Bad water pump?

[T5Sweep]

I had a cambelt/waterpump change a couple of years ago on my 850 T5, however I'm not convinced it's circulating water properly. I know for sure the garage wouldn't have used a genuine pump.
It gets up to temperature very quickly but then sits just past halfway on the gauge, it creeps up until the fan kicks in.

I've changed the thermostat twice, in case the replacement was faulty, I've also replaced the coolant temperature sensor and drained/replaced the coolant with genuine Volvo green stuff.

The top rad hose gets very hot, is that correct?

I did wonder whether the heater matrix has clogged since it's been sat for a couple of years now.

Any help and ideas greatly appreciated.

Ben.

[volvo again]

Not sure why you would think the water pump is bad?
If it gets up to temperature quickly and doesn't overheat or run too cool the thermostat must be working okay? Top hose being hot confirms the 'stat is opening allowing coolant to circulate the radiator so the pump must be working.
Is it noisy or leaking?
If the heater output is not very hot it may be worth removing the supply hoses and flushing through with a hose.

[SteveSarre]

Hi Ben,

You say tt warms up quickly, but then does it overheat? Is that when the car is parked stationary or when you drive?

It would be normal for the fan to kick in when parked and stationary, but the temperature gauge shouldn't rise above 3 oclock.

I think a clogged heater matrix (inside the cabin) shouldn't affect the cooling .

Do you have a way of monitoring the temperature of the cooling system?

I bought a cheap infra red non contact thermometer from ebay and it has proved useful a number of times for this kind of thing.

Of course if the radiator itself was badly clogged, then it would be unable to cool.

Steve

[T5Sweep]

Thanks for the comments guys.

It's a little difficult to explain, I've owned the car for 4 ish years and whilst using it as my daily, I always remember it sitting at dead-on 3 o'clock unless it was a very hot day, regardless of whether I was sat in traffic or not.

Now it seems to sit just over 3 o'clock, and smells warm.

It's not noisy and there's no leaks.

Ben.

[volvo again]

May be worth draining and either using a proprietary cooling system flush or just reverse flushing with a hosepipe, if the rad is partially blocked it wouldn't cool properly. When refilling do it slowly to try and avoid air locks

[Austin160]

I'm with Steve's last comment about the possibility of a partially blocked radiator, judging by what else has been done.
Water pump failing to circulate the coolant properly? Very uncommon in my experience - compared with the possibility of premature bearing wear with aftermarket pumps.

[T5Sweep]

Thanks chaps, I'll set about giving the rad a good flush and report back.