Hello everyone regarding my 2007 cross country Volvo wagon XC 70

[jonesg]

" the fan comes on if the engine is running too hot, over 220F
...or if the AC is on."

[Iluvvolvos]

Thank you so very much, well if that’s the case and I do believe you, of course I’m sure most people on this form note much much more than me even though I have had Volvo for most of my entire life and that’s been a long time because I’m quite old, I should know a lot more than I do that’s for sure but I guess given all of this info especially what you just told me that I guess I spent money And thermostat for absolutely nothing whatsoever.

The mechanic that I have it was yesterday when he was here we had the car running. It was not overheating. Just running at the normal temperature that it always does. You know we’re kind of stays right in the middle and he kept waiting for the fan to come on he said it should have come on Because the car was warmed up I thought the fan only came on said if the AC is on or if the car is overheating/running too hot,

He said no he said the fan should come on automatically when the car has been running a bit and when it’s at the proper temperature he ordered it today. It wasn’t a lot of money but anything for me right now was a lot. It was the total of $250 which of course was a lot less than what Volvo would’ve charged me but it was not a Volvo part because this is not familiar with Volvo, but I have to say again his honesty is incredible. He is very fair priced and he’s always been honest with me. I don’t think that he lied yesterday. I think that’s just what he thought about the car. I don’t know , it’s not making any sense to me now I just feel like a new thermostat was not really needed, but my car did three weeks ago either because I was told it needed a new radiator which it doesn’t

[jonesg]

you need a mechanic who knows volvo, he is firing the parts canon and your money is the ammo.
a real mechanic wold pressure test the system.
he's flat out wrong about the fan, do not pay for a new fan.
i hope someone can help you.

[Iluvvolvos]

Thank you so very much for telling me all this and I’m not upset by anything that you’re saying I’m just kind of between a rock and a hard place. If you know what I mean?

I can’t afford to take it to Volvo the nearest Volvo to where I live is around three hours away and I no longer have AAA to have it towed there and I don’t wanna drive it in the condition that And they’re probably is somebody in Springfield Missouri that probably could do a lot more testing and everything but they would charge me, of course a lot more and probably a lot more to work on it, but I guess in reality that might’ve been better or that might be the best cause even though I might be paying them more they would probably just get to the problem right away I feel bad though, because this man just seem very, very honest. The bad thing is, he doesn’t have a lot of things to test my car with and the little things he’s tried either the test supposedly comes out OK or he’s not able to use them on my car and he did not order a fan but he did put in a new thermostat thermostat with the sensor in it and the housing or whatever you call all that and a new gasket for the thermostat.

The bad thing is the new thermostat is doing the same thing I think as the old one so maybe the old one was not even bad , because when my old thermostat was in, if you recall from my posting what was happening was the only right air conditioning , and I had explained to him that I don’t think the fan should come on right away and he said well. Your car has been sitting here kind of running for five or 10 minutes you know and it showed inside of my car you know that temperature needle was directly in the middle so he felt that my car was up to proper temperature and that even went out the AC on that’s the fan should’ve come on which is why he said my thermostat was probably broken so he did install a new thermostat yesterday. the only problem is it did the exact same pretty much as the old thermostat. It took forever to come on when the AC was not running so I don’t really see now for a new thermostat, but I can’t tell him to take it out and put my old one back in because he kind of broke my old one apart trying to get it out. He was watching the YouTube videos and everything and it was taking him a lot longer. For example he said online it showed I think one hour total to remove the old thermostat and put the new one in but yet it took him five hours yesterday he had an extremely hard time with my car , I’ve never had anybody that never worked before I feel bad for him and I understand the good thing is he didn’t charge me for five hours of labor. He charged me $251 that was for one hour of labor and only $65 and for the part being about $150 and he did buy antifreeze for the car so technically I got extremely cheap but the car is still not acting right because now is doing this , he filled up the car with water and antifreeze up to the max line in my reservoir but when the car kept running five or 10 minutes long, it might’ve been the water and antifreeze started to go lower and lower and then he told me to drive my car around the block a few times or whatever and I did that and when I came back, the water had almost all disappeared and they had to refill it. Well, he saying now that there’s air in the lines and there’s no way to get it manually, we have to keep filling the reservoir , at least two or three more times maybe until all the air pockets or something are gone and then the car should hold the antifreeze without a problem because he said my car only holds 3 gallons of water/antifreeze. I’m just concerned is where is it all going? He said it’s just going into the radiator, but he also said if it goes into the motor engine then that’s really bad. We don’t want that to happen so I don’t know where it’s going. It’s not leaking out so confusing because originally I was told I needed a brand new radiator but yet the radiator is not leaking. Nothing is coming out on the ground. There’s no leakage, which is why he never replaced that I’m so confused. You have no idea

[jonesg]

so again, you're out $250 and no better off.
It sprang a leak and you still don't know where or why.
If I installed a thermostat, billed at 250 and it didn't fix anything I'd eat it but you insist this guy is full of virtue, well he's full of something.

for $75 including the engine coolant sensor , that sensor is very likely not good enough.
volvos are very sensitive to cheap sensors and they rarely work, keep the one because its likely you'll need to put it back in again.
a good sensor costs $65 or more by itself, so he's installing junk chinese parts.

you need the elm327 so you can read the exact temperature of the coolant.
he's guessing the coolant temp and you're paying.
and it needs a proper a pressure test. you can borrow the pressure tester from autozone. they loan the tool with a deposit.

[Iluvvolvos]

Thank you so much and I don’t think you’re being rude or hateful at all. I’m over sensitive that I am but I appreciate everything that you’ve just said to me and I mean that as I really really need the help right now and I know age is nothing but I’m 70 years old. I’m a female very unhealthy right now and just going through a lot of horrible financial things and I live alone and I live in a place where there’s not even a sidewalk no transportation at all and this car is the only car I have Normally believe me the only place I ever took it really but Volvo is three hours away from me like I said before and sorry if I’m repeating myself,

And I have AAA otherwise that could’ve paid to Volvo at least but even if I did, I still would’ve had to pay them to look at it I’m sure and then to fix it to be able to drive it back home and I just don’t have that kind of money and I didn’t know who to go to around here. I called different shops and none of them seemed like they knew anything so when I found this mobile mechanic, the one thing I liked about it was that he would do the work or whatever look at the car, etc., right here in my driveway in front of me so I could watch him and know what he was doing , but I guess that didn’t help much because I don’t know much I should’ve investigated. I should’ve posted in here before he even came really and I should’ve looked up on YouTube videos and I should’ve did a lot of research before even having him look at my car, the bad thing is after he looked at it for a couple different days in a row , acting like he didn’t know what he was doing. I really wish he would’ve just told me I don’t know how to fix your car yesterday. It took approximately five hours to take out the thermostat and he himself told me that the YouTube video said it would only take one hour And then I told him five hours he said yeah that was talking to me for a few minutes and whatever he talked to me while he was doing it it basically took him about 4 to 4 1/2 hours maybe five I don’t know why when he says he’s been working on cars for about 35 years but never Volvo but are they that much different from an American car ? Where it would take somebody that much longer I don’t understand? And I could be very well wrong. I was just so happy for you know dealership would have but technically he really didn’t find out what was wrong and I probably didn’t even need a new thermostat. I feel like I’m starting off from scratch but maybe even worse. I’m helping my little bit . That he did do

[Iluvvolvos]

I have another question for you and I know this probably sounds very strange and I should know this, but I’ve had people a guy that I know that used to be mechanic at Volvo back home. Tell me this and I’ve looked it up and I think I’m right, but this mechanic guy that put the thermostat on my car yesterday tells me I’m wrong Before he took out my thermostat. I was thinking he would’ve drained all other water and the old antifreeze, whatever might’ve been left in there out of my car, but he didn’t. He told me that he couldn’t do that because he said on my car on my Volvo there was no wait to do that. He said it would have to go to Volvo or to a mechanic shop that had some kind of a big machine or something that could suck the water out and the air . I never heard of that so what I did today was I started talking to my friend back home that used to be Volvo mechanic and also links that he sent me and researching on my own and for what I understand with the exact you’re making model of my car which is a 2007 Volvo wagon XC 70 clearly shows me on videos that under the front of my car there is something very small that the person or the mechanic whoever would simply turn or twist and they would then put a pan you know under there you know for all the fluid or the liquid the water antifreeze whatever to drip into and that’s how you would drain it , but when I told this to the mechanic today on messenger, he told me that I’m wrong that my car does not have that that my car doesn’t have anything at all my ear making model of my Volvo does not offer anything like that to drain out anything from the reservoir/water/antifreeze.

But when I searched it, I could’ve sworn I’m searching the right thing unless I’m really going crazy here lol,

And I’m looking at videos and stuff where it’s showing how to do it and it’s very quick and easy And he never did that. There was still some fluid and antifreeze I guess and took the old thermostat out and put the new one in putting antifreeze in my car. It was the 50-50 one and you have to mix it with half water and he said it was OK because he said there was already some in there Was he would fill it up to the max line and then the water in the reservoir you could see it going down and then I drove it around the corner around the block a few times and when I came back and I popped the hood it was almost empty again, and then he filled it up to the fill line again with antifreeze, but no water, and he did not mix it I don’t think that’s the right thing to do, but I’m not want to, but I also don’t want the only car that I have and that I love to be ruined you know what I mean?

He’s telling me that it didn’t matter. It was OK to do that and that he thought the reason why the antifreeze kept going down and showing that it was not in there was because my tank code 3 gallons And that it was empty and it was just recycling through the radiator never happened before I don’t understand. He also said there was no way for him to empty it. I would’ve had to have it at Volvo or a big shop and they would take some kind of machinery equipment to pull the water out when every video I looked at showed on the very bottom underneath of my car. There’s just something small that the mechanic or whoever would just turn your twist off and the fluid would come out not fluid the antifreeze or water excuse me , I mean, am I wrong here?

[erikv11]

Yes, your car has a small petcock under the corner of the radiator, where you can drain the antifreeze mixture.

Even if the car didn't have one, it would be very easy to drain the antifreeze mixture, by just pulling a hose off. No special tools are required. Your helper-mechanic is wrong again.

You need a mechanic who knows Volvo. Perhaps this guy means well but I don't think he can really help you. He is probably making things worse.

Look way back on page one of this thread: it is possible someone knowledgable from this forum could help you, if you tell us your approximate location.

[Iluvvolvos]

Thank you so so very much for telling me this you know I didn’t think I was wrong only because I researched it for a little bit tonight like I said online I put in the exact year making model of my car and axing you know online you know, Google search whatever now, if my car did have one of those drainage plugs or whatever and I must’ve looked at at least four or five different websites you know link and YouTube videos that said it did and in the in the location that you just mentioned, and it even showed how simple it was just a pull it out or whatever and the fluid would come out and I messaged him and I told him that tonight and I even sent him the links and he still continue to tell me that I was wrong that my car does not have anything like that and he said the reason why the fluid keeps going down when he puts it up to the max line is because it’s not filled up and that my car takes 3 gallons of it but then he was saying he was worried where it was going being it wasn’t leaking out of the radiator. He said it could be going into a bad place and ruin my car and I’m looking at this man yesterday like oh my gosh, please don’t tell me that I mean I know it’s just a car and I know it’s older but I love it and I love Volvo and I love this car. All I have of course has too many issues repair then I’ll have to make a choice. I’m sure but I hoping that that’s not the case right now , I don’t mind giving it. I live in a small town in between Branson and Springfield Missouri. I’m closer to Springfield Missouri than what I am Branson. I’m right near a small town called Ozark but I’m very close to Springfield.

I’m not that far from Branson to most areas in Springfield, I’m probably around 30 minutes away a little bit less for some a little more for others to get to Branson I’m around maybe 35 or 40 minutes depending where.

Anyhow, he was telling me today that he did yesterday take one of the hoses to let some of the water out. I personally did not see him do that, and I questioned him yesterday why he was taking a rag and sticking it in the reservoir to get the water out and then ringing it out on the ground, and he looked at me yesterday and very clearly said because your car doesn’t have a normal radiator. You’re like most cars right pull a plug and to let everything out he said so there’s air pockets now that are forming and that’s why the fluid is not staying up to the max line , but he’s mechanic and he knows this stuff but obviously I guess I know more than he knows

[volvolugnut]

My thoughts on your mechanic:
He knows about some things but then makes guesses on others.
He does not know Volvos and admits he does not.
He does not seem to understand some basic steps to drain, refill, and purge air from a radiator.
Your radiator may have been replaced sometime by a another brand radiator that does not have the drain valve.
He may be a good enough mechanic for older American cars, but not your car.
Move on from this mechanic. He cannot help your car.

Refilling the Volvo radiator takes some time to purge the air. This process works and you can do it yourself with no tools. DO NOT remove the coolant tank cap when the engine is hot! Steam and hot coolant will spray and burn you.
Fill the radiator tank with Volvo approved premixed coolant - Zerex G05 is good. With the coolant tank cap open, squeeze and release the top hose going to the tank. You will see air bubbles enter the tank and the tank level drop. Keep squeezing and release with more coolant added as the level drops. After many times, the coolant level will not drop after the release. You may have to repeat this after you run the engine a little while if the coolant level is low again.
Check the engine oil. It should not have a milky look. That would indicate coolant has entered the oil from a possible head gasket leak.

Volvos and other European designed cars are different. They have some unusual kinks and requirements for repair. It is very hard to self educate on car repair by watching a few videos. It is a bit like training yourself to be a doctor. Even knowing how things work does not help much for troubleshooting and how to do the work.

Do you see any other 15 year old Volvos in your town? Can you ask the owners were they get their Volvos repaired?

volvolugnut