Volvo Repair: 2001 Volvo S40 over heat, fast food restaurant, jiffy lube

Question
Hello,

My 2001 S40 recently started running hot. My wife was driving last week and noticed that the thermometer had red-lined. She pulled over, shut off the engine and waited. After a while, she restarted and drove (with the A/C off) to the nearest Jiffy Lube - the needle stayed just below the red. Jiffy Lube had changed the oil and flushed the radiator for her just 3 months prior. This time, they changed the oil and topped-off the coolant reservoir and she was on her way. A few miles down the road, it nearly red-lined again, she shut it down and called me. The reservoir was empty - we added water.
We purchased a new thermostat from O'reilly and installed it. I drove the car for 30 miles b/f it spontaneously nearly red-lined. For those 1st 30 miles, the needle was midway b/t cool & red. I "limped" the rest of the way home with the heater on, never letting it red-line.
We assumed that Jiffy Lube had an air pocket in the cooling system and that the car had been running warm for 3 months w/o my wife ever noticing (just never red-lining). The car has no radiator cap and coolant must be added via the reservoir. We look steps to remove the air by finding the pressure relief vents and opening them. This didn't help.
After a day of trouble shooting, I gave up and took the car to a local mechanic with a good reputation for fixing foreign cars. He narrowed it down to the radiator.
He removed the radiator to clean it and discovered that it was pretty clogged. He couldn't un-clog it, so he replaced it with a new one.
This has not fixed the problem.
We got the car back on Friday, Sept 24, 2004 and it red-lined at the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant. It red-lined again on Saturday, Sept 25, 2004, on a short run into town.
The strange thing is that the car doesn't "act" hot. There is no boil-over, no steam, nothing. But, the car is shut down immediately.
The local mechanic describes it as "the longer the car runs, the hotter it runs".

thanks,

Rob Kolacny


Answer
I have not experienced any strange problems with s40's overheating.I would be sure the cooling fans in front of the radiator operate properly.there are 2 fans in front of the radiator.I would have the dealer check it if possible they can operate the fans with a diagnostic computer to check their operation.if the fans are ok I would pressure test the cooling system and look for a leak possibly a leak into one of the cylinders which could indicate a bad head gasket.