'96 850 wagon - Snowflake Dash light?

[Atif I. Chaudhry]

So what exactly is the point of the snowflake dash light on my '96 850
wagon?

I remember reading in the manual when I first bought the car that is has
to do with the temperature sensor not being accurate under certain
conditions...is that right?

If it is, I guess I'm confused by why Volvo things this is such a big
deal?

 

[Robert Lutwak]

It's winter.

The dash light is telling you that, in its opinion, the road surface may be
cold enough to be slippery. It's a feature for those without parents or
spouses.


-RL

 

[David Poles]

on my 01 this lights up when it gets below 36 deg F. Yes, a warning to stay
in bed!

 

[Mike F]

So what exactly is the point of the snowflake dash light on my '96 850
wagon?

I remember reading in the manual when I first bought the car that is has
to do with the temperature sensor not being accurate under certain
conditions...is that right?

If it is, I guess I'm confused by why Volvo things this is such a big
deal?

It comes on from 2ºC down to -6ºC to warn of freezing road conditions.
Below -6, I guess you're supposed to know. If you are annoyed by your
light, be thankful you don't have a BMW. A friend's 328 "bongs" as the
temperature reaches these thresholds. Check alt.autos.bmw, you can see
people asking what the "bong" means.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

[Stephen M. Henning]

There are two snowflake dash lights on a 96 850 wagon.

1) The red light with a snowflake mark near the ambient temperature
display comes on between 23F and 36F. It goes out when it gets below
23F. It is meant to indicate the temperature range when the highway is
likely to be the most slippery. In very cold weather, ice is not
especially slippery.

2) The blue light near a snowflake mark on the AC controls indicated the
AC is turned on. Cars with climate control may not have this.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to [email protected]
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA, USA
Owned '67,'68,'71,'74,'79,'81,'87,'93,'95 & '01 Volvos.
The '67,'74,'79,'87,'95 and '01 through European Delivery.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/volvo.html

 

[Atif I. Chaudhry]

There are two snowflake dash lights on a 96 850 wagon.

1) The red light with a snowflake mark near the ambient temperature
display comes on between 23F and 36F. It goes out when it gets below
23F. It is meant to indicate the temperature range when the highway is
likely to be the most slippery. In very cold weather, ice is not
especially slippery.

This is the snowflake I'm refering too, and this answer at least makes a
little sense.

Thanks!

(I like to think I'm smart enough to know when it is cold outside
without my car telling me.)

 

[Rob Guenther]

Sometimes it could be almost 5-6°C in Toronto, then you head up to North Bay
or further North (these are all places in Ontario... spread apart maybe
400kms) and it could be around freezing or maybe below... Don't think the
feature was meant for certain climates... Remember where a Volvo comes from
tho, that can explain certain features.

 

[Michael Pardee]

The wife and I were driving up from Phoenix last week and saw the outside
temperature drop nearly 20 degrees in ten minutes. It was shortly after
sundown and we had climbed out of the Verde valley onto the rim. Inside the
car the temperature didn't seem to change a bit.

Mike

 

[Rob Guenther]

I bet it was still way above freezing in Phoenix though. No real need for
the system where you live ... Actually I haven't seen the system in
action, we don't have the snowflake in our 93 960 (I think the 94's may have
it, as there were many upgrades to that year) and my friends 2001 V70
doesn't seem to have it (I've been in it when it's cold out).

If you were trying to point out that in other places in the world
temperature differences are greater then where I live... point taken, but
here in Ontario (and other snowbelt Provinces, and US States) we have the
danger of black ice formation when a wet road at near freezing gets hit by
an icy gust of wind... which is I believe the exact reasoning behind this
system... To warn the driver when you are in the danger zone for rapid flash
freezing.

 

[Stephen M. Henning]

Actually I haven't seen the system in
action, we don't have the snowflake in our 93 960 (I think the 94's may have
it, as there were many upgrades to that year) and my friends 2001 V70
doesn't seem to have it (I've been in it when it's cold out).

The low-temperature warning snowflake was introduced on the '93 850s.
It is definitely on my '01 V70 XC and all other newer Volvos.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to [email protected]
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA, USA
Owned '67,'68,'71,'74,'79,'81,'87,'93,'95 & '01 Volvos.
The '67,'74,'79,'87,'95 and '01 through European Delivery.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/volvo.html

 

[Byrocat]

Below -6, I guess you're supposed to know. If you are annoyed by your
light, be thankful you don't have a BMW. A friend's 328 "bongs" as the
temperature reaches these thresholds. Check alt.autos.bmw, you can see
people asking what the "bong" means.

So instead of calling them bimmers or beamers, we should be calling
them bongers?

Sorry if a bit acidic today, just found out I've got a pinhlole
between the main radiator and the tranny intercooler. Good news was
they did all my burned out bulbs and swapped my tires around for free.
Also getting lesson on how to do a tranny fluid flush myself.

 

[Rob Guenther]

Perhaps it was below the lower cold limit? What if you start your car up in
the "zone"... will it go on in your garage?

The 850's had some newer era features the 960's didn't get till the year or
so after (the salesman was pushing a 1994 850 on us saying it was a much
better deal... it was, but we wanted rear wheel drive so we could tow our
trailer better... didn't trust FWD only for towing, and no AWD at the time),
even tho the 850 was suppose to be the lesser car (actually I believe the
850 was roomier than a 960 in the rear...)

 

[Stephen M. Henning]

Perhaps it was below the lower cold limit? What if you start your car up in
the "zone"... will it go on in your garage?

It doesn't have a garage detector built in, just a temperature gauge, so
if it is between 23F and 36F where ever the car is it comes on.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to [email protected]
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA, USA
Owned '67,'68,'71,'74,'79,'81,'87,'93,'95 & '01 Volvos.
The '67,'74,'79,'87,'95 and '01 through European Delivery.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/volvo.html