What is the best engine Volvo has ever made? Obviously I am a little biased but my vote is for the 87-90 B280F. A third generation motor with all of the kinks worked out, this workhorse, when properly maintained, will go a million kilometers! Maintenance and parts are a little more than the B230 but it is way more reliable and runs much more smoothly. Also, it is the easiest motor to work on as far as compartment space and access go. Many may dissagree but I know for a fact that a lot of people feel the same way I do.

What motor do you think is the best?

Just how many engins do Volvo "build" anyway. My old 340 1.7l had a rebadged Renault engine in it, and i am told the 2.5L in my 850 is produced by Audi?????

Do Volvo actualy design and build their own or just source what they consider to be the best solution out there at the time?

The RED engine was designed and built by Volvo.(83-94)
They are also used in marine applications.

There was a 240 with a RED engine for sale at one of the local dealerships here. It was expensive! ($9000). What is the deal with that motor? Also, who designed and built the B280 and B230?? I know Peugot and/or Renault designed earlier Volvo v6's but I thought Volvo made the later ones.

:blush:

Pardon me for being ignorant....but what is a "red" engine.

The RED engine is the 4 cylinder B230 series engine.
The aliminum engines that came in the newer cars are called a white engine.

In the 4 cylinder engine if you look at the block they are painted RED thats how the name came about.

I'd vote for the "red" engine, the B230F or FT (turbocharged). I saw my old one with the head off at 315,000 miles (a valve spring had broken); the cylinder walls seemed perfect, and still had the cross-hatching from the original factory honing.

It was far from being worn out.

Having said that, I haven't heard any complaints about the 5 cylinder "white" engines either.

The old PRV V-6's, on the other hand . . . are not in the same league, in my view.

Yeah but the later V6 engines were not PRV's were they. The B280 from 87-90 is the one I'm talking about. Who built that one?

I just pulled out my 1982 to 1988 740/760 Haynes manual. The PRV V6 was a B28 until 1986, with CIS and compression ratio of 8.8:1. The B280 has LH-Jetronic, and a compression ratio of 9.5:1. There were a bunch of other refinements, particularly differences in valve angles and camshaft lift, but bore and stroke are identical.

From what I know of the B28, oil passageways in the head would clog and cause cam bearing failure, often at around 100,000 miles. I presume the changes to the B280 head specifications were related at least in part to addressing this problem.

From what I can tell, the engines are the same, but the B280 is more refined. I have no idea who actually assembled these engines.

FWIW, I recall that the white engine was designed by Porsche, which still runs a mechanical engineering consultancy. Even Harley-Davidson has used their services. The S80 six cylinder and S40/V40 four cylinder are variants of this same design.

From what I could find out today The B280 was still built by Peugot and/or Renault.

It was just upgraded.

I just found a great article about it on Wikipedia. The engines were built in Douvrin, France, until 1998, even though Volvo stopped using them after 1990.

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/faq/BuyingUsed...gaUsed760withV6

check out this link for info on the B280, this guy is a believer

Can anyone provide me a link describing the various engine designations/descriptions?

Thanx

Does that mean I could get a 1998 B280 for my car?

Firstly, hello! Greetings from Sweden :)

Secondly, sorry for bringing an old topic to the surface but I thought it would be good to comment on the second part of the quoted message.

Volvo do make many of their branded engines at the time, however not all, like the V8 and think the V6

The usual 5 cylinder engines are however still being built by Volvo in Skövde, Sweden.

The engines below 140 HP are however made by Ford. :)

a 98 wouldnt be a direct swap. as with any of the prv's, the others were slightly differnt. you can swap some stuff easy, but other parts wont go easy.
my choices
93+ b230f, big mains/ rods, oil squirters, non-interference etc.
aq151 (same era) with the forged crank.
b23ft, all forged internals.

btw,
b= gas, d = diesel
on early
first two is the size (21 = 2.1L)
a 0 designates later engines, and a 4 means 4 valves/ cyl.
on late
X = cylinders
xx = size (24 = 2.4)
x = valves per cyl
last letters
f fuel injected, o2 sensor
ft = f + turbo (early)
t = turbo (late)
plus a bunch more letter that dont apply here, so i'd have to dig for them.