Hello, have an issue where my V50 started to overheat, temp gauge rose above centre and a whiff of steam from header/expansion tank. I immediately turned on cabin heater which lowered engine/coolant temp.
Car occasionally overheats, steam from, now split, expansion/header tank and cooling fan does not appear to operate, temp gauge no longer goes above half way for some reason. The fan spins freely so is not seized, and I have also replaced thermostat and temp sensor. Running car with heater on permanent so as summer (??) approaches can get quite warm.
Thankyou.

 

Does the fan engage? if your car was overheated the fan should run for a few minutes after the car was shut off. If not you may need to check the relay, connectors and even bypass the relay to see if the fan motor will spin the fan.

 

Thanks, the fan spins freely by hand but does not operate at all by itself, either when the AC is on ( should run at low speed ) or when the coolant temperature sensor is unplugged ( told this triggers over heat detection and forces fan to operate at full speed ). There is no relay, that I am aware off, the controller unit on the fan does all the clever stuff. Consensus is the fan needs replacing, with after market a fraction of the Volvo price ( here in UK ) or I go for a secondhand unit !