Skip to content
Refpropos.

Refpropos.

  • Home
  • Automobile
  • HVAC
  • Supercar
  • Volvo
  • Entrepreneur
  • Toggle search form
Average Coolant and oil temperature on Volvo Engine | SwedeSpeed

Average Coolant and oil temperature on Volvo Engine | SwedeSpeed

Posted on August 24, 2025 By rehan.rafique No Comments on Average Coolant and oil temperature on Volvo Engine | SwedeSpeed

I believe that the thermostat is a 90C unit (~194 degrees Fahrenheit). This means that at steady cruise on the freeway coolant temperature should stabilise at about 90C. Under heavy use you might see temps climb to around 105C (~220 degrees Fahrenheit) but that should be rare and only under heavy loads on hot days. If you’re seeing temps about 105C/220F it’s time to start being concerned. If you’re seeing the coolant temp sit below 90C for extended periods (i.e. more than just for a few minutes after a cold start), your thermostat is stuck open and needs to be replaced because it is failing to do its job of keeping the coolant hot. Remember, a thermostat is there to keep the engine warm, not to help it cool off – the thermostat’s job is to restrict (or block off entirely) the flow of coolant through the radiator until the engine has reached the desired operating temperature.

When sitting still with no air moving over the radiator, temperatures should oscillate between the temperature that the cooling fans turn on (usually a few degrees above the thermostat set point) and the temperature at which the cooling fans turn off (usually very close to, but above, the thermostat set point). Depending on the specific conditions, I would expect to see coolant temps slowly oscillate between about 92C and 96C (~197-205 degrees Fahrenheit) when sitting still.

On a liquid cooled car, coolant temperatures will become concerning long before oil temperatures do since the thermostat keeps the engine in a narrow temperature range and you don’t get the same heat soak of the oil that you’d see on an air-cooled engine. Realistically, oil pressure is more important than oil temperature on a water-cooled engine. At hot idle, I’d want to see at least 1 bar (14.5 PSI) of oil pressure for most engines, rising to around 3.0 to 4.5 bar (~45 to 65 PSI) at higher RPM.

All of that said, people often get much too concerned about “the right” temperature. All cars will vary slightly and temperatures will vary over the course of a drive. Modern temperature “gauges” are basically simple “idiot lights” in gauge form – they are programmed to sit in the middle of the gauge zone unless there are big changes to the temperature or pressure. Manufacturers do this because small variations are normal and don’t matter, but people were getting paranoid about them anyway. So they changed the way the gauges behaved to stop people from coming in with “problems” that weren’t actually problems. So now a modern temperature “gauge” will sit in the middle of “normal” without moving at all for perhaps any temperature between about 85C to 100C and a modern oil pressure “gauge” will pop up to the middle of “normal” for perhaps any pressure between 1.5 bar and 4.5 bar and not moving unless the pressure got outside of that zone.

 

Volvo

Post navigation

Previous Post: Track Stars: 1990 Opel Kadett GSi 16v S
Next Post: Does The Cadillac V Actually Stand For Anything?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • You spot the coolest cars during Monterey Car Week – but not always where you expect to find them.
  • Does The Cadillac V Actually Stand For Anything?
  • Average Coolant and oil temperature on Volvo Engine | SwedeSpeed
  • Track Stars: 1990 Opel Kadett GSi 16v S
  • A Toyota Prius As A Fake Supercar Sounds Dumb But Looks Shockingly Right

Categories

  • Automobile
  • Entrepreneur
  • HVAC
  • Supercar
  • Volvo

Copyright © 2025 Refpropos..

Powered by PressBook Blog WordPress theme