Looking for a new used farm truck looking at a ad for a 2004 Volvo with a VRD-12 Volvo Engine with 465HP.
Anyone know anything about these engines and how they stand up? Truck has 510,000 miles and a fresh OH

 

I have heard from OTR drivers that they are gutless wonders. Do pretty good on flat land. Can be costly to repair depending on what.

Fresh OH, I would find out why first. Then see if there is a trend

 

avoid Volvos like the plague. they are worthless. we always has 3-6 volvo powered trucks in at a time. If you are gonna own and operate go with Cummins of Detroit, if you going to operate and not foot the fuel and repair bill go with cat... only because yellow paint is expensive...just like green paint on a farm

 

Do not go with a CAT unless it's older than 2004.

The ACERT engines are junk and will eat your lunch in downtime. If you aren't footing the bill, your company is and it means you might be out of a job soon.

 

We have a company that has 3 volvos that bring them in for maintenance. They are liking theirs mainly only had oil leaks and exhaust leaks and those i believe are the 13L. Little more maintenance with more filters then other engines 3 oil and usually 2 fuel filters.

 

Stay away from a Volvo truck and especially a engine. Truck maybe ok for over the road if it has a red motor. Volvo's do not hold up to vocational use at all.

 

We have a volvo on the farm ( does anything get used harder than a farm truck?) no major engine issues with it yet , it has the D12 engine at 465 hp( it's a 2003), 13 speed eaton , 46 000 rears, it's got 750 000 (+/-) clicks on it. The engine still runs great , currently chasing an overheating problem ( I think it's a bad fan clutch wire harness). Aside from putting a couple injectors in over the life of the truck , the only real issues we have had are little things, aside from a couple of rear ends, one of which was faulty from the factory.

My biggest complaint with the truck is it does not handle well , but I have never driven another volvo like it , so it might just be something not right with this truck. It doesn't pull quite as well as our N14 @460 hp, but i think it does quite well for a 12 liter engine.

Forgot to add , the lightest it usually runs is 110 000 lbs, it's usually loaded heavier unless we have scales to pass.

 

as a volvo dealer tech for the last 10 years i'm kind of biased to favor volvo power,the engine are extremely durable most of our local fleets have very poor maintnance routines and these trucks last and last with not that many issues, the d-7c engine is practically bullet proof, all to 07 product seems to have problems, but i tend to think that part of the issue is the skill of the techs that are repairing these newwer, more complex engines, i would wonder why the engine was oh at such a low milage, and what was incl in that oh(volvos are extremely expensive to oh properly so look out)

 

Why aren't Volvo powerplants available in other oem's yet at different times you could get them with a Cat, Detroit, or Cummins. Although, Cat did bail out quick in that venture if I remember correctly. Don't mean to sound like a a--, but you just don't see many truckers or techs raving about Volvo engines or trucks. I use to work at a fleet with 70 percent volvos and they were the cheapest truck to purchase- we sold them after three years of service. The only high mileage ones I have seen are Cummins or Detroit powered or overhauled.

 

Everyone has their own in house built engine now. Pacar is the last one to actually get the ball rolling and start putting them in though. I know they did the R&D though.
The Mack and Volvos are the same just different cabs and programming.

I am very impressed with the new Volvo engines. Very stout and no major issues to speak of. They did have a little issue with some cams but since its an overhead design its an easy fix and under warranty.

 

I have a friend with an 03 volvo tractor 465 hp volvo powered, 10 speed, 3.73 rear end. I own a 02 freightliner, 430 hp detroit, 10 speed , 3.73 rear end. We were both leased to the same trucking company so we would run together at least twice a week with trailers that were the same weight. He always averaged 6.5 to 7 mpg, I average 7 to 7.5 mpg. Both trucks pulled the same. We would try to leave each other when pulling grades but neither one was stronger. He always had more repairs that put him down though. The Volvo dealer would bend him over every time in parts and service. My truck is pretty reliable and easier to repair on my own.

 

[QUOTE=DmaxEter;2651982]Everyone has their own in house built engine now. Pacar is the last one to actually get the ball rolling and start putting them in though. I know they did the R&D though.
The Mack and Volvos are the same just different cabs and programming.

Yeah, that is true, but how many other class eight oem truck buyers are standing in line demanding a big bore Volvo or International engine in their truck?

 

Funny you mention that, it took me about two months of trying just to get take one of the new 880 Volvos on a local test drive! It was always out being driven or at a customers on a demo or something. Everyone wants to drive that new 16L engine. I finally got my hands on it and just like the two smaller versions of it, its a HOSS! No doubt that thing will make a piece of cake out of east to west coast runs. And Mack has it in the new heavy haul Titan so I see it going places for sure.

I aint saying I would just run out and buy one, I prefer old school with old school power but these new engines that everyone has seem to be doing good on my end.

 

earlier mention of cat dropping volvo was incorrect, volvo actually dropped cat due to cat not getting dimensions to engineering in time for a slight chassis change, also volvo and mack for that matter will only put their engine in their chassis, it would be like ih putting their engine in a paccar chassis., and if you like the 16l try it in front of an ishift,on another note it looks like volvo/mack will be one of the few class 8 engines that are not going to be new for 10,

 

Sure looks that way. Volvo/Mack are doing nothing but adding the extras to the exhaust systems for 2010.

That user name you got there, it sure looks familliar. How did you come up with that?