What are the chances my XC60 D5 has headgasket issue?

[Kev0607]

Find out what make the water pump is.

You really want a genuine one on it. They aren’t much more expensive than the aftermarket ones, but they last and are well worth the extra investment.

Get one from the dealer and ask them to fit it.

[Bagheera]

UPDATE:

Got the car back today.

Garage suspect an airlock, no issue with Head Gasket and they couldn't find any leaks.

I've taken it for a good 40 minute drive tonight. No repeat of the last events but not quite perfect.

When I slowed down quickly the engine temp gauge went up for a brief period before going back to centre (is this down to the sudden loss of airflow over the engine?).

As I was coming to the end of my drive going up a hill, i got "Heavy Load, shift down" then High Engine Temp, reduce speed. Both quickly went.

On returning home, coolant had dropped, just below min, nothing like before. Could still be some air in the system? There was no steam and the car didn't seem to be excessively hot.

[Simmy]

monitor and report.. but what kind or garage dose not run a car up to temperature and purge any air locks before giving it back to the customer .i would look up a good volvo independent for any future work/ servicing. lots of forum members do there own work to ensure its done right as there are so many duff garages about.

[Bagheera]

Originally Posted by Simmy

monitor and report.. but what kind or garage dose not run a car up to temperature and purge any air locks before giving it back to the customer .i would look up a good volvo independent for any future work/ servicing. lots of forum members do there own work to ensure its done right as there are so many duff garages about.

I will monitor. The heavy load is a bit weird. It also did it on a down hill in 6th, car was hardly struggling. If someone knows a way to turn it off, I'm all ears.

Will coolant cap off, engine up to temp work on these if i want to bleed any left over air pockets myself? I've done this on our Ford after I did the cambelt and it worked a treat.

[GrahamBrown1]

It would have more than bled itself by now, 100% way is to vacuum fill the system. Monitor it carefully but you shouldn’t be seeing the level drop. The engine doesn’t have to be overheating to be using coolant

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Bagheera

UPDATE:

Got the car back today.

Garage suspect an airlock, no issue with Head Gasket and they couldn't find any leaks.

I've taken it for a good 40 minute drive tonight. No repeat of the last events but not quite perfect.

When I slowed down quickly the engine temp gauge went up for a brief period before going back to centre (is this down to the sudden loss of airflow over the engine?).

As I was coming to the end of my drive going up a hill, i got "Heavy Load, shift down" then High Engine Temp, reduce speed. Both quickly went.

On returning home, coolant had dropped, just below min, nothing like before. Could still be some air in the system? There was no steam and the car didn't seem to be excessively hot.

You need to keep your eye on it really. I don't know why the "garage" didn't solve the airlock... seems like a wasted visit to me, as they didn't fix it.

Hallmark Volvo in Stockport know these cars like the back of their hand (independent Volvo Specialist). You're based in Manchester, bring it to them and get their opinion.

[Bagheera]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

You need to keep your eye on it really. I don't know why the "garage" didn't solve the airlock... seems like a wasted visit to me, as they didn't fix it.

Hallmark Volvo in Stockport know these cars like the back of their hand (independent Volvo Specialist). You're based in Manchester, bring it to them and get their opinion.

Thanks Kev. I think you read the wrong profile though, I'm based in the West Midlands, south of Birmingham. There are a few specialists around me and one with excellent reviews so will consider that once my own garage have reviewed again.

Appreciate all the advice and replies and will update in due course.

The shift down/heavy load is a red herring, it's directly connected to the overheating. I bottomed that out today on a 1 hour drive.

Once the temperature begins to rise, if you back off and drive normally, it drives fine and doesn't appear to dump coolant.

One observation. I reset the trip today and drove for about 55 minutes on mainly rural roads and fairly leisurely with the odd overtake and a 5 minute 70 -80 mph dual carriageway section. In that time average mpg was 38. I thought that was quite low. Could there be a connection or am I being over optimistic on mpg expectation for the D5?

[Kev0607]

I must have read the wrong profile, my mistake.

That mpg does seem a bit low on a euro 5 engine. Although, I would take book mpg figures with a pinch of salt. They aren't realistic. D5's aren't particularly economical anyway, especially if its a 5 cylinder D5 and not VEA.

[Stu B]

A couple of suggestions from me based on the symptoms:

1. The water pump impeller is detached from its spindle, so happily going along for the ride at steady load and circulating coolant ok but not keeping up under heavier load or higher rpm.

2. Electric cooling fan is unplugged / inoperable / not triggering allowing overheating?

As with previous posters, I’d suspect the water pump.

Fuel economy sounds about right to me if it’s an auto?

Cheers
Stu

[Bagheera]

Originally Posted by Stu B

A couple of suggestions from me based on the symptoms:

1. The water pump impeller is detached from its spindle, so happily going along for the ride at steady load and circulating coolant ok but not keeping up under heavier load or higher rpm.

2. Electric cooling fan is unplugged / inoperable / not triggering allowing overheating?

As with previous posters, I’d suspect the water pump.

Fuel economy sounds about right to me if it’s an auto?

Cheers
Stu

Thanks for your thoughts.

Nope, it's manual so I think that is on the low side. Connection to the overheating issue?

As soon as the temp started to raise on the dual carriageway, I backed off and it returned to normal with no obvious coolant loss on the journey.
I didn't fancy another steaming engine half an hour from home, so didn't wait to find out if it was going to dump a load of coolant either.

I only wish I'd driven the car a decent amount before I had the cambelt done; would have been so helpful to know for certain if the fault was there pre cambelt + water pump or only post cambelt. That would have almost made certain the fault was with the water pump.