Any thoughts on the B27E and the 264 GLE?

Might be buying a 264 GLE, any thoughts? Anyone here owns a 260?

George

[link:www.ttsservices.co.uk/my%20volvos.htm|http://www.ttsservices.co.uk/imm021.jpg]

'95 940 Polar LPT (B230FK/AW71; 130k)
'87 740 GLE Turbo Diesel Intercooler (D24TIC/ZF22; 210k)

[migrator]

George,

I used to run a 265GLE with a B28E lump, manual 4-speed plus overdrive. If info about that is of any use please drop me an e-mail asking your questions and I will try to help. (Details available from profile.)

Ran the car from 80,000 miles to 231,000 miles.

[Clifford Pope]

I have a friend with a 265. It seems pretty reliable. The view I get generally is that the engines are sound enough, but a bit prone to camshaft and follower wear because of an inadequate lubrication system. Also the usual V propensity to cooling problems.
If its valve gear is reasonably quiet, and it appears to have been properly serviced regarding oil changes and antifreeze, I'd go for it.
The engine will not last as long as the 400,000 mile 200 series 4-cylinders, but pretty good all the same.

Perhaps a surprise answer here but I disagree. The B27/28 engines made by the Peugeot, Renault and Volvo consortium are of poor design.
They're prone to excessive camshaft and rocker wear and the unequal firing angles produce an inherently lumpy running engine.
Being of a wet liner design, liner seals (paper!!!) can fail requiring costly repairs. Has to be one of the worst V6 engines ever made.
Thankfully, the B280 was a great improvement.

[Ben O Brien]

Hi
i actually had a 265 for a brief stage about a year ago,it was bought as a parts car but the parts ended up not being used,I think it was 84(A reg english plates) but the body was completely gone to pot because of sitting in a seaside town for 8 years,
Anyway when i had it it had 191k miles and was driven at weekends only and not regularly but when i did drive it i have to admit it was 100% reliable and started first time every time.
I never bothered adding a V6 260 to my 240 colection as i found the V6 too daunting - dont know whether im wrong or right in assuming this but if you fell confident about working on the V6 and the car is in decent condition and at the right money id say go for it,in my mind the 200 series are some of the best volvos ever made.

[migrator]

Well now here we must differ.

The B28E that was in my 265 GLE was the Renault V6. In its 231,000 mile running it was only opened three times. Once for a water pump, once for core plugs and the third I cannot remember so it could not have been anything major.

The engine was never lumpy, tickover was very quiet and smoothe. There was never any oil leak and there was only minimal oil usage (seldom had to be topped up between services). Starting was never a problem.

The engine was always dealer serviced. Nice smoothe drive and always plenty of power when asked. The engine was still going strong when the car was scrapped for bodywork failure.

How long did you run yours and who serviced it? I am assuming from your comments that you used to run one and had lots of trouble with it.

[Martin Cox]

George,

I’ve driven four Volvos with variants of the PRV V6 engine in cars owned either by myself or my parents from 1980 until 2002 and over 22 years and several hundred thousand miles; I don’t recall any major engine trouble. All were main dealer serviced at the recommended intervals and all were used for towing caravans.

The first car was a 1977 model 264GLE automatic with a B27E and the early inlet manifold, which my parents bought in 1980 and I drove it regularly. Quite fun for a nineteen year old and nowhere near such hard work as the old 164 I’d learnt to drive on. I don’t recall there being any engine trouble at all with it.

This was replaced by a 1980 model 264GL automatic with another B27E in 1982 and my parents kept this car until 1990 by which time it had done about 130,000 miles. So far as I recall there were problems with the alternator and fuel injection caused by a faulty tank pump. A crankshaft oil seal at the flywheel end was replaced. A couple of exhaust manifold studs on one of the cylinder heads sheared requiring the removal of the head so they could be drilled out and replaced. I don’t recall much else going wrong with it.

By 1990, I owned a manual 260 GLE estate with the B28E engine. Unfortunately this car had quite a few problems, although none with the engine and proved rather beyond my means at the time so I sold it after only 18 months. However it was still going a couple of years ago.

In the meantime my parents bought an automatic 760 GLE estate with the B280E, which they ran for five years. I subsequently bought it and ran it for a further seven and a half years. I sold it to a friend just over a year ago when I bought a V70 Tdi and I’m told it’s still going well. This car again had a rear crankshaft oil seal replaced and sheared a couple of exhaust manifold studs before I bought it. On three occasions there was a short period of rough running followed by a refusal to start, cured in each case by a replacement distributor cap. Distributor caps seemed to last about five years. A minor oil leak into the distributor was cured with a replacement camshaft oil seal. The starter motor was replaced because of a sticking solenoid. A short hose on the back of the water pump split which was a bit of a devil to replace but I don’t recall any other engine problems.

The B27/28 engines had a bad reputation for camshaft problems though we never had even a hint of any trouble. I believe in these engines, the oil feed to the camshafts was a bit marginal so using cheap oil and filters or not changing them often enough could prove very costly. Many an otherwise sound 260 or early 760 was sent to an early grave by camshaft problems.

Design changes incorporated in the B280 improved things dramatically and I’ve never heard of a B280 with camshaft problems. The B280 with its splayed crankpins and even firing interval was a bit smoother than the B28 and access was considerably better. Had the B280 been developed earlier, in my opinion this V6 engine would not have acquired the bad reputation it did.

In my opinion, the V6 was a good engine but very intolerant of neglect particularly by comparison with other Volvo engines of the time; the B18, B20, B30 and B21 engines seemed practically indestructible. Unfortunately I suspect this led to many of the V6 engines being treated with cavalier disregard and expensive consequences.

In short if you can find a V6 that’s been properly looked after, then it’ll probably be fine but unless its history is impeccable, I would be very wary unless extremely cheap

Hope this of some help.

Martin Cox

[ernie]

Having owned a couple of 245 estates previously, I bought a beautiful 1985 260GLE auto estate around 8 years ago. It was a genuine 1-owner-from-new car, waxoyled & with 82,000 miles on the clock & full Volvo service history. All was well for the 1st 4 months (and 6000 miles!) until, almost overnight, the valve gear became alarmingly noisy. If I had a £1 for everyone who said "I told you not to buy the V6" I would have got rich very quickly! I remember thinking what a bad decision I thought I had made. I couldn't believe how quickly this started, it went from totally quiet to sounding like a diesel in less than 300 miles! Anyway, ended up replacing both camshafts, all the rockers, both timing chains & sprockets, oil pump gears (just to be sure!) plus all the gaskets etc - an expensive job, around £350 for the parts if I remember right (and that was 8 years ago!). I did it myself in a weekend, not a particularly difficult job but a hassle I could have done without. The relief I felt when it started up was incredible & the car ran as quietly as it did when I got it. I had thoughts of selling it while it still ran OK but, not to be deterred, I kept it for a further 3 years, changed the oil & filter religiously, & finally sold it to a workmate of mine. It still runs perfectly today although the body is beginning to show it's age - usual rust on tailgate & bottom of doors etc. (as per 240!) My other not-so-fond memory of it was the difficulty getting to the distributor & the rear left spark plug was also a pain if I remember correctly. I now run a 1987 740 GLE auto estate which is a joy to drive.