Aftermarket Coolant Temperature Sensors- A Cautionary Tale.

[LPTJoe]

I'm writing this as a kind of warning/heads up for my Ovlov brethren present and future should they stumble across this thread in the hope it will come up in searches for anyone thinking of replacing their CTS.

Recently, as the weather has become colder I had been greeted by rough running, full on engine rocking about car bouncing up and down fairground ride stuff when trying to start the 940. Weirdly this only went on for the first couple of minutes, after which the idle would calm down and things would run smoothly for the rest of the day.

Plugs/leads/dizzy/arm/coil were all good so my suspicion was that the aftermarket (FAE) coolant temperature sensor I'd bought from 'Parts Monster' on Ebay who seem to sell lots of Volvo bits was playing up, they had it listed with 'Volvo Part' in big letters, in reality it's made by Italian firm FAE, it's a bit naughty they way they list things like that really but hey ho.... I fitted it about 5 months back as part of a cooling system refresh and the car's been fine all summer, but now the weather had turned I had an inkling it was perhaps not telling the ECU to adjust fuelling etc as it should be. Time to install a proper Bosch sensor.

FAE ('Parts Monster') sensor out...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bEMWdx]

New Bosch sensor ready to go in...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bEMW7R]

New sensor being installed. An extension and UJ make this job a breeze, I've got the whole job down to under 30 minutes now including a complete drain and refill of the cooling system...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2ahTDJ3]

System topped up and ready to go...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bEMW1i]


And I was right!

The car started this morning with gusto despite frost and scraping, running smooth and as it should. The aftermarket FAE sensor was clearly at fault...

It could have just been a one off but to anyone thinking of changing the sensor, I'd suggest you do yourself a favour and pay the £3.00 more for the Bosch one the first time round.

I've composed a message and sent it to the vendor of the FAE sensor and will update this thread to let you all know what they say, it's been 6 months since I bought the item from them but you never know

The one to avoid

'PartsMonster' (Ebay) FAE branded Italian sensor...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-940-Injection-Engines-Coolant-Temperature-Sensor/362482564308?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CA SSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55149%26meid%3D091a87d7dd9f 4ca39180100dc9512265%26pid%3D101006%26rk%3D1%26rkt %3D1%26%26itm%3D362482564308&_trksid=p2045573.c101 006.m3226

The one that worked

Bosch part number 0280130069

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coolant-Temperature-Sensor-0280130069-Bosch-Sender-Transmitter-7647004-1459197/232414024661?epid=248745260&hash=item361cf493d5:g: IgMAAOSwVcZb6yr2:rk:1f:0

[Laird Scooby]

Thanks for posting this Joe, i've used FAE stuff many times over the years without a problem, however there's always a first time!
Hopefully you were just unlucky and it was a one-off, rather than a fault with a batch of sensors or worse still, the quality has gone downhill and failures after a few months are going to be common.

Either way, i'm glad you've got it sorted!

[360beast]

I bought a tensioner for my 940 cambelt from parts monster off ebay with the "VOLVO PART" so assumed it was a genuine Volvo one. It came as a Proffesional parts Sweden one, the bearing had no markings on it and my dad's experience with PPS Chinese sh1te meant I sent it straight back!

[LPTJoe]

To be fair to PartsMonster, they've got back to me and offered me a full refund 6 months after purchase.

Bait and switch techniques aside with the 'volvo Part' decoy, I'm quite impressed with the way they've dealt with it so fair play to them on that front.

[ovlov236]

Thanks For The Info

[baggy798]

People have had problems with cheap pattern idle control valves and air mass meters as well.

Professional Parts Sweden used to be Scantech, poor quality.

Is it bait and switch or just slightly clever advertising? Maybe the use of the blue colour too?

[LPTJoe]

Originally Posted by baggy798

Is it bait and switch or just slightly clever advertising? Maybe the use of the blue colour too?

Bit of both I suppose, but meh, they dealt with it pretty well so I'm fairly happy. I'd buy from them again, not a CTS though

[Flashgordon69]

I've got exactly the same problem and at the moment I'm unplugging the sensor to get the car running in the morning.
Once running I plug it back in.
I'm going to order a new sensor

[827Roverman]

Originally Posted by LPTJoe

I'm writing this as a kind of warning/heads up for my Ovlov brethren present and future should they stumble across this thread in the hope it will come up in searches for anyone thinking of replacing their CTS.

Recently, as the weather has become colder I had been greeted by rough running, full on engine rocking about car bouncing up and down fairground ride stuff when trying to start the 940. Weirdly this only went on for the first couple of minutes, after which the idle would calm down and things would run smoothly for the rest of the day.

Plugs/leads/dizzy/arm/coil were all good so my suspicion was that the aftermarket (FAE) coolant temperature sensor I'd bought from 'Parts Monster' on Ebay who seem to sell lots of Volvo bits was playing up, they had it listed with 'Volvo Part' in big letters, in reality it's made by Italian firm FAE, it's a bit naughty they way they list things like that really but hey ho.... I fitted it about 5 months back as part of a cooling system refresh and the car's been fine all summer, but now the weather had turned I had an inkling it was perhaps not telling the ECU to adjust fuelling etc as it should be. Time to install a proper Bosch sensor.

FAE ('Parts Monster') sensor out...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bEMWdx]

New Bosch sensor ready to go in...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bEMW7R]

New sensor being installed. An extension and UJ make this job a breeze, I've got the whole job down to under 30 minutes now including a complete drain and refill of the cooling system...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2ahTDJ3]

System topped up and ready to go...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bEMW1i]


And I was right!

The car started this morning with gusto despite frost and scraping, running smooth and as it should. The aftermarket FAE sensor was clearly at fault...

It could have just been a one off but to anyone thinking of changing the sensor, I'd suggest you do yourself a favour and pay the £3.00 more for the Bosch one the first time round.

I've composed a message and sent it to the vendor of the FAE sensor and will update this thread to let you all know what they say, it's been 6 months since I bought the item from them but you never know

The one to avoid

'PartsMonster' (Ebay) FAE branded Italian sensor...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-940-Injection-Engines-Coolant-Temperature-Sensor/362482564308?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CA SSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55149%26meid%3D091a87d7dd9f 4ca39180100dc9512265%26pid%3D101006%26rk%3D1%26rkt %3D1%26%26itm%3D362482564308&_trksid=p2045573.c101 006.m3226

The one that worked

Bosch part number 0280130069

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coolant-Temperature-Sensor-0280130069-Bosch-Sender-Transmitter-7647004-1459197/232414024661?epid=248745260&hash=item361cf493d5:g: IgMAAOSwVcZb6yr2:rk:1f:0

I hear what you say about Parts Monster ebay listings, they always list parts in a Blue square for parts that fit Volvo's, they also list Genuine Volvo parts but in a Yellow square, I've had bits off them without any problems, but its good you got a refund.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by LPTJoe

Bit of both I suppose, but meh, they dealt with it pretty well so I'm fairly happy. I'd buy from them again, not a CTS though

My feeling/attitude/principle re such people and businesses is, they would not be my first choice supplier, and if for some serious pragmatic reason buying from them .... buyer beware .... be very wary.


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