I could carry on but credit to Volvo the warranty and goodwill policy is excellent compared to scania, and they are good to drive. Plenty of tech. Once Volvo have sorted the product out like they did with the version 3 it’ll be a good truck. But they are learning lots with this. If anything the euro 5 early FH4 was a nice little number actually. Euro 6 is a nightmare. Some fh4 euro 6 trucks have nothing but problems and others cause no hassle at all.
dmills:
I could carry on but credit to Volvo the warranty and goodwill policy is excellent compared to scania, and they are good to drive. Plenty of tech. Once Volvo have sorted the product out like they did with the version 3 it’ll be a good truck. But they are learning lots with this. If anything the euro 5 early FH4 was a nice little number actually. Euro 6 is a nightmare. Some fh4 euro 6 trucks have nothing but problems and others cause no hassle at all.
Bang on the money. The truck next to me in the yard is a 64, and it’s only had the ad blue issue once. The sister truck to this hasn’t had one yet 
Crazy isn’t it - and sodding bad luck really!
One thing I can’t excuse is batteries - all of them are having batteries but some more than others - usually running consumers and keeping it in living mode overnight rather than parked buggers them up. Some only getting 6 months life! I think 1300amp batteries rather than 1150amp would be a step in the right direction
dmills:
Crazy isn’t it - and sodding bad luck really!One thing I can’t excuse is batteries - all of them are having batteries but some more than others - usually running consumers and keeping it in living mode overnight rather than parked buggers them up. Some only getting 6 months life! I think 1300amp batteries rather than 1150amp would be a step in the right direction
Its actually better to have a battery drain down before charging, it gives longer service life than a battery that always stays near its maximum charge. Most likely a fault with Volvos battery suppliers.
AndrewG:
dmills:
Crazy isn’t it - and sodding bad luck really!One thing I can’t excuse is batteries - all of them are having batteries but some more than others - usually running consumers and keeping it in living mode overnight rather than parked buggers them up. Some only getting 6 months life! I think 1300amp batteries rather than 1150amp would be a step in the right direction
Its actually better to have a battery drain down before charging, it gives longer service life than a battery that always stays near its maximum charge. Most likely a fault with Volvos battery suppliers.
When I had my last set before Christmas, the fitter said it was a combination of 1150amp batteries, and the position on a 6x2 mid lift. The distance between the batteries and the starter means a hiding to nothing with less than 22.8 volts. A 4x2 or 6x2 tag with the batteries next to the steer axle can start much easier
Can’t be as bad as an MAN. Or a Renault. Or an Iveco. Surely?
AndrewG:
dmills:
Crazy isn’t it - and sodding bad luck really!One thing I can’t excuse is batteries - all of them are having batteries but some more than others - usually running consumers and keeping it in living mode overnight rather than parked buggers them up. Some only getting 6 months life! I think 1300amp batteries rather than 1150amp would be a step in the right direction
Its actually better to have a battery drain down before charging, it gives longer service life than a battery that always stays near its maximum charge. Most likely a fault with Volvos battery suppliers.
It’s always good to get the knowledgeable members chiming in with useful information. Unfortunately on this occasion, that didn’t happen.
AndrewG:
dmills:
Crazy isn’t it - and sodding bad luck really!One thing I can’t excuse is batteries - all of them are having batteries but some more than others - usually running consumers and keeping it in living mode overnight rather than parked buggers them up. Some only getting 6 months life! I think 1300amp batteries rather than 1150amp would be a step in the right direction
Its actually better to have a battery drain down before charging, it gives longer service life than a battery that always stays near its maximum charge. Most likely a fault with Volvos battery suppliers.
To an extent but not necessarily - discharge helps prevent sulphur build up but ultimately if you drain the batteries overnight and not enough amperage is left for cranking then you will have a breakdown situation. You are putting high load on batteries with low amperage. They will be beyond serviceable state and in need of replacement especially when volvos policy is mostly replace battery on a breakdown rather than jumpstart - only jumpstart when the amps are above 1000.
With the Fh4, the electrical system of the truck consumes a lot of power when it is in living mode, things like roof hatch, windows, interior lights, audio, door switches, navigation, phone, TV, power outlets and night heater are all powered. This draws anywhere from 5amps to 15amps per hour in the ideal situation, but if more than 120a per hour is consumed through excessive use of consumers a warning is displayed. Things like TV, microwave, kettles and night heater are high consumers. The truck will put itself into parked mode after 12 hours, and will only draw 0.5A max in this mode however some trucks are set to 2 hours. Volvo have issued an accessory kit (parameter modification) to lower the timer to 2 hours for customers with continuing battery issues. With this kit, the fridge will time out after 24 hours once the ignition has been turned off. Turning the key will reset this time.
If the truck is used for regular overnight stays with high consumption then battery performance will decrease with time and the truck will eventually get battery problems.
Volvo released a battery conditioner to help the issue. It applies pulses to prevent lead sulphate forming on the plates during discharge. Volvo warranty won’t pay for battery replacement unless one is fitted. All new vehicles from mid 16 onwards have this fitted from new. But careful as it is not ADR approved!
The FH4 I drive has been the best truck I’ve ever had. It’s had a few issues here and there, batteries and also a broken spring, but on the whole it’s been bloody good.
Broken spring was a couple of weeks ago and it was fixed the same day by Stallingbrough Volvo (immingham)
Scania are seriously overrated IMHO.
Also, ovlovjay you’d have to change your username to ainacsjay if you change!
I had one to play with for the day-loved it, but I wouldn’t want to own one, there is far to much electrics to go wrong and the trim inside the cab looks like it fall to pieces in no time
We got 3 new VN680s at Xmas , first one blew a turbo at 3000kms , second one hasn’t finished a single trip yet without breaking down and is now having a whole new engine installed .Fortunately I have the third which so far ,24000kms, is behaving itself bar the LED headlamps frosting on the inside and they’ll be changed under warranty at the next service . Certainly not the quality we expected 
It’s a really nice bit of kit to drive though .
We got 3 new VN680s at Xmas , first one blew a turbo at 3000kms , second one hasn’t finished a single trip yet without breaking down and is now having a whole new engine installed .Fortunately I have the third which so far ,24000kms, is behaving itself bar the LED headlamps frosting on the inside and they’ll be changed under warranty at the next service . Certainly not the quality we expected It’s a really nice bit of kit to drive though .
Have a fleet of G-series Scanias, they are hammered. Running almost 24 hours a day, normally with less than an hour between shift changes for the truck to be left standing. Most of them are now hitting close to 200,000Km’s and they aren’t even a year old yet. As much as I like the new Volvo’s, I don’t see them standing up to that sort of abuse driven by some of the drivers on our crew.
dmills:
Careful when tilting cabs or leaving your truck with belongings likely to fall when the workshop are likely to tilt your cab - the cylinders can relieve themselves of oil in the damping chamber and if you don’t prime the cylinder before tilting, the cab just falls over without any dampening and it goes with hell of a bang.
How do you prime it?
the nodding donkey:
Can’t be as bad as an MAN. Or a Renault. Or an Iveco. Surely?
Take that Renault statement back! The only major issues you hear of with the Renault is a common rail problem with the engine, and thats a Volvo part!
One of our continental contributors made comment a few years ago about the horsepower figure signs on cab doors. His opinion of the Renault was that the 440hp actually referred to rabbit power rather than horses!
I drive an FH 750 on odd occasions, it is a joy to drive it, but it and the FH500 he bought a year later go back to the workshop every month for differing problems. He since bought a second hand Scania that has been working continuously without missing a beat and without a single fault & has earned more than the 2 FH’S together
the nodding donkey:
AndrewG:
dmills:
Crazy isn’t it - and sodding bad luck really!One thing I can’t excuse is batteries - all of them are having batteries but some more than others - usually running consumers and keeping it in living mode overnight rather than parked buggers them up. Some only getting 6 months life! I think 1300amp batteries rather than 1150amp would be a step in the right direction
Its actually better to have a battery drain down before charging, it gives longer service life than a battery that always stays near its maximum charge. Most likely a fault with Volvos battery suppliers.
It’s always good to get the knowledgeable members chiming in with useful information. Unfortunately on this occasion, that didn’t happen.
I take it by that comment you think i meant drain them flat? In that case no, thats not what i meant…
Radar19:
Have a fleet of G-series Scanias, they are hammered. Running almost 24 hours a day, normally with less than an hour between shift changes for the truck to be left standing. Most of them are now hitting close to 200,000Km’s and they aren’t even a year old yet. As much as I like the new Volvo’s, I don’t see them standing up to that sort of abuse driven by some of the drivers on our crew.
A truck with that kind of use (if serviced correctly) will actually have a longer engine service life than one left overnight to cool down. Its the cold starts when most engine wear occurs…