Advice on Volvo V8 (Yamaha) Engine

[Ayrton]

Family is considering a Volvo with V8 engine from Yamaha. This is a pre-owned car as Volvo no longer puts the V8s in anything, vehicle is 09.

Factory recommendation is 7,500 mile changes.

It has 65,000 miles, and the oil appears to have been changed only every 10,000 miles (first change actually looked like 10,900 miles). Not sure about factory fill, but Volvo dealership fills (where vehicle was always taken) tends to be Castrol *SYN BLEND* 5w30.

What do you guys think about these 10k intervals on a blend and 10,900 on the factory fill?

The Yamaha built engine is said to be one of the most reliable ever in the Volvo lineup in recent years. Probably no real damage?

Engine takes just north of 7 quarts, so that might have helped? Thank you. Just seems far on a blend rather than a full synthetic. Of course, NOT a turbo as many Volvos are, so that might have helped too!

 

[john_pifer]

Volvos seem to have longevity going for them...or, maybe their owners just tend to keep the cars a little longer than most?

 

[Sam_Julier]

I almost bought one and could find no complaints with the Yamaha V8 other than lower gas mileage. The 10k OCI are not a concern but most Volvo owners run a syn at this length OCI to avoid issues with the oil separator/PCV. They may not exist with this engine.

 

[Zako2]

Originally Posted By: Ayrton
Family is considering a Volvo with V8 engine from Yamaha. This is a pre-owned car as Volvo no longer puts the V8s in anything, vehicle is 09.


They put them into V8 Supercars for 2014.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2013/06/18/polestar-undaunted-by-v8-development-challenge/

Last month I went to V8 Supercar race in Austin and had a blast. Kinda what NASCAR could have been if it didn't race on ovals.

It's nice to know the Yamaha V8 in Volvos has been reliable. The 3.4L V8 they made for Fords in the 90s would spin its cams just after the warranties run out. It was a well known issue.

 

[TechnoLoGs]

IS this an XC90 with the 3.2?

 

[HerrStig]

THe Yamaha's which went in certain FOrd SHO models had a few problems, but they may have been the result of very "excited" driving styles.

 

[Zako2]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
THe Yamaha's which went in certain FOrd SHO models had a few problems, but they may have been the result of very "excited" driving styles.


But probably not in most cases considering the fragile and anti-fun AX4N transmission fitted on those cars. It was an engine design flaw. The fix was easy, to weld cams as soon as possible, but a lot of engines died before people found out. Ford being always Ford did not come forward to do any sort of recall for this issue.

 

[dparm]

Correct, but the V8 SHO was not a full-blown Yamaha motor like the V6 models were.

For the V8, Ford made the block (Cosworth process) but shipped it to Yamaha for finishing. IIRC, the V6 was built and assembled in its entirety by Yamaha -- in essence, a crate motor.

 

[SteveSRT8]

You don't make a hot rod without designing it for the hot rod driver! The Yamahahaha motors blew up frequently, and the SHO was actually not much in either a straight line or the twisties unless heavily modded. Then reliability went down even further.

It was a nice experiment.

If I own a "hot" car I am going to explore the entire performance envelope. I am not going to wuss around taking it easy on the motor or any other part!