Volvo :: 1988 240dl - Temp Gauge Reading High But Engine Is Not Actually Hot
Aug 22, 2013
I was recently given my first Volvo. Its an 88 240dl. While driving my temp gauge climbs up to the red and sometimes hovers inside of it. It normally climbs up at stop signs and comes down on straight always then climbs right back up close to red. When the gauge was in the red i stopped the car and popped the hood open to see that the engine was not actually overly hot.
first i replaced coolant. nothing
then i replaced the thermostat. nothing
flushed radiator. nothing
Today i finally had enough and decided to switch out the water pump with a new one hoping that it would solve the problem seeing as it still had the factory one on. It did nothing. the gauge continues to climb up. I did replace one of the two senders in hope that it would fix the gauge reading but nothing.
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My 1988 240DL wagon....the engine temp gauge is not working? is see the wire that goes to the sensor in the engine block, it is there and connected to the sensor. is there a way to test the wire? I have purchased a new sensor, but I have not replaced it yet.
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My 1988 240DL is miss firing #4 cylinder. I cannot get it to fire. this is what I have done:
Swapped plug wires with the #3 wire. Miss fire does not follow the wire
Swapped plugs with #1 plug. Miss fire does not follow the plug
Tested injector power with a tester and it lights up properly
Replaces #4 injector with a new one, still miss fires.
Replaced cap and rotor
Compression test shows 150 LB in #4
sworn and thrown a few tools, still miss fires.
Spark seems good with the plug out and grounded on the block. What else should I test and or try...
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I have a 2006 Jeep Liberty 3.7L that has a temperature gauge on the dash that reads an overheat when driving. The oil looks normal, there is no white smoke, no bubbling from reservoir. I have replaced the following:
Radiator
Thermostat
Water Pump
Coolant Temperature Sensor
Coolant Reservoir Tank
I am not leaking any coolant and the reservoir level has been fine. I have let the vehicle idle for 20+minutes, with no overheat. When I drive it around, the temperature gauge will read an overheat. When I stop the car and pop the hood, the engine is not overheated and both rubber hoses to/from radiator are flowing the coolant. The only thing that will bring the gauge down is turning on the heater full blast. Could this be the gauge itself being bad? Could it be a short in a wire somewhere? I had thought maybe a head gasket, but have no symptoms of a head gasket.
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It is a garage queen 1994 4.0 AWD with 42,000 miles in nearly perfect shape. Except for the dent in the rear on the passenger side.
I have posted a picture of the dash when going down the road. As you see the engine light is on. It comes on intermittently, pulled the codes, indicated MAF, 02 sensor, running lean/rich. Runs like a champ, no hesitation, still gets up and goes, gets the appropriate gas mileage. I replaced the 02 sensor with the original Ford Part. Didn't cause the engine light to stop going on after about 20 to 60 minutes driving, sometimes it doesn't come on at all.
Could this thermostat be running too cool and causing the engine to throw those codes? Would gladly take it to a mechanic, but seems like it might be a fishing trip with my dollars for them. Next I was going to replace the MAS myself, easily done with the original remanufactured part at a cost of 150.00, 70 for the core, but don't want to chase my tail with these engine lights on when it runs nearly perfect.
Have sprayed the MAF. Checked for air leaks anywhere. Done all the things I could do by just lifting the hood.
So the picture shows the Temp gauge barely touching the N flying down the road at 70 on a level surface, outside temp about 60. Reading the posts says they all run in the cool section of the temp gauge.
So the question is, do they run this cool? Heater works fine and the gauge goes up past the N resting before the O when going up hills on the way to Tahoe. Is this a thermostat problem on a 20 year vehicle with low mileage, or am I going to have to bite the bullet and let the mechanic go wandering through the vehicle?
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I have a 2005 Toyota Matrix with 250k on it. It has run like a champ so far, with the only problem being an ECM recall last year. I have noticed a few problems recently; the heat blows cold air for quite awhile, and the temperature gauge, while not reading hot, sort of fluctuates between normal and a little warm. When the ECM was being replaced, the dealer said the serpentine belt was overdue for replacement, and I know he's probably right about that. He also said the water pump needed replacing, although I have never seen any signs of leaking. This car has been a champ, and I'd like to try and get another 100k out of it if possible. I'm pretty handy around a car, I've replaced an alternator and radiator before, and I'm working on a limited budget, so if any of this is doable by me, I'm up for it.
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I have a 77 F100 2wd 302/c4. I recently replaced the rear plate to my gauge cluster after it crumbled to pieces. I swapped all the gauges to the new plate minus the fuel gauge since it decided it couldn't live if livin was without the old plate. I have a gauge cluster out of my 75 and decided to swap in my fuel gauge from that one. I put the cluster in the truck and fire it up for 10 mins or so and everything is working great except the temp gauge isn't moving. I figure it romeo and Juliet with the fuel gauge so I just swap all gauges from the 75 into the 77 cluster except the speedo. Same result.
So I figure its the sending unit now and maybe both gauges were fine to begin with. I put in a new sending unit and now the gauges works but the needle sits on the P in the word TEMP on the gauge which makes me uncomfortable. That's about 1/4 inch or so from being past the end of the gauge. I don't believe the truck is running that hot. The gauge was more or less straight vertical before the swap sitting right at the end of the E on TEMP. Did I get a bad sending unit? Is it a bad ground on the gauge? Was I supposed to take off the teflon tape that came on the threads of the sending unit? I'm gonna try removing that first and see if it lowers the needle.
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I have a 2001 Excursion Limited V10. 146000 miles 2 wheel drive. I have had it about a year and this is my first winter to really have experience with her.
When the outside temperature is very cold and the engine is cold from sitting all night, at start up, the oil pressure gauge reads nothing and the oil pressure/temp idiot light is on. Only does this during the first very cold start up or after sitting and engine getting very cold again.
I can drive just a short distance (2 blocks) and both gauge and light go to normal and stay there for the rest of my drive. I am using a quality 5/20 oil and filter and the level is good. Warmer days it has never happened. Truck runs fine, smooth idle, no "limp mode". She has not had any recent work done. All the other dash gauges read fine.
There is something about really cold temperatures that have to be causing the issue , I think. ??
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Every now and then when I slow down the temp gauge drops about 1 notch below its normal 200 reading. It's nerver done this before. Car runs great and heat is strong. Is this a sign of a failing thermostat? If so, where is the thermostat located, is it hard to replace, and should I get OEM or is OTC ok? Car has 89K on it.
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On my 97 X SOHC, I have a temp gauge that is rather erratic. It reads high even with the engine off and cold and rises when the engine is running to the point the "Check gauges" light illuminates. Then bounces to normal then back near red line. This cycle continues.
To evaluate this, I bought a scan tool and the ECT reads as expected, around ambient to start, gradual climb till the thermostat opens, then hovers there while the radiator does its thing. Heater works as expected. So I'm fairly confident that my X doesn't have a cooling issue.
What my questions are: Can I disconnect the temp sender so I'm not watching the gauge bounce around and then the Check Gauges light is available for other issues that arise?
Does the check gauge light also send a signal back to the PCM?
Can I do any damage to the truck or will the PCM throttle the power back and flash the Check Engine light if a real cooling issue materializes?
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This is kind of a strange (minor) issue, but I noticed just recently that the outside temperature reading on my 2012 Sonata GLS is registering about 10 degrees hotter than the real outside temperature. This is driving down the road, not parked in the sun. It showed 91 degrees the other day as I was driving home from work, when the actual high for the area was barely 80.
My thoughts were that something was blocking or covering the sensor for the outside temp reading, but don't know where that sensor is located to check it...or if there might be some other way to "reset" the temp reading?
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I have a 98 trans sport and the temp gauge is reading low. Only on the first line when driving then when i pulled into the garage it went up one line and heat got warmer. Felt both upper and lower hoses and i can press them both in Fluids are full no leaks anywhere. oil is good tranny fluid is good. I just got it on a trade it runs and drives great no problems at all.
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The water temperature in my 97 3 liter Aerostar seems to be higher than I would expect when climbing a mountain road with the aircon on full. It was only about 75 degrees F and the elevation went from 300 feet up to 2,400 and the gauge was at 3/4 to the red zone.
I don't use aircon much here in the south Bay Area but as I recall the gauge on both my 96 and 97 Aeros was straight up during such climbs. The 96 is out of coolent so I can't compare it now.
The reason I'm rather concerned is we are about to leave on a 2,500 mile road trip with 4 people and lots of gear through Nevada and Utah and we'll climb a lot of passes in 90 degree heat or higher.
The mileage is about 135k and the water pump was replaced about 2 years ago. The radiator was replaced at about 100k.
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I have a 2003 Excursion 6.0. I didn't post this in the 6.0 section because it may not be just a 6.0 issue. (See what I get) On cold starts, anything under 150 degree water temp reading on the SGII. I get a CHECK GAGE light on accompanied by the check engine light. No codes read on the SGII pending or stored. Just some of the time I get a water in fuel light too. This tends to go out fairly soon after driving. (Even after I just drain the fuel pump it still happens.) other issues that accompany the lights are as follows.
The trans temp does not give a reading to the dash. The oil temp does not give a reading the dash. Both show proper temp on the SGII. When in reverse the back up alarm beeps as if something is behind me. And the auto door locks will not activate after 10 mph. The tach also will not show a reading in the dash. SGII shows the numbers. Now the kicker, this ALL gets resolved the instant the water temp hits 150 degrees. The only lingering issue is the that the tach will surge or drop every now and then. The tow/haul light does not come on when this is going on. I've checked the battery terminals all are clean. Both batteries are brand new.
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These are my gauge readings at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. According to an AC conversion for gauges calibrated in Pascals, 35-40F converts to 241-276 KPa, 140-160F converts to 1000-1103Kpa. The gauges are in Mpa which by conversion is 3 decimal points to the left so .241-.276 and 1-1.103 Mpa. Here are my gauge readings at 68 degrees ambient temp. Rear air is same as an ambient temp on max ac and the front is pictured. There seem to be virtually no pressure differences which I would interpret as a novice that there is ) freon flow.
There is freon in the system with the high pressure being approx correct but the low side is too high if I understand correctly. Basically when at highway speeds at 75 degrees yesterday the front AC was cold and the rear was outside vent temp only. There are slight leaks in the low and high-pressure valves. I have a Mastercool replacement tool but they did not send a fitting for the high-pressure valve. What these readings mean as far as what may be wrong?
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1994 f150 with 4.9L I6; 180k mi.
Parked vehicle last night after using it uneventfully for work the day before. Upon leaving the house at 11:30 AM, I noticed that I'd picked up a new mechanical noise. Nothing major; actually wasn't sure I heard anything at all.
As I drove to the store, I noticed it was idling slightly unsteady...much less so than a missing cylinder. I resolved to check the high-tension connectors when I got home for security. I glanced down at the gauges to check and see if my oil pressure was good; I then noticed coolant temp reading "high normal."
When I got out, I noticed a small pool of coolant forming. I looked at where the puddle was forming...the radiator hose had come off! (Actually separate from the radiator connector, as one might do if draining fluid without using the petcock.) I popped the hood: no unusual smells. Nothing seemed abnormally hot. Placing a finger against the head was uncomfortable, but not painful. Spit expectorated upon the head did not sizzle.
I then called my wife, explaining the situation, and walked back home 2 miles. We then took the spare car, bought antifreeze, and added it about an hour post-shutdown. Where the car was parked seemed wetter than the light drizzle allowed; daubing a finger in it and tasting gave a slight sweet taste.
I tend to check my fluid every so often (not every day, though) and coolant was verified as "full" as recently as 100 miles ago. (I don't make a habit of crawling underneath, though, so I couldn't tell you if hose had been slowly backing off or not.)
As to cause: is it plausible that this could happen without foul play? There have been a few vandalism incidents in the neighborhood; it's also possible that I [peeved] off a neighbor recently. I'm not about to go any further than fixing, though, unless there's really no other plausible explanation.
As to the mechanical questions: How much damage was done? Did I "catch it" in time? What is suggested as far as repairs/maintenance? (I was planning on doing a compression test, and keeping a close eye on fluid levels over the next 1,000 miles or so.) Engine sounds completely normal.
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I just purchased a 1986 Volvo 240DL, it runs great, but slow and the Ac is like ice. Only real issues are a rattling coming from the rear(exhaust mount I think) and
most importantly the steering is super light. No effort required at all.
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I have a Grand Am SE 2001 and recently, since I got home from college for break, there has been no noticeable heat, and the engine temperature gauge is reading below 100. I checked the heat of the input and output hoses near the firewall and both were warm (warmer than the air blowing in the car) but not hot to the touch and this was after 10 minutes of driving 40 mph. Right now my only ideas are the thermostat or the heating core, what to look for? I'm not sure, short of replacing both, how to progress. Also wondering if driving it in this state is bad for the vehicle, I can't seem to find anything wrong with the engine and all other parts are working fine, not much chance to fix it for a few days.
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I have a 1988 Volvo 240 DL station wagon that has been in my family since just before I was born. It has somewhere around 300K miles on it (the odometer broke 7 years ago at 250K). It drives around town more or less fine, usually. But sometimes it loses power on me. Usually this happens when I take it on highways, up big hills, in situations where I need to accelerate quickly, etc. It just starts to slow down, and I have to downshift and ease slowly through whatever stretch of road I'm on until I can get back up to speed (usually on a downhill). It's not totally consistent--sometimes it has this problem, other times it doesn't.
The car will go through stretches where it runs fine, then I'll have this problem on a highway, and then it's a little more likely to happen for a period after that (even on surface streets). This has been happening in some form for a few years. When I first had the problem, it happened continually until I heard a terrible rattling in the engine. When I took it in, they found that a spring in the piston/cylinder had broken off and shot up, breaking the cap off one of the cylinders (sorry for the lack of a more technical explanation).
When they fixed that, the problem seemed to go away for a while, but eventually came back (though there has been no rattling since). The most recent time, it had been running around town just fine. Then I took it out on the highway and really lost power--had to slow it down to 35-40mph going up a hill on a 55mph highway. For the rest of the drive it struggled up hills, even as low as 2nd gear. But on my drive home (about 1.5 hours later), the car ran smoothly (though I continued to baby it, and there were fewer upward hills). Since then, even around town it sometimes feels like it might lose power again, but it never becomes a huge issue because I haven't demanded a whole lot of the car.
After that long-winded explanation, I'm wondering: could this be something as simple as spark plugs? Or is this definitely a bigger issue with the engine? If it's a cheap fix, I'm happy to go for it, but if it will require putting several hundred (or more) into the engine, I'm inclined just to let it limp along until it's finally time to take the car out back and shoot it. Figuratively, of course.
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We have replaced the sensor twice now and it still pegs on high. Sometimes when we just start up the car, other times after we are driving.
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I have an 88 volvo 244Dl with major hesitation while driving down the road. I recently had a no start issue and after a week at the shop it was fixed. During that repair it received: New Dist, cap, rotor, timing belt, coolant sensor, plugs, wires. With the hesitation I checked vacuum lines, cleaned T/B and MAA.
One thing I noticed, which seems weird... When the engine is hesitating, missing.. the radio becomes somewhat staticy. The reception of the radio mimics the hesitation of the engine.
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