Engine temperature
 

My 2003 D5, water temperature gauge has always run in the middle, weather the outside temperature is summer or winter. I was towing a trailer yesterday sunny day with probably a ton of cast iron radiators to get them sand blasted and painted, but the temp gauge always stays in exactly the same position on the gauge, but am sure the engine was running hotter.
Is there a way to see with Vida what the actual engine temperature is, and if its higher, why doesn't the gauge show?

John

My understanding of the gauge operation is that, up to 'Normal' temperature, the actual temperature will be displayed. Whilst the measured temperature continues to fall within a range deemed as 'Normal', the gauge will remain in the centre position, rather than track fluctuations. Outside of the 'Normal' range high, the gauge will again read actual temperature.

The rational for which being that normal fluctuations around an expected mean would be a possible cause for unnecessary concern and distraction for a driver, . i.e. less information is more valuable. It will only tell you when you're cold, or on the way to overheating where action is required.

And yes, VIDA will give you access to the coolant sensor readings directly.

Don’t mean to hijack the thread , my 06 has similar issues , gauge in the middle , but the engine actually smells hot , if I place my hand on the front of the radiator it is stone cold !
Dave

The job of the thermostat is to keep the coolant at 90C what ever the engine load and weather conditions and thanks to the generous capacity of the radiator this is exactly what it does on ALL volvos. If your temp went up when towing it would indicate the radiator was inadequate.

There are a few theories around that the temperature gauge reading is manipulated by the CEM to not show minor fluctuations - i.e. stay in the middle. I don't believe this to be true, and having driven a number of cars over the years with coolant leaks and head gasket failures - I've seen it myself where the needle isn't on dead in the middle. On my journey to work, I have about a 2 mile drive and then a 1 mile decent where no throttle is used, the car coasts, on a frosty morning the temperature gauge falls from middle as the cabin heater is sapping more heat than the engine is producing.

Remember the engine cooling is managed by the thermostat, and even under heavy load in warm weather if the radiator is in good condition it will maintain 90 degrees.

The parts of the engine that do get significantly warmer under such conditions and create unusual smells are the exhaust manifold, turbocharger housing and downpipe/cat. As the exhaust gases in diesel cars are cooler than petrol models, it's not unusual for the turbo to get oily deposits on it and when the engine is worked hard - it stinks.

I have the CFE canbus function extender on my 2005 XC90. I have the actual temp as a default display. Comparing this with the temp gauge they both seem to be consistent with each other

As it is designed to be, Volvo use high quality accurate moving coil instruments, you pay for things like this when you choose a volvo .