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Common problem right? I am loosing almost the whole reservoir tank in 3 days but the engine is completely dry.
I cleaned it carefully, replaced the hoses, there's no coolant in the oil, all clamps are new, I bought a new cap from VLV....but nothing seems to work, still leaking.
I have looked the block in case it's porous but I don't see water marks. Is there something I can add to the water like we can do to the air conditioning system?
The radiator failed two years ago and was replaced by a new one from Volvo, the water pump was also replaced two years ago....so these two should still be in good shape, I guess.
I will probably bypass the heater that I don't need in Miami just in case it's leaking, what do you think?
This car is only 111,200 miles old, in good condition.
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If your 900 has the B230 engine with heater hoses off the left rear corner as in the 200's, the curved return hose from the heater to the block can split on the undereside, whihc sprays onto the side of the block and evaporates.
Flex hoses while warm but not cold with cap under pressure. When your hand gets wet you'll find the leak.
Also check the condensate drain from the pan under the heater core for signs of wet.
Duane
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Viejo Carlos! I've read lots of posts on this board (and I think some in the FAQs) advising people not to use dexcool. I believe it corrodes some parts of the engine. Use a 50-50 mix of green coolant and water. In my car, a mysterious coolant leak turned out to be a turbo cooler hose, which seats beneath the exhaust manifold (hence hard to spot). If your car has a turbo, check this.
Greetings from Colombia!
JGC
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Thanks for your help, no, this is not a turbo. I've been reading about coolant options and they don't say Dex-cool is bad. Anyways I will try to use the original Volvo antifreeze in the near future just in case.
My car is not leaking now, I really don't have a clue what's going on. The motor oil and ATF are clean....where the h... all that water went to?
thanks
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soewhere is a leak that does not show or smell.
How many miles of driving between tank being empty?
Seems possible that a leak that evaporates during driving is hard to find. I found one that was in the upper hose, at the thermostat end. Coolant evaporated while driving. Spotted it almost by accident. Engine running but not heated up very much and I saw a dampness there.
Look also on the top of the water pump as a leak in the up-facing seal between the pump and the head would show up there. That area gets hot enough to evaporate it.
Good Luck,
Bob
:>)
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Thanks, this is a 6 cyl, 2.9 in line.
The whole reservoir tank goes empty in about 80 miles
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Didn't realize you are driving a 960, I had assumed the more common 940. No upward-facing seal.
Empty tank in 80 miles sounds way more serious. How much coolant does it take to top off the tank? How much does the gravel pan hold? See any greenish stuff around the ends of the tubes in the radiator? Do you use green anti-freeze? What color is the pressure cap?
One trick I have used is to sniff around the sides on the un-opened hood immediatley after stopping a well heated engine. People might stare, so what.
Coolant evaporation smells will gradually "leak" out over time, and trapping them under the hood helps the weaked human nose to get a better whiff. Best if you have a trained coolant-sniffing dog, but they are quite rare, I hear. lol
Good Luck,
Bob
:>)
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I am using the orange Dexcool, and a new green 150 cap. It's taking like 1/4 galon every 4 days. I don't see coolant marks outside and the oil seems very clean, a friend of mine who happens to be a mechanic could not see traces of antifreeze in the oil, but he did see there are traces of oil in the water, he thinks it could be ATF but I deny the idea in a two years old original radiator, how can there be ATF in the coolant, how does it get in?, I changed the ATF 3 weeks ago and it was fine. He told me it could be that the radiator was replaced because it failed but they didn't do a pressure flush of the system and there might still be old ATF trapped in the block.
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and also if the 1992 960 engine may have the weeping block problem.
What if the 150 cap, instead of the 75 cap, allowed coolant pressures high enough to exacerbate a weeping block problem? Or some other weak place?
Is Dex-Cool the best for this all aluminum engine?
Well, the best would be the Volvo antifreeze, but $20 a gallon it is a little steep. Is the currrent Prestone 50/50 with distilled water OK?
Just a little further 2-cents-worth.
Bob
:>)
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Hello there, I tried with a white cap that I also have that's only 100 kpa, but I didn't see any change in the leak....but I could try again for a whole week.
DO you think less pressure would be better?
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If I were n your shoes, I would try almost anything as long as I was certain that no damage would result.
If I knew that the 75 kpa cap was stock, I would run only that one. My 1997 965 Owner's Manual is silent on this point and the car is away. However, I think that a non-black would have been surprising to me, being an old 240 guy.
A higher pressure will obviously allow higher cooling system pressure, but it will also allow higher coolant temperatures.
If you can get a 75 kpa, try that, too. Good Luck,
Bob
:>)
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Hello,
I tried with a 75kpa cap but still loosing coolant, I am afraid it must be going to one cilinder although I can't see white smoke normally, only a little when started in a cold morning but it goes away after 3 minutes...and the motor sounds fine.
I don't want to disconnect all the spark plugs and see inside because the plugs/coils connectors are all in bad shape and prefer not to mess with them. I just changed the oil and the ATF again and there were no signs of coolant in them.
Something I wanted to ask you, I ran the car yesterday and today with a cap without presure valves, only the plastic cap, so no presure at all...and I haven't seen the coolant level drop inside the tank, with no overheating at all, in trafic jams, highways speeding, etc and no overheating....temperature here now is around 80F....could this be dangerous for the engine??? I am using 70% Dexcool antifreeze in the system.
Please advice.
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Daughter's 1992 940 had same problems. Bought 150 cap , no more leaks. In her case I think the weaker cap would allow in air the antifreeze would boil out of the leaking cap. Ran car with out the cap, no problems. The cap was cheap, I think from eeuroparts.com. Good pluck.
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Common leak areas are the heater water valve and the hose-to-coolant reservoir junction. Fix this before you toast your engine.
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Do you have a 6 cylinder 960 or a 4 cylinder 940? They have different coolant issues.
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Thanks, this is a 6 cyl, 2.9 in line.
The whole reservoir tank goes empty in about 80 miles
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You really need to do a cooling system pressure test to both confirm and find a leak. This rate of consumption is not good. And if the radiator failed before, you may have experienced an overheating incident and attending head gasket failure. Your mechanic, if competent, can perform the test in about twenty minutes.
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But if the water is going into the oil I should be able to see it, right? that's too much coolant to hide, the oil is clean and its level does not change, I check the dipstick every other day and always the same level.
When I open carefully the tank green cap after my wife returns from work, I can feel a good pressure and the coolant spills a little off the cap, this should be a good sign, isn't it?
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Look carefully behind the exhaust manifold, especially near the rear cylinders. There were issues of block porosity, and a fitting as areas of coolant loss. Have you inspected the heater control valve near the firewall?
If the outside is completely dry, then you'll need to find a repair shop with an exhaust analyzer to check for HC gasses in the reservoir. There are chemical testers available for this too. My suspiscion is leakage at one or more locations of the head gasket.
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Estimado Carlos,
Good p.m. and may this find you well. You might want to check the transmission fluid. If it is cloudy, that's could be where the coolant is going.
As the radiator is new, it is not likely to have a failed automatic transmission fluid (ATF) cooler. Still, this should be ruled out, by inspecting the ATF, which should be a clear, rosy red.
When coolant - which is half water - gets into the ATF, the tranny can be saved, but only if the problem is spotted promptly and fixed. Otherwise, the water will slowly attack the glue that adheres the clutch pack facings, dissolving the material, and allowing fibers to get free. These fibers clog the very narrow fluidways in the transmission, causing it to fail.
Pls. post back with your findings.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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Hello Spook, I replaced the transmision fluid 4 weeks ago and kept it in a glass bottle (I still have it) and it didn't seem to be contaminated, in case the water is going to the tranny, should the fluid level increase and will I be able to see that increase in the dip stick or it will get vaporized due to the heat??
I replaced yesterday the thin hose that goes from the radiator to the tank and the little clamps because I saw they were not too tight....my wife is using the car today so I will check at night, I am praying this was the reason of the leak.
If there's water in the motor oil, I should see some white smoke coming out or not always?? because there's no smoke at all, I cannot see the exhaust gases or any particular weird smell.
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Dear Carlos,
Good p.m. and may this find you well. If there's water in the engine oil, the oil will turn cloudy, and you'll see a brownish froth, when you look in the oil filler opening, in the dome cover.
Water in the AFT won't necessarily raise the ATF's level on the dipstick. The reason: the oil is also getting into the coolant, and may evaporate from the coolant overflow tank. If there's water in the ATF, you'll also see ATF in the coolant overflow tank, as a pinkish scum.
There could be a leaky hose, which allows coolant to drop onto a nearby hot surface, from which it at once vaporizes. This will be hard to see, as it happens. As evaporating coolant will leave a scum, you might want very thoroughly to clean engine areas near coolant hoses.
As noted, inspect the heater hoses and the heater control valve. They are between the engine and the firewall, on the driver's side of the engine (USA/Canada models). You could have a leak there. Coolant drips would fall straight to the ground, and so be hard to spot.
To check this area, take a clean, white paper towel, wrap it around the heater valve, and tape it into position. If there's a leak in the heater valve, the towel will trap the coolant. Inspect it as soon as you park the car. If the towel remains factory new, there's no leak. If the towel is moist and/or discolored, the heater valve is failing. Change it AT ONCE. If the heater valve falls apart, you lose coolant instantly. The resulting over-heating likely will ruin the head, requiring a head-gasket change. This is a very costly fix! A heater cotnrol valve is about $20.
You can use the white towel method to check the heater hoses, where they pass through the firewall. Other parts of the heater hoses may be hard to access.
Check the carpets. If they're damp, then the heater core is leaking. If you're in a climate where night-time temps are 40 degrees Farenheit (5 Degrees Celsius) or lower, coolant leaking into the passenger compartment will boost passenger cabin humidity to the point, where the windows will fog, when the outside temperature drops.You'll also smell the coolant.
Hope this helps.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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Hi Spook, hope you're well, you know I do have a wet spot on the carpet in the passenger side, very wet, but I can't verify if it's antifreeze or just water from the air conditioning condenser, we use it all the time at 90F here in Miami as you can imagine, and it always drops a lot of water on the driveway when we park the car, from the condensation, so I think the drain rubber conduct is not clogged and it should not drain inside, don't you think?
Is the heater core supposed to leak to the right or the left side?
If that was the case...can I just bypass the heater with a hose?
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Dear Carlos,
Good a.m. and may this find you well. To determine whether the moisture is coolant or condensate (from the air conditioner), take a plain white paper towel, and soak up some of the moisture. If the towel changes color (to blue, green, or orange), the liquid is coolant. If the towel remains white, the liquid is condensate.
Further, if the towel is wet with coolant, you'll smell it. By contrast, air conditioning condensate - being pure water - should be odor-free.
The air conditioner's drain is in the firewall. As you face the engine bay, the drain is above and just to the right of the left frame member, along which the brake lines are routed from the ABS pump. The drain tube does not stick out from the firewall. It is in the center of a rubber grommet. The condensate runs down the firewall, and falls onto the frame member.
If there's lots of water on the driveway, it sounds as if the air conditioner is draining as it should. In that case, the liquid is leaking from the heater core. Based on posts here, the passenger side carpet is most likely to get wet, when the heater core leaks.
I'd guess you could bypass the heater core. Be sure the heater hoses have not deteriorated with heat/age. If those hoses rupture, you lose your coolant. FAST! This can mean a headgasket change.
Please post back with your findings.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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Hi Spook, and I really appreciate your feed back.
A friend of mine who happens to be a mechanic could not see traces of antifreeze in the oil, but he did see there are traces of some oil in the water, he thinks it could be ATF because of the color, but I deny the idea in a two years old original radiator, how can there be ATF in the coolant, how does it get in?, I changed the ATF 3 weeks ago and it was fine.
He told me it could also be that the radiator was replaced because it failed after 12 years but they didn't do a pressure flush of the system and there might still be old ATF trapped in the block.
It's still loosing antifreeze today, so I can try installing a good transmission cooler in the front of the car ( I have one from a Grand Voyager minivan), disconnect the cooling lines from the radiator so I can rule out there's no ATF anywhere near the cooling system....what do you think? many cars use external transmission coolers like all Chrysler mini vans.
All the carpets are dry, I wrapped the heater valve with paper and ran the car for 40 minutes and I saw nothing.
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Dear Carlos,
Good a.m. and may this find you well. It is indeed possible that ATF residue is still in the coolant. It will do no harm there.
The radiator has a side-mounted ATF cooler. It is on the passenger side of the radiator (USA/Canada models). A steel transmission fluid line enters the cooler at the top, and the fluid returns to the transmission via the bottom steel line.
I believe that in the cooler, there's a simple spiral of tubing, through which the ATF flows, shedding heat. While a two-year-old radiator shouldn't fail, it is still possible. If water is getting into the ATF, the ATF will be milky, rather than a clear rosy red. What color is the ATF? With coolant disappearing so quickly, there will also be plenty of ATF in the coolant overflow tank.
Glad to learn that the carpets are dry, and that the heater valve is sound. By the way, if that heater valve is the original, it should be replaced, pronto! A 14-year-old heater valve doesn't owe you a penny!!
Inspect the heater hose, that comes out of the head, towards the back of the engine. If coolant is leaking there, it will evaporate almost instantly, once the engine is hot. The area is not easy to access, so you'll need a flashlight with a strong light.
Hope this helps.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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Hello Spook, hope all is ok, …..good news…...my dear 92-960-6L has not lost a bit of coolant for two days in a raw, yesterday night when it just came back home, I put my son to push it at 3,000 RPM for 10 minutes while I was under the car with a flash light and turned off all the lights in the driveway…..cause I thought it would be easier to detect any vaporization coming out anywhere, well I could not see any leak at all, no vapors anywhere, everything was dry, beautiful.
Going back 2 weeks, I remember my problems started after the power steering pump was replaced and the mechanic had to drain the radiator and remove the upper hose in order to access the PS pump screws. I then gave him a new bottle of antifreeze but I really couldn’t see how he filled it up again.
I did see the water level seemed ok in the tank but then I started loosing antifreeze .….would it be possible that there was air trapped in the system, big bubbles traveling around so the water tank level was ok but it would go down as the air was leaving the system ???? isn’t it a mystery?
I checked again yesterday the motor oil and the tranny oil and they don’t show contamination with water at all.
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Dear Carlos R,
Good p.m. and may this find you well. Draining the cooling system can indeed lead to air being trapped, e.g, in the heater core, if system was drained so that new coolant could be put in.
To make sure all the coolant is removed, the engine has to be brought up to normal operating temperature (to open the thermostat) and the heater has to be switched on, so that the heater valve opens, allowing hot water to transit the heater core. As the system is flushed, fresh water pushes out the old coolant.
When the system has been drained of flush water and re-filled with distilled (de-mineralized) water, the car should be "burped", so that air bubbles can flow up to the over-flow tank, where they vent.
Park the car on a hill or angled driveway, with the nose pointing up hill or up driveway. Let the engine idle, until the temp gauge needle is in the center. That means the thermostat is open. Then, turn on the heat, to maximum. That opens the heater valve, allowing hot water to transit the heater core. Any air bubbles will be pushed out and up to the overflow tank, where they vent. To eliminate remaining air bubbles, park the car with the nose pointing down hill. Repeat the procedure.
Once all the air is out of the system, top-up the coolant supply, until it is at least mid-way between the marks on the overflow tank.
Hope this helps.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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Hello, hope you're very well,
I tried with a 75kpa cap but still loosing coolant, I am afraid it must be going to one cilinder although I can't see white smoke normally, only a little when started below 70F in the morning but it goes away after 3 minutes...and the motor sounds fine.
I don't want to disconnect all the spark plugs and see inside because the plugs/coils connectors are all in bad shape and prefer not to mess with them. I just changed the oil and the ATF again and there were no signs of coolant in them.
Something I wanted to ask you, I ran the car yesterday and today with a cap without presure valves, only the plastic cap, so no presure at all...and I haven't seen the coolant level drop inside the tank, with no overheating at all, trafic jams, highways speeding, etc and no overheating....temperature here now is around 80F....could this be dangerous for the engine??? I am using 70% Dexcool antifreeze in the system and also bypassed the heater.
Please advice. Thanks a lot.
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