xc90 V8
 

Has anyone had their xc90 (or indeed s80) v8 converted to LPG? I nearly signed on the dotted line to have mine done until warned off by the company fitting the system talking of valve seat recession trouble. Basically, might be ok might not.... and if not.... new cylinder head needed. eekkk!!

Some models suffer from this more than others and the XC90 is one of them. The way around this problem is to have flashlube incorporated within the system.

Flashlube
 

Mmmmm yes so I had heard but as someone pointed out flashlube only protects the inlet valves and often the failure is of the exhaust valves. To be honest with a new car having only covered 2.5k miles its not something i want to risk.

you cant afford any risks on this complex engine what's the replacement cost £10,000 ?

The one place you'll get the definitive answer to your question is Autogas 2000, Thirsk, N Yorks. A long way away from you perhaps, but as your car is worth a lot it pays to get the very best advice, and these guys are the best in the business.

Telephone number is 01845 523 213.

They converted my V70 and I've been totally impressed with their work and their knowledge.

I am certain you will get all the facts - good and bad - from people who really do know their stuff.

Cheers

Jack

Re Autogas 2000 in Thirsk... I would very much second that recommendation having had dealings with them myself. Good outfit.

Lpg
 

Thanks a lot your guys. I will give it some very carefull thought before proceeding. In fact since my first post I now am leaning towards converting my 1997 960 instead and using that for work thus saving the V8 for best and hence less fuel. I`m informed that the 3.0 24v straight six is much better suited to LPG.

hi,

valve seat recession only affects engine whose valve seats or only just hard enough to deal with unleaded fuel.

volvo isnt a manufacturer with 'on the limit' valve seats and lpg isnt a problem. The volvo bi-fuel engines are structurally unmodified from the petrol only variants.

where did you hear the V8 was problematic on LPG?

Honda and Toyota are brands which use seat which only just cope with unleaded so lpg is a no no for them

That was certainly the case in the 1980's when i was doing official Volvo LPG conversions on 200's and 300's but alas not today ..Actualy the Volvo Bi-Fuel heads are different to normal, their valves and seats are supposed to be even harder than standard but there was a batch in 2002 which weren't and the valve clearances were reducing to zero .volvo were changing heads on 4 cylinder Bi-Fuel cars due to valve seat recession under a Policy action . I have seen non-volvo LPG conversions causing this problem too on a 960 and a S 40 the problems became apparant on both cars around 50000 miles after conversion ...

valves
 

Hi Shimon, it was actually the LPG distributor that warned me of it. The volvo V8 is made with/by Yamaha and it is this Japanese connection that I think raises the concerns.