For all those P0116 or P0118 w/ cooling fan running

[stoutlogic]

Just a quick FYI,

When your check engine light suddenly rears it ugly amber hue and your cooling fan runs constantly when the car is turned on, running and continues to run up to 5 minutes after the car has been shut down you probably have a bad temperature coolant sensor. Common codes are P0116 or P0118. If you live in the US, Autozone does free code reads for CEL's.

This is the second time within a year I had to replace the sensor. You can get the sensor for $30+/- from FCP Groton, always a good cheap source for parts. The dealer wants twice that amount. My replacement sensor was covered under warrantee (one year).

Couple of points to note:

Drain cooland thru bottom of radiator.

You will need a 5" or 6" long or equal #40 torx to remove the upper thermostat housing. I suggest once you remove the two torx bolts that you apply some anti seize compound when replacing them. These bolts tend to become very tight over time.

A 19mm open end wrench will allow you to install the new sensor but its not easy. You must fiddle with the positioning of the wrench but it can be done.

You must dissconnect the battery or use a code reader to reset the CEL and return the cooling fan to proper stauts. If you install the new sensor and fail to reset the light your fan will continue to run.

The entire job is about a half hour if you have never done it before.

This sensor appears to be a fairly common problem. Hope this helps.

StoutLogic

[billofdurham]

Good one and an easy fix for members who come up with this problem in the future.

Say which car it is for and I will add it to the Repair Database.

Bill.

[stoutlogic]

Sorry,

I was in a rush.

I have a 1998 Volvo V70 T-5 wagon with 2.3L HP turbo.

I love the car I just wish they were may more reliable.

It kills me to see Volvo advertising a "heatbeat monitor sensor" to detect if someone is illegally entered your car and waiting in lurk. Who thinks this sh*t up?

How about offering a 10 year 100k powertrain warranty like Hundai.

I am however interested to see what the new 2008 V70 will bring.

Stout

[pcschmid]

Hi Folks
I've read about the fan continuously running, but what about the fan not running at all. Checked the fuse and it's OK. I can turn the fan blades and it will run slowly for a few minutes then stop again. So I figured it is not getting a signal. Pulled the Climate Control panel but it does not look like just that switch could be replaced. Is there another switch it might be or do I need to replace the panel.

I am new to the volvo world, used to VW's, Toyotas and GM's.

Car is a 1998 S70, non turbo

Thanks
pcschmid

[Trilarry]

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Try This, push the terminal out of the fan relay connector. Two cone shaped terminals should appear out of the connector. Then connect the terminals into the relay with out the connector body. If this works it's just a bad wornout connector that is causing your fan not to work. I had the same problem.

Sometimes the plastic supports in the connector body that holds the terminals in place wear out and it allows the terminals to not have a good connection. (This is from an earlier post a couple of weeks ago) Here is the whole thread: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/chat/p ... hp?t=11429

For a quick test turn the AC on
Tri

[JRL]

Hi Folks
I've read about the fan continuously running, but what about the fan not running at all. Checked the fuse and it's OK. I can turn the fan blades and it will run slowly for a few minutes then stop again. So I figured it is not getting a signal. Pulled the Climate Control panel but it does not look like just that switch could be replaced. Is there another switch it might be or do I need to replace the panel.

I am new to the volvo world, used to VW's, Toyotas and GM's.

Car is a 1998 S70, non turbo

Thanks
pcschmid

Do not drive it with no fan or you may cook the engine.
This is not an engine you can do that with

[MadeInJapan]

I agree with JRL here but also it seems that the second poster here about the fan is talking about the heater blower fan and not the one at the front (engine) of the car....correct me if I'm wrong.

[Trilarry]

After rereading I believe you are right MIJ.
Tri

[pcschmid]

Sorry I could not get back sooner, but I had some problems. Yes, I am talking about the climate control fan, not the engine cooling fan. Sorry about the confusion on my part.

I found another thread that accurately described the problem from a poster called JenniferS70, but there were no responses to her question. You can feel some slight cold air coming from the vents when moving at a good rate of speed, so the A/C is working, the fan is just not blowing

And yes the check engine light is on.

Again, sorry about getting in on an incorrect thread and thanks for looking.

pcschmid

[andreastheviking]

Hi
I have a 1998 V70 XC (220 000 KM) with the engine cooling fan running in "aggressive" immediately when starting the car and it also kept running after turning it off .
Followed the logical suggestion to replace the sensor at the thermostat housing, but it did not help although I cleared the trouble code and also disconnected the battery for an extended time. The error code reoccurred.
The engine never reached normal temperature on the gauge (the needle in horizontal position) and the cabin fan did not produce much heat. With -15C / 5F temperatures outside it was not exactly a pleasure driving the car.
Then I realized that my mind had been trapped in the high-tech universe and recalled that when my first car may years ago did not produce heat I just replaced the thermostat.
So I replaced the thermostat and started the engine without clearing the error code and the problem was miracuously gone (lamp still on). Engine temperature went to normal, the cooling fan did not run and cabin air got warm. After clearing the error code it has not come back and everybody is now warm and happy.
Maybe one would be implicitly expected to replace the thermostat before hitting the repair parts shop, but it does not make any sense to me at all that the cooling fan would show this behavior with freezing temperatures outside with the thermostat apparently never closing. I would only have expected this opposite behavior if the thermostat did not open and the engine started boiling....?
As far as I can see the thermostat is not electrically connected to any of the engine control system.

But the main purpose of my reply is to maybe help others to save some time, frustrations and $$ by trying to replace (or test) the thermostat in the first place.

[MadeInJapan]

Andrea,
Thanks for your last post. I too was having similar problems about a year ago...it was the thermostat. Even though things don't look connected, a whole lot is going on through the ECU which tells the fan relay to kick itself on. Some other things are just Volvo mysteries, I suppose, unless we have the schematics.