I drive a '94 850 Turbo with 150,000 miles. My temperature gauge never gets higher than the 9 o'clock position. It's right in the middle once the engine is at running temperature, but almost always, it only stays in the middle when I'm idle or in stop and go traffic. When I'm on the freeway or driving at a constant speed, the needle drops a little like the temp is lower. And even though the needle never goes past the middle or gets close to the red, sometimes the engine smells hot after driving. I know I have a bit of an oil leak, could that be causing the burning smell? I figure I should just replace the thermostat anyway and see what happens, but I'd like anyone else's opinions on whether or not anything else needs to be checked out.

 

The temp guage is reading normally, but shouldn't drop much when on the freeway. The hot smell could be the oil, could also be a weeping heater core, but my non turbo smells hot occasionally too, especially after going up hills.

 

Hi Mr. Brook, Volvo did a pretty smart thing with the temp gauge on these cars, they set a "normal temperature range" with the gauge. What I mean by that is, when the gauge reads normal, or is pointing at the 9 o'clock position, the motor can be anywhere between 175° and 220° F. So, if your gauge moves down a little while driving on highway speeds, it's likely getting below the 175° temp, which is not good. Not harmful, but not good because a cool motor will use a little more gas. Replacing the thermostat would not be a bad idea.

While on the freeway my car will run between 184° and 192°. That's what it did while cruising down the freeway at 70 mph all day Wednesday. As soon as I got off the freeway and went through a restaurant drive through, it went up to about 213. I could not tell by looking at the gauge but I have an OBD-2 tool that I drive with and monitor things in the systems all the time.

As for the hot smell, it's likely that your motor is dirty and anything on the motor will smell when it gets hot, about 210°. Oil, grass, bugs, dirt, etc., will all give off a "hot" odor. I try to keep my engine compartment clean to avoid odors, help it look good and make it cleaner to work under there.

 

Okay, looks like I'll probably do the thermostat, thank you for the info! That gives me some peace of mind.

 

Hello there, new member here. I just got a 1993 240 wagon and have noticed that I have an valve cover gasket leak, but besides that, I was driving the car, and the temp gauge reads very low ( 1/4) and when cruising the temp gauge goes down completely. I was wondering if anybody had similar issues. thanks

 

Woc2, bad idea to try and hijack the thread. That and you don't have a 850. The other problem with posting your problem down here is that the only people who see it are the few people above you in this thread and the few that might venture in and read the thread.

Better bet, start your own thread in the "240" area and that way it posts to everyone.