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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / February 2008Does Volvo have Over-Temp auto shutdown?
While driving the old road along the river other night, in nasty driving rain, there was a major problem with our 1996 Volvo 960. Perhaps when the car did the bumps at the railroad crossing, the upper nipple to the radiator broke completely free. Darn plastic! Most of this is conjectured later, in the light of day. First, it seems the Check Engine light came on. Later, with the coolant loss, the Low Coolant light came on. Later, all of the warning lights came on and the car completely shut down. The driver waited for the storm to let up but it got worse instead. After a wait of about 30 minutes, the car started (with just the collant and engine fault light on). Just two blocks from home, all of the lights came on once more and the car shut down again. About two hours later, after then storm passed, the car again started and was driven the last 2 blocks to the garage. ** Of course, driving with the coolant light shining was not the thing to do so PLEASE DON'T FLAME about this. I put in a new radiator in today and changed the oil for good measure. It took only about 6 qts of antifreeze (capacity = 10 qts). The car starts fine and runs very well, with no odd noises. The Check Engine light is still on. It seems that this Volvo might have a "Master Over Temp" main cut-off that shuts the car down completely, as seems to have happened twice. Perhaps because of this switch (if it exists), the engine is not destroyed. Does anyone know if there is indeed an " over temp safety cut-off"? Thanks, bill > While driving the old road along the river other night, in nasty driving > rain, there was a major problem with our 1996 Volvo 960. Perhaps when the [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Thanks, bill No. Such a feature could open Volvo to a nasty lawsuit if the car overheated on the freeway and then shut down before the driver could safely drive it to the shoulder. After the driver ignored the many very helpful warning signals that Volvo provided the motor simply got so hot that it either could not fire properly or the bearings tightened up. A master shutoff switch such as you suggest would encourage dumb drivers to not change their ways. > It seems that this Volvo might have a "Master Over Temp" main cut-off that > shuts the car down completely, as seems to have happened twice. Perhaps [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Thanks, bill No. Such a feature could open Volvo to a nasty lawsuit if the car overheated on the freeway and then shut down before the driver could safely drive it to the shoulder. After the driver ignored the many very helpful warning signals that Volvo provided the motor simply got so hot that it either could not fire properly or the bearings tightened up. A master shutoff switch such as you suggest would encourage dumb drivers to not change their ways. . . . . . . thanks for the feedback. The "Check Engine" code was P0118, which is the high temperature code. With the car shutting down twice with all of the warning lights on, perhaps I have another issue going on. I had them clear the code and with everything sounding fine, we'll see what happens next. > > It seems that this Volvo might have a "Master Over Temp" main cut-off that > > shuts the car down completely, as seems to have happened twice. Perhaps [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > them clear the code and with everything sounding fine, we'll see what > happens next. The engine shut down twice because it overheated twice. My guess is that the remainder of the warning lights came on when the engine stopped turning each time. Hopefully it didn't blow a head gasket or crack a head. Keep an eye out for coolant loss, bubbles in the expansion tank, oil suddenly turning a milky tan color, dipstick showing overfull, etc. >> It seems that this Volvo might have a "Master Over Temp" main cut-off >> that >> shuts the car down completely, as seems to have happened twice. Perhaps >> because of this switch (if it exists), the engine is not destroyed. >> >> Does anyone know if there is indeed an " over temp safety cut-off"? There's no cutoff, but if it gets hot enough it may well stall for any number of other reasons. These engines have an aluminum alloy head on a cast iron block, and while their durability is legendary, they are quite sensitive to being overheated and usually the head will warp or crack. If it heated up to the point that it stopped running, you're probably looking at a full rebuild with new pistons, bearings, etc. It should at least be thoroughly checked out with a leakdown and compression test. Thanks for the feedback. Surprisingly, with the new radiator, the engine has been running fine during three short outings. But, I followed the thought in the posts and checked compression again. On all 6 cylinders, it was close (same?) to what i found a while back. Since this is the engine that had been consuming so much oil, I followed up the posted suggestions to get the engine checked out. The very good news is that the head is not cracked. The head is at the machine shop being re-built, including new valve seals to reduce the heavy oil consumption. Also, we are replacing the thermostat, water pump, belts and idlers. now as the valve seals . Going forward, I will give very close inspection of the plastic outlets on the radiator with every oil change. Thanks for the suggestions. Bill >>> It seems that this Volvo might have a "Master Over Temp" main cut-off >>> that [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > at a full rebuild with new pistons, bearings, etc. It should at least be > thoroughly checked out with a leakdown and compression test. > Thanks for the feedback. > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Going forward, I will give very close inspection of the plastic outlets on > the radiator with every oil change. Those plastic radiators are the worst thing ever. Is an all-metal replacement available for that car? |
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