XC60 D4 towing

[Sheded]

Hi all. Having a few issues towing my caravan with my 2014 xc60 d4 181bhp manual. The caravan weighs around 1500 kg twin axle.
I can barely tell the caravan is behind me, however, on a our first outing I had message on dash saying heavy load, shift down, accompanied by a red warning light. This was doing 55 mph in 5th gear at 2000rpm. If I accelerated past it to 2500 rpm (65mph) the message went off. But obviously this is too fast. After doing this speed for a while, the temp went up.
Thinking about a remap, but I considered I have enough power as it stands.
Anyone have experience of towing with d4, or any ideas?
Thanks in anticipation.....

[nu11eaf]

Originally Posted by Sheded

Hi all. Having a few issues towing my caravan with my 2014 xc60 d4 181bhp manual. The caravan weighs around 1500 kg twin axle.
I can barely tell the caravan is behind me, however, on a our first outing I had message on dash saying heavy load, shift down, accompanied by a red warning light. This was doing 55 mph in 5th gear at 2000rpm. If I accelerated past it to 2500 rpm (65mph) the message went off. But obviously this is too fast. After doing this speed for a while, the temp went up.
Thinking about a remap, but I considered I have enough power as it stands.
Anyone have experience of towing with d4, or any ideas?
Thanks in anticipation.....

Is it a manual gearbox on your car. I tow with an auto and obviously the gears change to suit the conditions, load, temperature etc and in auto mode you only see the D symbol in the display not the gear in use at the time (unless you knock lever to manual then it shows which gear you are in) so my car might be pulling in 4th at times to stop the engine being put under too much strain, where you driving on a straight flat road or on an incline when this happened, or after a long period at a steady speed. Where you able to change down for a short period until engine less strained then back to 5th with light out.
Another thing to check is the trailer brakes to ensure they are not binding and hitch over run and handbrake are disengaging fully, and tyres are correct pressure and not putting excess strain on your car.
The D5 would have been my first choice for a heavy caravan but the D4 can be easily and safely remapped.

[Tannaton]

As above are you manual/auto, AWD/2WD, 4 cyl or 5 cyl?

[Sheded]

Sorry guys. It is manual D4 AWD 5 cyl. The trailer brakes are not binding. This happens mostly on even a slight incline. If I slow down to say 50 mph it does go off, or if I speed up to 65 it goes off. There is plenty of power to pull from 55 to 65 in 5th but if I maintain the higher speed, it starts to tell me it’s getting too hot. Damn technology. I would have thought the car would easily cope with the caravan.

[nu11eaf]

1500 kg twin wheeler is a lot of weight to pull and a lot of drag for a D4, you could try a wind jammer deflector, (if you can still get them) on the volvo roof to deflect the wind over the top of the caravan, increase car tyre pressure to eco setting as well,

[Zebster]

If it's the power requirement that's causing the overheating then I don't see how a remap would help? The engine would still be having to produce the power needed to drag that 1500kg load. Power =heat!

[Sheded]

The remap would give an increase in Bhp to 226, therefore the engine wouldn’t have to work as hard?

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Sheded

The remap would give an increase in Bhp to 226, therefore the engine wouldn’t have to work as hard?

It would be working exactly as hard if pulling the same load at the same speed on the same roads. So would get just as hot.

[Brankster]

I tow a 1600kg caravan and have never had any issues with the car at all. Found it to be a superb car for towing. If i was you i would consider a remap.

[Scarsdalejohn]

Originally Posted by Sheded

Sorry guys. It is manual D4 AWD 5 cyl. The trailer brakes are not binding. This happens mostly on even a slight incline. If I slow down to say 50 mph it does go off, or if I speed up to 65 it goes off. There is plenty of power to pull from 55 to 65 in 5th but if I maintain the higher speed, it starts to tell me it’s getting too hot. Damn technology. I would have thought the car would easily cope with the caravan.

I have a MY15 car of same spec and have towed a 1550KG van without problem.Very few motorway inclines defeat it even in 6th gear and it is without doubt a great towcar.
Im not sure about any red light though.Mine displays a little telltale indicator on the righthand side of the instruments which moves up if in too low a gear and down if change down required. It moves pretty well in accord with the drivers "feel" for what gear the outfit should be in.