What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[FireFox31]

Drove to get coffee, and warm the car up, so I could take it's temperature with an IR temp gun. The highest reading I got was 140F at the top of the housing. Air temp was only around 14F, but I'm pretty sure the thermostat is mostly stuck open. Parts have been ordered.

Where did you aim the gun to take the temp? What emissivity value did you set the gun to read? Before the test, where did the temp gauge needle rise to when fully heated (a pic might help)?

This IR gun reading sounds like a good, quick test for anyone. I'll do it to Geronimo. Who knows when its thermostat was last replaced. But its engine temp gauge looks good and it drive well.

[bmdubya1198]

Part 2 of fun with rheostats.

I disassembled my rheostat which is overly complicated by the way. You cannot fully open this switch without removing the slider switch. I de soldered mine and then plugged it in to see which wires had to be shorted to make the lights come on. The slider has 3 wires. Plugged in and no wires attached the lights default to "on". If you short the red marked wire and the middle wire the lights turn off. Im pleased that the lights will stay on with no slider at all. I went ahead and desoldered the 3 wires from the board as well and now the dash lights stay on as long as headlights are on. This is great because it's a free fix. I have never needed to reduce the dash illumination. I find the 850s to have a comfortable brightness at max power. Newer vehicle dash lights distract me greatly when driving. So I'm gonna say volvo got it right and just continue existing with 100% dash lights like I always have. Hypothetically I could solder a new slider in place but goodluck finding that exact one.
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These cars do have a good brightness when the rheostat is all the way up. Many newer cars are WAY too bright. That mostly started with the clusters that are always illuminated. They look nice, but you need to turn it down a bit at night.
Don’t even get me started on infotainment screens. Those are horribly distracting at night. Even when I turn the iDrive screen off in my brother’s BMW, the backlight alone is a huge distraction (they never turn fully “off”).

[foggydogg]

From what you say it sounds like your thermostat is stuck open. Not un-common especially if they have sat for a while or coolant has not been changed regularly. When I worked at the dealer (in parts dept) the foreman recommended that you should change the thermostat every 3 years. Cheaper than a head gasket!

Neil.

NOW you tell us ?!?

[duke1]

hi all today i did an gearbox oil change on the 855 it was not real dirty looking and no metal bits around however the gears are stiff when you first start driving and loosen up to normal after a few miles i know the linkage is via cable can anyone tell me if these can or should be lubricated ? also the front windscreen wiper arms are knackered and seem impossible to obtain the correct one! i looked all over the web in the uk and ended up using r and d car spares in sweden not realising there lh drive only suppliers so now stuck with arms that dont fit and cost more to send back than there worth!
the breakers here are crap and lazy if you cant remove a part with a machine they wont remove it and so much good stuff is wasted right hand drive parts seem harder to find.peace

[bmdubya1198]

hi all today i did an gearbox oil change on the 855 it was not real dirty looking and no metal bits around however the gears are stiff when you first start driving and loosen up to normal after a few miles i know the linkage is via cable can anyone tell me if these can or should be lubricated ? also the front windscreen wiper arms are knackered and seem impossible to obtain the correct one! i looked all over the web in the uk and ended up using r and d car spares in sweden not realising there lh drive only suppliers so now stuck with arms that dont fit and cost more to send back than there worth!
the breakers here are crap and lazy if you cant remove a part with a machine they wont remove it and so much good stuff is wasted right hand drive parts seem harder to find.peace

You can use any sort of chain & cable lube to lubricate those shifter cables. It's hard to get it very far down the cable, but you can at least spray the bits that are accessible on the shifter mechanism.

[454cid]

Drove to get coffee, and warm the car up, so I could take it's temperature with an IR temp gun. The highest reading I got was 140F at the top of the housing. Air temp was only around 14F, but I'm pretty sure the thermostat is mostly stuck open. Parts have been ordered.

Where did you aim the gun to take the temp? What emissivity value did you set the gun to read? Before the test, where did the temp gauge needle rise to when fully heated (a pic might help)?

This IR gun reading sounds like a good, quick test for anyone. I'll do it to Geronimo. Who knows when its thermostat was last replaced. But its engine temp gauge looks good and it drive well.

This is just a cheapy, there are no settings on this gun. The needle rises maybe 3/16-1/4 inches. Later, I put some cardboard in front of the radiator and that helps a little. The air temperature being higher, also helped, I'm sure. I actually got the needle up to the halfway point, and the upper hose was hot.

Still waiting on parts... supposed to be here today, but I have my doubts.

[454cid]

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Hmm, I had been wondering about this... apparently the backlight on my LED display is out. Mine is dark at night.

[duke1]

hi all today i did an gearbox oil change on the 855 it was not real dirty looking and no metal bits around however the gears are stiff when you first start driving and loosen up to normal after a few miles i know the linkage is via cable can anyone tell me if these can or should be lubricated ? also the front windscreen wiper arms are knackered and seem impossible to obtain the correct one! i looked all over the web in the uk and ended up using r and d car spares in sweden not realising there lh drive only suppliers so now stuck with arms that dont fit and cost more to send back than there worth!
the breakers here are crap and lazy if you cant remove a part with a machine they wont remove it and so much good stuff is wasted right hand drive parts seem harder to find.peace

You can use any sort of chain & cable lube to lubricate those shifter cables. It's hard to get it very far down the cable, but you can at least spray the bits that are accessible on the shifter mechanism.

hi thanks for reply,well today i went and removed the centre console and have lubricated all the moving parts and dusted in there ,found £1.20p in the depths!
also had a look at the dashboard and found the bottom rh mount detatched from the body just about reach it with a bit of wood to lift it up and jammed it there applied some good superglue and then undone the securing nut removed and added a large plastic penny washer and some glue refit the nut and now dashboard secure!
so thats the gearbox and linkages serviced and the horrid rattle dealt with i hope just need to refit all the plastic bits and test drive tomorrow and if all is good go home and convince the missus we need to spend £150 on a new hood/bonnet as the arse shaped dents cannot be fixed and after tidying the rest of her body the bonnet is making me nauseous!cheers

[Clemens]

also the front windscreen wiper arms are knackered and seem impossible to obtain the correct one! i looked all over the web in the uk and ended up using r and d car spares in sweden not realising there lh drive only suppliers so now stuck with arms that dont fit and cost more to send back than they re worth!

Measure the old ones, go to an auto parts store, compare to the ones they habe in stock and you're done.

[duke1]

also the front windscreen wiper arms are knackered and seem impossible to obtain the correct one! i looked all over the web in the uk and ended up using r and d car spares in sweden not realising there lh drive only suppliers so now stuck with arms that dont fit and cost more to send back than they re worth!

Measure the old ones, go to an auto parts store, compare to the ones they have in stock and you're done.

hi its the wiper arms not blades,the blades i can get its the arms/stalks that i need and cannot find any new in right hand drive as the lhd are mirror image and do not fit correctly,i did find a used drivers side on ebay but remains to be seen if its any better than mine,i blame poor info on the r and d car parts website which fails to tell you the parts are for lhd only ,cheers