I have a 1998 V70 that keeps overheating. I have replaced the thermostat and fan relay and can hear the fan come on some times. Yesterday was a warm day and I drove the car for errands ~30 minutes and the gauge climbed into the red. If it goes in the red and I can speed up and get a lot of air running through the grill the gauge will go down, but if I am stuck in traffic it keeps climbing and I turn the car off. After replacing the fan relay I tested it by turning on the A/C and driving home (stop & go traffic) and it went to the red really fast. I now no longer use the A/C and still get the overheating when in traffic. Any ideas? My mechanic is basically running down a list of parts and I am slowly going broke! Otherwise I am going to get a speeding ticket to keep the air flowing.

have you checked, you yourself, to see if the thermostat was changed? do any of the hoses looked collapsed to you? squeeze them and see if they are spongy or dry feeling and empty-like.

The hoses all seem ok. I had the radiator flushed ~2,000 miles ago as well. The car only has 36,000 miles on it.

anyone??

did you also check the bottom hose? all the way on the bottom? that is the one everybody doesn't check because you will get dirty.

Your symptoms usually only occur on high milers,ie, head gasket going,but your mechanic should have dismissed this unless its further down his list of probable causes