Low Coolant Warning on - en route to France !

[XCF]

As per subject. 2010 D5 and been generally faultless since new.

On motorway this evening to Eurotunnel and low coolant on. Have topped up but it’s lost enough to put warning on.

Nothing visible in engine bay. Suspect (hope) leak through radiator / pipes?

Will keep eye on warning light and keep topping up till I get to France !
Any tips / suggestions ?

I have full Volvo breakdown but at this late stage not sure what else I can do but keep going and keep an eye on it.

Any advice for on where to look for leaks ?

[john langrick]

Hi, I am a long sufferer from same issue. My2003

I have had no long journeys recently but has been losing increasingly more and up to .25 liters per day.

My local indie is ex Volvo and tells me that sometimes the expansion tank can leak and in his experience many Volvo's suffer and he changed many.

At the last service, he again looked for leaks and yet again none found.

In desperation I have just replaced my header tank for a new unit. That was at the start of this week, and guess what, may be speaking too soon but no leak to date. Tank is still at max when cool and cap released.

In my experience, when the car is cool in the morning, there should still be pressure in the header tank. Mine would typically have lost pressure in the morning, but not since I replaced the tank. Fingers crossed..

So check tank in morning after a driving the previous day.

Hope this helps.

John l

[Peterspencer]

You should look rof the leak when engine is running and the motor is hot

[kdst5]

Could well be the radiator where the plastic sides meet the metal core. Had it on my V70 and it took me ages to find out where it was leaking.

Turned out that it would only leak at a certain temperature/pressure in the system and you could go days or weeks without it leaking. Found it one day when I found water on the ground after it had cooled down for an hour or two. I guess the conditions had to be just right for the leak to happen. Anyway I live with it for a year or so and then it suddenly got worse.

[XCF]

To update. The car started to lose water very quickly after topping up so I got it recovered by Volvo Assistance.

The Volvo garage diagnosed a failed pipe with donut that runs over the engine block. They replaced it and all was good.

Collected car and drove off. Got about 40 miles and now I have a different amber warning light on. This time not coolant related, but says “Engine System Service Required”.

The car shows no other sign of problem. No limp mode etc.
I’ve driven about 80 miles and light remains on after restarts etc.

Now been to a 2nd Volvo dealer in Annecy to ask them to read the fault codes. They will do that tomorrow, but has anyone got any advice on potential areas to check?

Thanks

[Danielpsmith]

My brother had the same message on his drove fine no limp mode, his was too much oil in it so could be that.

Daniel

[XCF]

Saw some other suggestions of too much oil but I’ve checked and all looks fine.

Have driven up a mountain this evening and no issues at all so it’s a mystery until I can get the fault codes read.

The only thing I can see is some slight oil around what I think is the aircon pipes in front of the front facing radiator. Any one any thoughts on this ?

[Danielpsmith]

Could be the intercooler leaking?

[jtaw45]

I always run my oil mid way between the maximum and minimum. Any more and it would trigger a warning. Also from experience altitude can play a part. I know the Annecy area well and have had issues with my car once going further into the Alps that have not returned until I get to the same altitude the following year. I'm sure it's nothing to stress about. Enjoy your holiday and keep us posted.

[XCF]

So had the codes read and cleared.

They are
ECM 135F (air flow sensor)
ECM 2810 and 28E0 (Lambda sensor)
ECM 300 (suspect that should be 3000 as the description relates to cam position!)

Garage note says they reset codes and completed an adjustment of the sensor and lambda sensor.

Driven for approx 45 mins since and no engine warning lights on.

Can anyone suggest what the codes could be hinting at. The facts are car appears to drive as normal , so no loss of power, no drop in Mpg (dash showing 37 mpg on 100 mile drive yesterday).

Garage suggested I use good quality diesel. Car has had half a tank of French fuel. Can’t remember if it was from a supermarket or not. Was just regular gazole. Could this be valid advice ?

Finally. Can anyone recommend a Bluetooth obd reader that I can get from Amazon that I could get delivered to family flying out on Saturday.

Thanks all.