving anything.
The pump and all assorted gubbins should be left strictly alone, unless one is an expert and has a couple of fuel pipes spare.
The only thing needed to do them all is to make sure that you fiddle with the bonnet mechanism to get it to fully open i.e. almost vertical and to use a couple of pillows so that you can drape yourself over the wing with both hands free.
Perhaps a task for the first day of spring?

jor

[AllHailKingVolvo]

Originally Posted by jor

You will be able to get at the glowplugs without moving anything.
The pump and all assorted gubbins should be left strictly alone, unless one is an expert and has a couple of fuel pipes spare.
The only thing needed to do them all is to make sure that you fiddle with the bonnet mechanism to get it to fully open i.e. almost vertical and to use a couple of pillows so that you can drape yourself over the wing with both hands free.
Perhaps a task for the first day of spring?

jor

That's very interesting, and great news! I was told the injector pump had to be moved to access the plugs for cylinders 5 and 6. Glad to hear that's not the case and that I will be able to tackle it myself!

[jpliddy]

hi
i have done 5 and 6 glowplugs too did not touch injector pipe , i did remove intercooler pipe and EGR valve on top of engine my EGR . i used a 12 mm cranked spanner for glow plug last time from memory i got a big piece of carpet over engine and climbed onto engine careful not to damage anything though ,its not a bad job on a sunny day just take your time and have some spare 8mm flanged nuts handy i got some extra long reach tapered pliers a good quality head torch is handy too . i will be replacing 5 and 6 in the spring too !