As an owner of a 2007 S80 3.2 for almost 4 months now, I have a few questions that I thought I would post in case other owners have answers. My Volvo retailer and my web research in this forum and other sources have been unproductive with respect to the following.

1. Some of the messages for the drivers information display seem to be undocumented in my owners manual - and as far as I can tell in the 2008 owners manual too. A “Fill Washer Fluid” message recently happened. Nice reminder, but not mentioned in my manual. (Nor the snowflake icon that shows up when the outside temperature is in the mid-30s or lower. What is the significance beyond another indication the outside temperature is brisk?) In any case I’m curious if anyone has a list of the other messages and their meanings that are undocumented that may crop up depending on conditions with the car. (I mean messages somewhat more precise than the “See Manual” one that doesn’t quite give you much to go on with a 250+ page manual.)

2. There is a gas pedal engine or transmission feedback a few seconds after starting the car in D. It is a couple quick mechanical sensations felt in the gas pedal. What is that? Curious about how that happens in a “fly-by-wire” system. It happens to my S80 as well as couple S80 loaners I used.

3. What is the purpose of the round button hook? on the driver’s side of the passenger seat headrest?

4. Any advice on knowing when the car has reached “normal operating temperature”. Since a couple places in the Owner’s Manual suggest not doing things like revving the engine until that condition is reached what is the “best practice” to follow in a car with no coolant temperature gauge? Drive for 5 minutes at 2000 RPM max?

Appreciate any tips, thanks.

JSM2

Hi,

in order...

1. the snowflake symbol occurs when the temperature is 2 degrees celcius or under (not sure what this is in farenheit). I guess the main reason for this is that it warns the driver that there is the possibility of black ice and what not

According to the manual:
A "snowflake" symbol in the text window is displayed when the temperature is in the range of 23 - 36° F (-5 - +2° C).
Please note that this symbol does not indicate a fault with your car.
At low speeds or when the car is not moving, the temperature readings may be slightly higher than the actual ambient temperature


2. I don't get what you mean here but I never start in D either so I cannot answer this one.


3. Round hook on the side of the passenger head-reset is as you mention... a hook. It's to hang up your coat/suit jacket. I find it very useful... get into the car, and hook my suit jacket on it. No messing around with rear ceiling hooks and what not.

4. This is my biggest gripes that without a temperate gauge, you cant tell. I simply go by 5-10 mins of under 2000 revs but because of my job location, I hit the motorway within 5-10 mins and its straight to 70mph. I judge it by sound of the engine now.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the feedback - and sorry my response is a bit tardy, but to follow up.

I assumed the purpose of snowflake icon was as you indicated. Unfortunately, that is one of the many (it seems) undocumented things in the US S80 owner’s manual. The seat headrest “hook” being another. Thanks for clearing that up also. I assume on your right-hand drive S80, the hook is on your passenger seat headrest?

As to the gas pedal feedback situation, it seems to be RPM dependent according to the gear you are in. My very unofficial, uncertified tests produced the following: (All conducted on level driving surfaces at near sea-level conditions (USA East coast). Temperature: 5-15C range.

Starting in D, the two quick “pulse like” sensations from the gas pedal always come when the engine is moving past 1600 RPM. It only happens the first time the car starts from a stop. On level roads, my car has already shifted into second gear by then. If you start manually in second gear from a dead stop, the same thing happens. If you start manually in first gear and keep it there past 2000 RPM, the sensation occurs at about 2300 RPM. A further description of the feedback is that it is not unlike the “pulse” feedback you experience when holding the brake pedal down when the ABS is activated, though not quite as rapid and only twice. I don’t know if it is unique to US market engines as I have felt it on two loaner S80s I’ve driven and that may suggest it is a “normal” condition - whatever it is.

And yes, no coolant gauge is a major oversight in my opinion. They could have at least included a thermometer icon in the instrument display, that say, displayed blue while the car was not yet at “normal operating temperature”, went blank when that temperature was reached and stayed in the “normal temperature range”, then displayed yellow or red as engine temperature trended to overheating conditions. Instead we are left with a “trust me” binary notification - nothing indicates that coolant-wise everything is OK (one hopes), until one of the stop engine messages comes on because the engine has overheated or maybe the coolant level is low. But, the information provided by the messages doesn’t seem to tell you if it is a case of low coolant (that might be solved for the moment by adding a couple liters of coolant), or is because you have no coolant due to a burst radiator hose, for example. Or, something else. Of course, there may be more information provided that is also undocumented in the owner’s manual. Either of the first two messages in the Drivers Information Display may be triggered by a engine temperature problem, but my owner’s manual doesn’t say which and under what conditions and my Volvo retailer doesn’t claim to know. Possibly the Check Engine light will come on as well - or not.

Possible Drivers Information Display messages according to the USA 2007 S80 owner’s manual that presumably will be triggered by coolant / engine temperature problems:

Message: Stop Safely
Description Stop and switch off the engine. Serious risk of damage. Contact an authorized Volvo workshop.

Message: Stopping the engine
Description Stop and switch off the engine. Serious risk of damage. Contact an authorized Volvo workshop.

Why the two different messages with the same action is strange.

The interesting message I hope to never see is the following.

Message: See manual
Description: Read the owner's manual

And where exactly do you start reading in a 250+ page owner’s manual?

I’m not sure if the messages are approximately the same in other Volvo markets. I assume they may be in the UK as the phrase “Volvo workshop” is not a common US English reference to a Volvo retailer, service or repair establishment, so the US S80s may have inherited the UK messages.

In general, I think Volvo’s whole minimalist driver instrumentation display and information approach for the S80 is not consistent with the class of vehicle it aspires to be, but that is my opinion and perhaps the subject of a whole other posting I may get around to.

Again, I appreciate the helpful response to my posting.

JSM2

My S80 has a different engine than yours and I have not experienced a pulsing of the accelerator. The car does make a rapid pulsing noise when starting out (forward motion) but that's the brake system self-testing and is normal. You ought to discuss it with the service manager at your dealership.

I also missed the temperature gauge at first. Having thought about it though I don't think it's really needed. My old MG certainly needs one but these S80's are have such advanced engine controls we would get a warning in advance of any damage. I drove an S60 for 50k miles and once the temp ran up to normal the needle never fluctuated, whether driving in mountains on a hot day or in sub-zero (F) cold. The temp gauge just took up space.