Volvo reviews or opinions

One more piece of advice...Don't mess around with the fan clutch. Get it fixed ASAP. Let it go too long and the fan hubs have been known to come apart. When they do that, you are looking at a tow bill, a fan hub, fan, radiator, and sundry other items that were collateral damage. Go ahead and ask me how I know this one.

 

I never had any issues with the Volvo but the Columbia was possessed! It was actually a pretty good truck until one day coming out of Atlanta, the odometer spiked all the way over and held and then came all the way back down. It did this a few times and then I lost all throttle for about 20 seconds.

Then it did it again in NC with a heavy load for Food lion. This time though, it didn't come back like it did before so I pulled it over on the shoulder. I didn't know what was going on. I cut it off and cranked it back up and then like a miracle, I had the pedal again. Went about 50 ft and it did it again so I called on-road.

They thought I blew a turbo so they had a wrecker come out. The guy was laughing at me saying you didn't blow no turbo! I told him I never said I did that onroad thought maybe that was the reason. So he convinced me to drive it to Charlotte freightliner to have it checked out. I told him fine but if it did it again, he was going to have to hook it.

Sure enough, about halfway to Charlotte it cut out again and lost all accleleration (but the engine is running). Pulled over and he hooked it and brought it to Charlotte. So I had to leave it there over the weekend (under load) so Freightliner could fix it. I got a ride home and was called Monday afternoon saying they fixed it.

For a while it was fine until one day I was hauling a load of beer from Norfolk to St. Louis and I was coming up Sandstone when the throttle died again. I mean the accelerator would do nothing just like before! This was not good because Sandstone has no real shoulder there lol.

I was at a dead stop. Now the truck was still running just fyi, just couldn't gas on it at all. So I cut it off an waited a few minutes while alerting everyone on the cb that I was at a dead stop on the hill praying no one would run into me.

I cranked it back up and I had the accelerator back. I dropped it in low low and creeped most of the way up, I think I got it all the way to 3rd gear lol and then it did it again! Well I followed the same procedure and got over the mountain and guess what? You know it! At least I got onto the shoulder this time on fairly level ground.

I called onroad and they instructed me to take it to the little shop around the corner from the service plaza in Beckley, WV. I told them the same thing that if it cut off again before I got there, they were going to have to hook it because I was too heavy to be taking chances.

I got there fine. Got another driver to get the load and take it on and turned it into the shop. Had to stay there all weekend until they got it fixed (they said it was the throttle position sensor). What my dispatcher had planned on doing was getting me on a Greyhound to the terminal and getting another truck and get a load back up to get my stuff off but they fixed it quicker than they'd estimated so i drove it down to Greer and switched it out for the Volvo.

The very next day, onroad called me and was asking me if the tow truck had got there yet. I was like, what? I'm not in that truck any more I'm in a Volvo now. Turns out the guy that got the truck broke down again with the same problem.

I still have no idea what the issue really was but it was all kinda screwed up.

 

Was it a Cummins?

There were a ton of problems with throttle pedal sensors for Cummins on the 2007+ ISX... they eventually went away when Cummins made a "quiet" software change.

 

Detroit. I didn't have any issues with cummins whatsoever. Well actually, I take that back. I did get a couple of false alarms with it telling me to stop immediately or risk engine damage in the Pro Star. It was the highest level warning you can get according to the manual. Some issue with a sensor they fixed it in ATL quickly though. I did have to get hooked because onroad didn't want to chance it and honestly, neither did I because I liked that truck lol. I liked the Volvo better though.

 

I have no experience except 1997-2001 Freights at school. My goodness they were loud and rough!

I am rather glad I think that PAM has removed Volvos from their fleet....

I pretty much know I'll get a 300K + Freight as my first truck.

 

Most truck drivers have a VERY VIVID IMAGINATION!

 

There is a connector under the heater box that runs to the right hand door. It gets corroded from Heater box moisture and doghouse leaks and causes the window to go down on its own. Clean it up and tuck it up behind the heater box and it will most likely fix your problem.

 

I purchased 4 Volvo 730 trucks w/D16 engines, thinking they would be my salvation from my CAT bridge motor nightmares. The D16 is an inpressive performer, and gets great fuel mileage.....at first. Then the problems started. Of 4 trucks, 3 of them had MAJOR mechanical issues with low power, increased fuel consumption, and regeneration problems. They would spend up to 6 weeks at a time in the shop (not sitting against a fence somewhere, but actually in the shop with a technician working on them) and pull out with major components such as heads, turbos, EGR valves, etc being replaced, but the problems would re-occur. My local dealer was very responsive, and did everything within their power to resolve the issues, including bringing in a Volvo engineer from their VA assembly facility. The end result.....I was forced out of business, having to 'give' the trucks back and putting 4 good drivers on the unemployment line. I sure am glad I kept my old 2001 Freightliner with a 12.7 Detroit, so I still have a way to make a living. In my opinion, the D16 Volvo is in theory a great engine, but it is not yet ready to market to the American trucker. Before you buy, be sure you talk to folks who have owned!

 

i have read somewere that some d16 volvo owners is preparing a lawsuit against volvo

 

I'd never buy a Volvo engine - they're too different - and Cummins is a safer choice. I may be hexxing myself by saying this - but no electrical problems yet - 37,000 hard miles on this truck and counting. The engine is a workhorse, and pulls like a champ - it still won't use a gallon of oil between oil changes (where do you add oil again?? LOL I'm kidding).

I've had the squeaky belts issue going for some time now. The belts haven't been changed in the year I've owned the truck, and that's probably a large part of the problem - who knows how old they are. They are servicable - no cracks or missing chunks of rib - but they're glazed with age. I know what causes it - driving in high dust areas. When I haul out of mines, grain mills, etc - I leave it idling to maintain the air ride axles and keep up on the gauges, but the dust gets to everything. The last time it happened I was hauling pebble lime, and the loading area dumped it ALL OVER the truck - I had a 2 inch pile on my hood. I usually pop the hood when I stop somewhere and squirt the belts with some belt dressing I bought awhile back. When I do shut the engine down and do a real pre-trip (every couple of days), I push on the belts with my hand to move the idlers - and to check the tension of course!

Well, I can take that back - the p/s window was unresponsive a couple of times - it would roll down just fine (with the switch) and then refuse to raise for a minute or 2. I'm going to check the connector that ISX mentioned.

I've also figured out a few more mileage figures with my truck, as I've been tracking speed vs. mileage. At 63mph, and about 1,400rpm - I can hit 10.9mpg deadheading on near flat ground (I tracked that average over about 100 miles the other day) - then I realized the cutoff time was getting close and had to run it at 70mph for a whopping 8.5mpg the rest of the way.

Worst mpg under load is 5.8mpg, and I was standing on it and shifting at 1,800 - running it at 70mph, etc. Best under load is 8.1mpg - and again - these are all daily running averages since idling and deadheading all over the place has blown data tracking to pieces lately.

Incidentally, has anyone here ever deadheaded 1,000 miles in a week? How about for 1,700 loaded miles at mediocre rates? Just curious - and no I'm not a sadist just giving a new gig an honest try, and making the necessary changes after.

Hope everythings been good enough out there - I've been busy as heck trying to adapt. It's not working out, but it's working forward and things should be just fine. Best of luck to all of you!