Well, I went in to take a look. Surprised what I found. There is a white plastic square unit...two small hoses coming in at the rear bottom...large (what seems like vents) coming out of the unit. Is the heater core in this thing? Wow...how the heck do I get it out of there? The carpet/ floor was not wet at all. Could water be 'hiding' inside the white plasttic thing? Give me a hand here.....Thanks.

Pull off enough of the under dash panels to get in an have a look at the thing from the side. If you see coolant traces then indeed you have found the problem.

It is also possible for the o-rings to leak at the connection to the heater core. You can try tightening them up. That said, your heater core is probably shot.

The Haynes 850 book has a reasonable write up for the job. Lucky for you the price of heater cores has come down. When I did the one in our '96 850 several years ago the OE Volvo part was the only game in town at almost $400. Now you can get a Nissens or Behr replacement for about $130. Make sure to also get the hardware kit as a separate item. fcpgroton.com and eeuroparts.com both have about the same price, but shipping is free at eeuroparts.com.

John

It's not so bad...pull up the carpet on driver's and passenger's side...see if it's wet underneath. If you're smelling it, I'd be a bettin' man this is your problem.
--
1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic (125K), 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red (45K), Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon (Sold at 140K and miss her). My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.