Hi all,

I have an odd situation for which I'd like some opinions.

I have a 2009 S60 2.5T FWD with just over 20,000 miles.

Occasionally I will get back from even a short trip and something makes me think the engine is running too hot. For example, I go near the front of the vehicle and it seems like there is a lot of heat coming off of it. I open the hood and rest my fingers on the black metal just over the radiator section and it's almost too hot to even touch that long (from only a 7 mile trip???). Sometimes I even think that I can smell something like a faint odor of plastic or rubber slightly burning. There is a lot of clicking and pinging as the engine cools down. I know this clicking and pinging is normal as metal contracts, but it just seems like too much clicking and pinging.

This doesn't happen all the time, just seems to be sometimes.

Yet the temperature gauge is always in the normal 12 o'clock position and there is no message if I push the little button to check messages.

About 2 months ago something odd happened once that never happened again. I noticed that the engine temperature gauge was sitting all the way down at cold, even after driving for a while. The cooling fan would run continuously when the vehicle was idling. Checked this forum and people suggested a firmware glitch, potentially corrected by pulling and reinserting a fuse. I disconnected the battery instead. Problem solved, and never happened again. Had Volvo check the car anyway. They said no engine codes present (I guess because I had disconnected the battery). They also said my firmware was already the latest which should have included a fix for this issue.

So my question is this. Is this perceived high temperature just my imagination? The temperature guage would seem to say yes, yet my gut makes me think that something is not right.

I'm hoping that someone else has a similar year S60 who could shed some light.

Thanks, and I hope this question is not too dumb. ;-)

 

that's how its always been with me, it sounds quite normal.
if then temp gauge is at 12o clock your perfect, if its a little more than that's (common here in Texas) then that's alright as well. now if its at 3/4 or in the red turn off the car quickly. this car just has a lot of engine and a lot more metal then most cars you see now in days, more things will be hot to the touch and keep their heat for a longer duration.