Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hey folks, suddenly info centre has started saying cold all the time for my engine, though it runs fine still, heater still works as normal and the cooling fan cuts in when it needs to, what could the fault be? Might have a tinker this weekend.

Cheers folks

Robert

Temp sensor on the back of the engine, either it's died or more likely the wire's come off



Hope that helps

J

That was it, wire had come off, Thanks muchly

I like to bring old topics back to life.

Does anyone knows how to test that particular temp sensor ?
There is only one wire for it.
I guess if I try to remove it from the head, the coolant will spill out so, I'd better leave it in place.

Do you know which pin on the infodisplay is linked to the engine temp info ?

Lantin,
I wouldn't bother with testing it. If your temp reading says 'cold' all the time and the wire is connected, just change it. They are only £10/15 euro or so.
You are correct, the coolant will spill out when you remove the sensor. But, if you have the replacement sensor and move quickly, you can change it over without draining the coolant. Just run the car for 15 minutes after or so, with the heating on full heat to remove any possible air locks.

Hold your horses there, mate.
There has been reported problems with corrosion and bad contacts on the analogue gauges of the volvos with renault engines. Also, I've seen busted gauges alot. Both the analogue fuel gauge and the temp gauge should read 50 ohm, and you should spray the brass nuts giving the signal to the gauges with some contact spray.

I did that, plus swapped the sensor, and then it worked just fine again.
My symptoms were that after an ECU restart, the meter would work fine.. for about a trip. Then it would display lower and lower, and after 3-4 trips, it would display 0.
You will have to drain the coolant system to swap it, but it's very simple to do! Combine it with a round of radiator cleaner, and you've got a happier car.