Volvo VNL 670, some questions

Not shutting down with key might be:

1) Starter stuck.
2) Key tumbler worn out.

Rough idle could be a leak in your fuel system.

1) Crack in fuel line
2) Bad fuel injector(s)
3) Prime pump failing. (This is what happened to my truck last week)
4) Bad sensor
5) Clogged fuel line.

If anyone else has any suggestions they can keep adding.

 

Had the problem with a CAT and after $800 for diagnostics found out it was the ECM. Bought a rebuilt (ha) ECM for $1800 and the thing hadn't been touched and wouldn't work. Have you tried the flash codes to see if it will self diagnose the problem?

 

Yeah, and thats all you have is an opinon, no facts lol

Truth reads something like this: ALL other truck manufacturers are chasing Volvos technology. I read thread after thread about pete and kw, and how they've got all this new technology coming out, and then I realize that cutting edge stuff has been on board Volvo's for years and years. Sorry guys, front airbag suspension or smart truck technology isn't cutting edge or even new...

I guess its cool right now to hate on Volvo, I don't get it since (eventually) the other truck manuf with copy and steal those ideas and everybody benefits. But, the truth is they are leading the advancements in truck technology. Everybody else is just playing catch up, and eventually they just might...

 

So you're going to get worked up about a post that's a year and a half old?

I don't have any experience with Volvo trucks. Never driven one, never worked on one. I do have some experience with Volvo cars, and they've had electrical gremlins from some poorly designed parts. That apparently carries over into their trucks, they have electrical issues after they get to be a few years old. Not all of them, but more than the competition.

They're far heavier than comparable competitors' trucks.

They get terrible fuel mileage.

The front air ride is prone to leaks, expensive to repair, makes the handling soft, and doesn't help much with highway-speed ride quality.

The last three are impressions that I've gotten from Volvo owners and drivers. I don't have the time or the money to independently test these things out for myself, so I have to go by what other people have learned about them, and make a decision for myself.

So, IMO, Volvos suck.

(I'll hope you'll take this in the good natured way I intend it, just trying to explain my opinion in a somewhat logical way.)

 

You're are correct, you don't have any experience with Volvo trucks. Far heavier? Wrong LOL. I can put 52K in the box, and fill her full of fuel every time. Air ride suspension has never leaked on my truck. Although I did blow a front air bag right after i first got it, one hour and $150 I was back on the road. I do tend to agree that the front end ride is a little soft. I go a little slower in the mountain twisties with my truck than previous big trucks I have ran. I figured it was just me getting older, wiser and maybe a little less brave. But, you may be right. Volvo's get terrible fuel mileage WTH? LOL...

You know, I did take your post with a grain of salt. You admit to having very little knowledge of these trucks, and I most certainly agree.

Worked up? Naw, not even a little bit. Actually, I listened to a guy on the CB talking crap about Volvo for over an hour. He had me cracking up with his jokes, but there wasnt one single bit of truth to it. Except the part about the California shorts, ok maybe...

 

So how much does just your tractor weigh, full of fuel? You pull a hopper, right? I don't really know how much those weigh. I'd always heard that Volvos were heavy, and Plumcrazy posted a couple weeks back that his weighed 20,900 lbs with half a tank. My IH 9300 with the 72" sleeper, 3406E, 300 gal of fuel, my 600lb steel cabinet headache rack, 12 chains and binders, saddle boxes, tools, me in it, etc, weighs 21,200. I understand that your truck might be lighter than his, but it's obviously significantly heavier than mine.

I very well could have heard wrong about the parts, I had heard some astronomical prices for the air bag parts.

Definitely just ribbing you on the "worked up" part. I heard a guy on the cb a couple of months ago saying "The worst part about the electrical problems on a Volvo is they ain't never bad enough to burn the thing down." The electrical problems are really what make me leery of Volvos-I know they don't all have them, but they certainly have a bad reputation in this area.

There are two threads going on here (Redd's and another one) about Volvos with Volvo engines that are getting what I'd consider bad fuel mileage. I pull a flatbed OTR, I'd guess that my average gross is 65-70k, and I generally run 68-73mi/hr. I had an algae problem late last summer, and my IFTA MPG for the third qtr was still 6.30. I had it cleared up by September, and my 4th qtr MPG was 6.69. Just saying I know what I have works, Volvo still has something to prove to me in this department.

 

i like my 670 but the support on the road is horrible! no one stocks very many parts for them, including volvo. My fuel mileage is horrible, currently under 5mpg pulling a 7 car high-mount trailer. I've had it into shop a few times and threw a few hundred bucks into diagnosing it, only to hear everything checks out ok. Changed fuel filters and air filter, still no change. Nice truck though, as long as you don't have to wrench on it!

 

I pull a refer these days. Truck - Trailer right at 27500 truck tanks full. Truck itself is 17K + change full of fuel (200 gallons). My truck doesn't get "great" fuel mileage, but then again I run the NW all the time. Mountains mountains and more mountains. I also cruise along at 72mph. Right now its doing 5.5 to 5.8mpg, I've been doping my fuel pretty heavily lately for winter use. It will go back to 6.3 when I stop, and if I could make myself slow down to 62-63 it will make well over 7. I never get a load under 77K.

My truck is an 05' I just don't have the electrical problems others describe, but then again I have a Cummins motor. Maybe that's the difference? Not saying my truck doesn't have problems, it definitely does. They're just not electrical. Last month it needed a new EGR... This week the freakin ignition key tumbler went bad. Right now I have to start it with a screw driver. It eats steer tires, at a rate of 1 set per year. That cummins has a "probable" head gasket issue which I am told will cost close to $12K to replace. I only have 635K on the motor wouldn't make sense just to replace, when im only $8K from a total rebuild. No ill effect on engine performance it just drips a bit of oil off the back of the head.

I have also been looking to trade the truck. Mine is a 05' midroof 630, and its much lighter than the 670 or 780's. I am trying to wrap my mind around the fact that its exceptionally light, and I am not going to find a bigger truck (of any brand) with what I want that is comparable in weight to what I have now. I have been shopping all truck brands, and everything else is just a let down compared to the Volvo. I really do want away from the Volvo brand. Im sick of being asked if I am Russian

I really like the Coronados, but they are very heavy. Last one I looked at was posted at 18880lbs on empty tanks. My second choice is a Pete 387, but it lacks creature comforts of the Volvo...

Oh, I totally forgot to mention. My #1 reason for wanting to get rid of this truck, and move to another brand. Headlights on Volvos totally SUCK! Running I84 out of Portland on a rainy night that dark highway should be Websters definition of misery. I always end up running the fog lights on a clear night, which aint cool. They have awesome high beams, but the regular lights are garbage. These days the moon is my best friend...

I just got my truck back from the body shop. Fender was replaced after some ### hat backed into me at a truck stop. While they were putting it back together one of the headlight harness connectors went bad. Was full of corrosion, and the headlights would cut out intermittently. Had to go to Volvo for a new harness, and they wanted $980 for that 6' long harness. SCREW THAT, cut the connector out and hard wired everything together. Works great now. I guess you could count that as an electrical issue? Was never a problem before, but definitely a problem when I picked it up from the body shop...

 

Volvo's have a wiring bundle that exits the floor behind the drivers seat frame. If the seat is swiveled it may stretch those wires and in some case has caused some electrical problems.

One of the mechanics at my carrier informed me of this problem so I do not swivel my seat.

Some of the things I like about Volvo's are the soft ride (smoothest riding truck out there more like an suv than a big truck), The cabin layout with all the storage spaces, the onboard diagnostics that alert you to a blown light or tail light as soon as it happens, the maneuvarability is also better than most other trucks with the same wheel base.

Bad things about Volvos; Volvo engines get worse fuel economy than a Cummins, getting in stock parts, mechanics have a tough time working on Volvos due to the tight tolerances between other parts, and the Volvo "engine brake" is ridiculously weak.

 

Wow, 12k for a headgasket-I thought Cats were supposed to be expensive to work on.. That does sound like a pretty light truck. I wouldn't call the headlight harness thing an electrical issue, maybe just a Volvo issue. Does your truck have the computer that operates the headlights? There was a guy that posted on here a while back about trying to upgrade one to HIDs, and you apparently have to get the computer reprogrammed to run them. While you were getting that body work done, you should've just shaved the headlights and added a set of 359 headlights.

(I laughed pretty hard about the Russian thing)

To me, it's like my experience with Mac computers(and I still own one)-they're the best thing going until you have a problem, or need to do something that they won't do. I still love mine, but I find myself using my XP netbook more often just so I don't have to deal with the garbage.