Just bought a '90 240 SW (228000 miles) and am having some overheating problems. On the way home from work yesterday I noticed the temp was about average and then a little bit later was almost bottomed out. Then it was almost in the red. So I figured that the thermostat was probably sticking. So I went to the autoparts store and got a replacement. Put it in and everything seemed to be working fine. Ran the car for about 10 minutes or so parked and the temp stayed pretty much in the middle. Then on the way to work this morning the temp got a little hot again. When I took the temp selector all the way to the right(full heat), without cutting on the fan, the temp dropped back down to normal. Now I'm starting to think that the thermostat was just the beginning. I'm pretty sure the coolant system is in need of a good flushing. Or possibly even in need of a radiator replacement. Or could it be the fan clutch? Or should I just install an electric fan? Or should it already have an electric fan (there isn't one installed now)? Any help or suggestions would be great! Thanks!

 

Ok...Problem seems to be getting worse. Since the last post I have flushed the radiator and filled it with new water/antifreeze and replaced the fan clutch. I am still having an overheating problem. I'm starting to lean toward a blocked or partially blocked radiatior. It seems like that is the only other culprit. Any ideas or suggestions would be a HUGE help since this is my first Volvo. Thanks!

 

Are you losing any coolant? It sounds like you have covered a lot of the bases. It could be a blockage in the radiator, or perhaps air in the system. The worst thing that it could be is the head gasket. A bad head gasket can sometimes cause the engine to heat up excessively, but I would look at that as a last resort.

 

I'm pretty sure it's not a blown head gasket. There's no water in the oil or vice versa. The car runs great with the exception of this problem. And I guess it is possible that it could be air in the system after doing all that stuff to it...but this is my first volvo...so...how do I get any trapped air out? I'm really thinking that its a blocked radiator...since I can use the heater core to keep the engine cool. There's a pull-it-yoursellf salvage yard that'll sell me a radiator for 35 bucks...so I think I'm going to go that route...and see what happens from there.

 

Well...the pull-it-yourself place was kind of a bust...seems that they get their cars from a salvage yard close by and the salvage yard takes the engine and radiator out before the puul-it place gets the cars...so...yeah...and then I checked the salvage yard and they want 100 bucks for a used radiator. I can get a new one for 100 bucks at the auto parts store. Well...I'm going to try to get the radiator pulled and replaced tonight. We'll see what that does.

 

Ok. I replaced the radiator over the weekend. It was the culprit! Stupid blocked radiator!

 

Thanks for the follow-up. Yeah, 228k miles is a lot for a radiator.