240 Engine temp

Hi, i have a question re the running temp on my 240.
The temperature gauge seems to get up to the middle very quickly on my car, say after 5 mins running, it never goes into the red, but after say driving 8-10 miles if you lift the bonnet you get a sort of scorching smell come from the engine area.
Is this normal for these cars?
Can someone put my mind at rest, as we are not even into the hot weather yet, and if this is a problem i want to try and sort this out before hand.
Does anyone have any ideas/opinions.

Thanks in advance
Barry

[andykem]

Barry

A bit difficult to tell much from your description so maybe you'l expand on it a bit?

1) The temperature gauge seems to get up to the middle very quickly on my car, say after 5 mins running, it never goes into the red ...

Does it go above the middle to nearly in the red? Are there different driving conditions that affect it? Is there loss of coolant? If the fan is electric (what year is the car?), does that ever switch on?
There could be more q's but lets see the answers to these first!


2) But after say driving 8-10 miles if you lift the bonnet you get a sort of scorching smell come from the engine area ...

To me a scorching smell is like if cloth is being charred. Or do you mean hot & oily or hot & steamy or, just hot (!), but with say that acrid smell of charring plastic which might be an electrical problem?

Regards
Andy

Andy, thanks for your time on this matter, the answers to your questions are below, i hope the explainations make sense.

It gets near to the red, but doesnt go into it.
Driving conditions dont seem to effect it, by that i mean its the same in slow traffic as it is on a run.
The car is a 1993 model, it doesnt have an electric fan

The scorching smell is probably more like hot and oily.


Many thanks
Barry

[Clifford Pope]

I've just had a long thread on overcooling on the same model, but in the course of giving the system a good going-over I have found a few ideas that might be relevant.
1) Get a new temperature sender - the one in the block under the inlet manifold. Make sure that the temperature you are observing really is correct

2) test the thermostat in a pan on the hob with a thermometer, to check that it starts to open at the right temperature, fully opens, and doesn't stick.

3) flush the whole system. Then remove the radiator, plug the holes, and fill with hot soda solution. Slosh it about for a few minutes, then THOROUGHLY flush out with a hose.

4) the hot smell may be merely a little seapage of coolant or oil finding its way onto the manifold or exhaust. Try watching it running for a few minutes.

After these, you have to start thinking about the head gasket, but try the cheap and easy things first.

Good luck!

Clifford thanks for the advice.
A couple more questions for you if you dont mind

Do you know what temp the thermostat opens at?

Also how difficult a job is it to take the rad out(auto box)?

Cheers
Barry

[Clifford Pope]

>Clifford thanks for the advice.
>A couple more questions for you if you dont mind
>
>Do you know what temp the thermostat opens at?

'Fraid not. I just assume about 5 degrees or so before fully open. You could compare with another if, like me, you have a collection knocking about in the garage.
>
>Also how difficult a job is it to take the rad out(auto
>box)?
I don't know about the auto one, I was assuming a manual, which is dead easy
>
>Cheers
Cliff

[neil stevenson]

Hi,
I have a 1978 244DL with 73000 miles on the clock. It warms up quite quickly and the needle always sat 3/4 way up the gauge but never went into the red. If you travelled at 70 on the motorway for a while or went up a steep hill the gauge would move closer to the red but never go into it.

I checked the water level, ok, and took out the radiator to back flush it (a very simple job compared to other vehicles i have worked on) and found that it was clear and clean but that alot of the fins were broken and brittle.

I replaced it with a new one (£60 + VAT) and checked it again. It now runs nearer the half way point on the gauge but still rises to the 3/4 mark up hills or at speeds over 70.

My questions are. Is this normal now that the system is the best it can get as standard with a new radiator.
I have run the car on unleaded but have filled up with super unleaded tonight and will see if there is a difference as I assume that ordinary unleaded will make it run hot. Am I correct in this assumption ?

Can a 78 244DL be made to run happily on ordinary unleaded or must I use an additive or super unleaded ?

Your comments would be appreciated.

[Clifford Pope]

I would advise fitting a new temp sender, just so you know for starters that the reading on the guauge is correct. I found that although mine appeared to work, it was overstating the temperature by about 1/8 full scale - 2 needles'thickness.
I also found a new radiator did cool better (too much in my case!) even than a fully removed and flushed out one, with the dead flies blasted out. I think the fins must corrode or bend or just lose their radiating properties somehow.

[andykem]

Whenever I have had a different Volvo ( a 145, a 245, a 265 and now a262)or have fitted a new thermostat, I have had to sit on 'hot bricks' for a while until I get used to what 'this one does'.

Also, unless the car is losing coolant, nothing much is probably wrong. If the reading itself is bothersome maybe it will be a sensor or gauge fault. But first, change the thermostat for a new one. There are about 3 (three) different opening temperatures you can get. If troubled by overheat get the lowest (about 82 deg C).

But, the hot-oily smell is most likely oil leaking onto the manifold or exhaust.

regards
Andy

Guys thanks for your help on this matter.
I will take on board your suggestions, and hopefully this may cure my problems.
I will post a reply when i hav ecarried out all the work and let you know how the car is running.


Barry