While driving the old road along the river other night, in nasty driving rain, there was a major problem with our 1996 Volvo 960. Perhaps when the car did the bumps at the railroad crossing, the upper nipple to the radiator broke completely free. Darn plastic!
Most of this is conjectured later, in the light of day. First, it seems the Check Engine light came on. Later, with the coolant loss, the Low Coolant light came on. Later, all of the warning lights came on and the car completely shut down. The driver waited for the storm to let up but it got worse instead. After a wait of about 30 minutes, the car started (with just the collant and engine fault light on). Just two blocks from home, all of the lights came on once more and the car shut down again.
About two hours later, after then storm passed, the car again started and was driven the last 2 blocks to the garage.
** Of course, driving with the coolant light shining was not the thing to do so PLEASE DON'T FLAME about this.I put in a new radiator in today and changed the oil for good measure. It took only about 6 qts of antifreeze (capacity = 10 qts). The car starts fine and runs very well, with no odd noises. The Check Engine light is still on.
It seems that this Volvo might have a "Master Over Temp" main cut-off that shuts the car down completely, as seems to have happened twice. Perhaps because of this switch (if it exists), the engine is not destroyed.
Does anyone know if there is indeed an " over temp safety cut-off"?
Thanks, bill