Hi. Thinking of getting a 240 wagon but have some questions. I am a long time VW bug and diesel fanatic. I kind of like the old 240s in a weird way and like their reputation. I want a boring daily driver that I can maintain myself as I like to do a lot of jobs. Couple questions:
1- how many miles is too many miles when looking at a 240?
2. What kind of compression should the engine be Running at? What kind of compression should worry me?
3. How long do the trannys last? What should I be concerned about with an automatic?
4. What is the replacement cost of a new engine and trans?
5. How technically hard are the engines or heads to remove and install? I am a fairly competent shade tree mechanic and have rebuilt 1.6 l diesel engines before
6. How available are critical parts for engine, trans, suspension, ext?

 

1) depends on how well its been maintained. our 1987 240 has 400k miles (we're the original owner) and its still going strong, never even needed a new head gasket. my 1992 740 turbo has about 240000 miles, in great shape.

2) most important is if any 1-2 cylinders are radically different than the others. that indicates something is wrong. I think numbers in the 150-180PSI range are 'normal'.

3) a quarter million miles of hard driving, or more. changing the transmission fluid every 50k or so will help them last even longer.

4) never wore out an engine on a red block. replacing the transmission with a swap out of a junkyard car is probably a 6-8 hour job if you have everything you need to do it. of course, pulling the tranny from the junkyard is another few hours.

5) heads are easy, sit right on top, easy access. 20 year old old rusty exhaust headers can be annoying, of course. engines don't wear out on these unless they are really abused. its about as easy an engine swap as there is too, rear wheel drive, front engine inline cast iron 4-cyl on a AW70 toyota automatic transmission


6) there is wide availability of parts. I'd suggest 1988+, avoid 1982-1987 as they have wiring harness problems.

 

What is meant by a red block?
Nice to know the engines are so good.....makes me lean heavily in this direction.
How reliable are the manual transmissions vs the autos?

 

Also, 740 vs 240- which is best?

 

redblock is the nickname of the B21-B23-B230 engines. they are cast iron 4 cylinder blocks, mounted at a slant, with a SOHC (except the B234 DOHC variant). they are painted red from the factory, hence the red block name

I've heard that the 5 speed manual transmissions are not as sturdy as the 4 speed with overdrive, but this probably only matters with a turbocharged version. stick shifts are fairly hard to find, especially in the later model years

the 740 and 940 (nearly identical except the rear end of the 940 sedan was restyled) are a bit smoother, quieter, have better HVAC systems than the 240s. IMHO, the best of the lot were the 1994, 1995 940 turbos. Mechanically, these cars are nearly identical, they use the same engine, same transmissions, same rear axles, almost identical suspension (7/9 has some minor suspension improvements). the main difference is the interior and the styling.