V70: Engine Normal engine running temperature

[Richy Clark]

Does anyone know what the normal running temperature is for a 2010 V70 2.4D auto?

I have a ODB2 bluetooth reader and the Torque android app displaying live engine data and on a good run it is only ever reporting the engine coolant reaching a max of 50 degrees centigrade and hence the cabin temperature takes ages to heat up.

Other, non-Volvo, diesel cars I have checked reach 80+ degrees fairly quickly.

I posted a similar post last year at around this time, Volvo changed a temperature sensor but I think the thermostat is knackered.

Any help is very much appreciated.

[coughlanc]

Don't know what the running temp' should be on the V70 but 50 degrees C is a bit on the chilly side. I would have gone with high 80's with thermostat opening in early 90's on a diesel.

[tt82]

Could be that your thermostat is stuck open.

[v2brett]

i can check ours at the weekend with my dashcmd app and get back to you mate

[Richy Clark]

Today, using my Android Torque app and bluetooth ODB2 reader I recorded the engine coolant temperature, engine speed, vehicle speed and ambient temperature parameters from the engine ECU.

For info I have uploaded an Excel chart (pdf) of this data here.

Kind regards, Richard.

[tt82]

Thats great. Really need to look into this Tourque but I don't think they do a version for Nokia's running Symbian/Windows.

[krzemien]

That thread has got my attention as I had contributed to the similar one before

http://volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?p=1084524

Apparently even the author is the same and his concerns remain!

So, out of interest I did the same tests with Garmin Ecoroute HD unit and today's results (somewhat less sophisticated but still...) are as follows:

* Driving to/from Hampshire & London ExCeL (Docklands) - nearly 100 miles round trip via M3 / M25 / M11 / A13 / M25 / M3,
* Outside temperature between 2 & 5 centigrade as reported by the car itself, air inlet temperature sensor in car as reported in Garmin seems to have an +2 degrees offset,
* Driving in a very slow (crawling) traffic up the Dartford Bridge - coolant temperature hitting nearly 70 centigrade,
* Driving in town, around ExCeL & A13 - coolant temperature steadily around 50 centigrade. Revs usually kept below 2000/min,
* Motorway driving - from early 50s to late 60s depending on the speed and whether I'm driving up- or down-hill (southern part of M25). Revs 1800-2400/min accordingly.

So, my conclusions are as follows:

* My situation might probably be fine (see question below) but is definitely more in line with overall expectations as opposed to Richy's results - I think there's a problem with your thermostat,
* That does not however change the fact, that heating the cabin in my car in winter seems futile task anyway as:

a) engine is merely warm after all this effort (!),
b) probably more importantly - warm air is fed only through the bottom & top (main windshield) apertures and this may have an effect on the perception of warmth.

So my question remains: if the engine in my car is still too cold as it is indeed not reaching 80 centigrade as claimed above, could someone tell me what would be the other side effects apart from the cabin not getting warm enough? Increased fuel consumption?
I have been driving quite a lot in Pyrenees last Summer and had not encountered any issues there. Fan was kicking in quite frequently - and factoring in nearly 40 centigrade outside it leads me to conclusion that it is as it should be. They say: If ain't broke do not fix it (=no errors reportd by Garmin). Am I mistaken perhaps?

[Richy Clark]

krzemien,

Thank you for your extensive post.

The cars warranty is up at the end of march So will be booking it in before it expires with this stated as a fault, it's worth seeing what they do.

I wouldn't have thought that the efficiency of the heater (heat transfer from the coolant to the air being blown in) in the car is that great so if this is normal how Volvo expect to warm the interior up in near zero or sub zero conditions is beyond me. I'm sure Sweden gets far colder than here in the UK, I can't imagine them all driving around with their nuts freezing

Today I took a different route to work and deliberately, using the tiptronic, kept the car in lower gears. In slow traffic I managed to get the temp up to 70 degrees, but as soon as I got some speed up the temperature would drop. So without cold air being forced through the radiator it gets hot and with cold air being forced through the radiator it cools down. Hence I think I definitely have a thermostat tht is stuck open.

On the subject of normal again, I wonder if this is normal, is it the real reason why Volvo removed the temperature gauge.

Kind regards, Richard.

[Richy Clark]

tt82, there are apps for Symbian such as OBDAutoDoctor, but I'm not sure of cost and effectiveness, there are also Apps for Apple ios. I went for Torque simply because my phone is Android and it had good reviews. Regards, Richard.

[krzemien]

I had few afterthoughts and also did some research using Google and now I regret I have not done that prior to my lengthy post...

So in a nutshell, I think that my thermostat is also knackered and will require replacing. There are few sound reasons behind this:

* Very cold cabin (first time noticed whilst cruising in Devon back in Winter 2010 with -15 outside),
* Quoted minimum correct operating temperature as 80 centigrade (or higher), mine has not gone beyond 70,
* Surprisingly good fuel consumption whilst on Summer Holiday in Southern Europe - with a lot steep hill climbing and tiresome side-roads driving,
* (less likely) not-as-good-as-expected fuel consumption in general (30 months average returns only 33 mpg).

But! This still puzzles me though, because:

* no indication whatsoever that there's something wrong - now I wish I had not bought this OBD reader the first palce (ignorance is bliss)!
* how come no one had spotted this during three car services at three different VOLVO dealers?
* how come car has gone well through emission tests during its first MOT?
* more importantly: I have read that in the case of DPF filters & low engine temperature regeneration might not start at all. I had no seen any issues with DPF filter - how's that possible?
* most importantly: if car seems fine after 30 months in the current setup, how is it going to react when its working operation condition will suddenly change?

Your input will be highly appreciated before I will move this to the next level...