How hot is your heater?

[Biano44]

So, yesterday I paid a visit to Tim Williams (infamous in Volvo circles allegedly) and had my Thermostat replaced. In the end it was half the cost of a main dealer.
Turns out, on my model D5 it's right at the back, under the battery, slightly under the Turbo or above the gearbox. In other words a right P.I.T.A!!
Tim had originally quoted an hour but took more like 4 hours in total.

The good news is that it has worked......I finally have heat in the cabin and almost immediately I noticed a much smoother drive and I seemingly gained at least 10% better MPG within 30mins.
Really looking forward to more improvements as the weeks tick by.

In my mind, Volvos decision to remove the temp gauge was a big mistake and could of saved me a great deal of hassle and money.

All is well in the end though.

[GJB]

Originally Posted by Biano44

So, yesterday I paid a visit to Tim Williams (infamous in Volvo circles allegedly) and had my Thermostat replaced. In the end it was half the cost of a main dealer.
Turns out, on my model D5 it's right at the back, under the battery, slightly under the Turbo or above the gearbox. In other words a right P.I.T.A!!
Tim had originally quoted an hour but took more like 4 hours in total.

The good news is that it has worked......I finally have heat in the cabin and almost immediately I noticed a much smoother drive and I seemingly gained at least 10% better MPG within 30mins.
Really looking forward to more improvements as the weeks tick by.

In my mind, Volvos decision to remove the temp gauge was a big mistake and could of saved me a great deal of hassle and money.

All is well in the end though.

Have the temperature gauge back on mine (my17) agree a great step forward just hope it is in the new XC60.

[wimorrison]

I also have one on my MY14.5 - on my previous MY10 I just used my iPhone and a £6.99 dongle to give me all the info - same one I use now when I want find if owt is wrong

[Biano44]

Originally Posted by wimorrison

I also have one on my MY14.5 - on my previous MY10 I just used my iPhone and a £6.99 dongle to give me all the info - same one I use now when I want find if owt is wrong

Yep, exactly what I did.

[Scootersp]

Originally Posted by Biano44

So, yesterday I paid a visit to Tim Williams (infamous in Volvo circles allegedly) and had my Thermostat replaced. In the end it was half the cost of a main dealer.
Turns out, on my model D5 it's right at the back, under the battery, slightly under the Turbo or above the gearbox. In other words a right P.I.T.A!!
Tim had originally quoted an hour but took more like 4 hours in total.

The good news is that it has worked......I finally have heat in the cabin and almost immediately I noticed a much smoother drive and I seemingly gained at least 10% better MPG within 30mins.
Really looking forward to more improvements as the weeks tick by.

In my mind, Volvos decision to remove the temp gauge was a big mistake and could of saved me a great deal of hassle and money.

All is well in the end though.

thanks for the info, I'm tempted to diy it at some point but I've had a nosey round and can see the 'buried' problem.
Part of me is considering a rad bypass, where you T off the rad 'in' pipe and run a bypass down to another thermostat (land rover type) that is joined to the rad out pipe and so allows flow in the bypass up to a certain temperature before allowing flow through the rad. The benefit to this is that it's all easy access and there is lots of room up front for the pipe work. There are a few cars with hard access thermostats and some have devised these type of dodges/botches!?

I'd be interested in anyone thinks this is a definite no no/non starter, bearing in mind mine is a 2009, no warranty & self maintained (where I can) car.

[Scootersp]

Just thought I'd update for future reference for someone.

I've had no incidences of this again yet, although we are reaching the winter temperatures where I am expecting it to return (things don't tend to fix themselves!). We've had one or two frosty mornings so far but as said no warning lights/and fan running constant and heater is working nicely.

If we get a sustained low temperature snap, where even in the day it's around freezing then I'm expecting it to return. I know I'm being lazy/tight not sorting this but it really is temperature dependant and the only noticeable effect is the low heater temperature when the light does come on.

[Scootersp]

Ok finally bit the bullet and went for a temporary (may be permanent!) 'botch' solution.

As the thermostat is buried behind the engine, I have cut a section out of the top radiator hose that goes right across the front of the engine and is easily accessible. I used an inline thermostat from euro car parts and as this was a larger diameter than the hose, I bought a silicone hose reducer (one side large enough to take the thermostat the other the same diameter as the stock hose) then x2 aluminium joiners, one a plain one to join the stock hose diameter ends together and one a stepped one to join the large thermostat sized pipe to the stock hose.

Only done it today, but ran it up from cold and the rad hose got hot on the passenger side, the left staying cold until the thermostat opened, all joints seem sound and I've never had a heater so hot.

Will report back on any issues. Probably cost £40 or so and an hour or two (vs the £400 i've seen quoted) and I bought a new top pipe from germany for less than £30 delivered in case I have to put it all back to stock.

[Whiterdesign]

GJB the new XC60 has a temperature gauge on the 8 inch dash, but not on the 12 inch, retrograde step again, the better dash but no gauge, doesn’t make sense.

[Scootersp]

What does these days!

Well first 16 miles commute has gone without leaking issues and there is a massive improvement in heating, I think only the heated seats have made it bearable for this long, actually looking forward to the next really cold snap now!

[Scootersp]

Just for reference I used the attached bits.

Fitted in the top hose from passenger to drivers side order (thermostat inside black silicone hose pushed down to the start of the taper to 35mm).
36mm to 36mm Ali joiner (tight fit into stock top hose - joint to watch most in the future as it's the most stressed 34mm to 34mm 'might be' a better choice) (£6 ebay)
40mm-35mm Silicone hose (£10 ebay)
Thermostat inside the 40mm section (brass end towards the above 36-36mm joiner, ie towards the engine NOT the radiator) (less than £10! Euro car parts Part no. 209745041)
38mm to 32mm Ali reducer/joiner (£14 - Car builder solutions)
40-66mm hose clips (£6 ebay)