Glowing Turbo?!

940 Beater · Post by **940 Beater** » 04 Mar 2009, 18:34

Hello,
I'm new to this forum, but have been a Volvo owner for years.
Tonight when I got home I popped the hood on my 1992 940 Turbo to check my air filter, and noticed that turbo was glowing enough to light up the engine compartment. The car has new oil and full coolant. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Post by **billofdurham** » 05 Mar 2009, 15:18

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

Was it the turbo or the manifold or both?

You may have a knock sensor problem. The knock sensor could be bad but it is more likely that the connector is the problem. When the ignition control unit detects no input from the sensor the timing is retarded which is the safety from excessive spark knock and this reduces engine power and the delayed timing sends the exhaust gas temperature sky high resulting in the glowing parts.

Bill.

940 Beater · Post by **940 Beater** » 05 Mar 2009, 17:05

Thanks for the reply Bill. I called European Auto, a Volvo specialty shop and the guy I spoke with said that it's normal for the turbo to glow, but I'm not 100% covinced of that. I'll check more in to your suggestion this weekend.
Thanks Again

Post by **billofdurham** » 06 Mar 2009, 12:29

The turbo does get hot and I have seen them with a slight glow after a hard pushed, non-stop 200+ miles. It was never glowing enough to illuminate the engine compartment.

Bill.

940 Beater · Post by **940 Beater** » 06 Mar 2009, 15:57

billofdurham wrote:The turbo does get hot and I have seen them with a slight glow after a hard pushed, non-stop 200+ miles. It was never glowing enough to illuminate the engine compartment.

Bill.

When I noticed the turbo glowing, it was a short 5 mile ride, but I do drive the car hard. The car has 240k on it so maybe it's starting to feel the miles now. Anyway, it seems to be running ok, I put 250 miles on it today and no problems yet.