Hi all,

To close the loop... it was a broken heater valve, the plastic fitting which fits up to the firewall. That was replaced along with its two hoses. Problem solved.

Re: oiliness, I asked for a new dipstick o-ring. Also, I was overdue for valve adjustment, so I had that done as well, along with checks of crankcase ventilation, partly to get a new read on my various slow oil leaks in the context of correct ventilation and a new head gasket.

This weekend I'll get under the car to change the oil and filter, and while there will see how other leaks look (oil filter pedestal, rear main seal have been trickling for a while...)

Thanks again for the input.

Dear Greg R,

Hope you're well. Unless a clamp has worked loose (unlikely) the heater hoses and heater control valve should be replaced. AT ONCE!!!

Absent a loose clamp, the hoses and/or the heater valve have failed. If they're factory-original, they're at the end of their working life or past that point.

Do NOT drive the car even 10 yards, without replacing heater hoses and the heater control valve.

Use Volvo brand heater hoses. These hoses are hard to access/inspect. Volvo brand heater hoses last, reliably, 12-15 years (high ambient temps / low ambient temps).

See the FAQs for the procedure.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Can't think of anything on that side that would blow oil. Brake reservoir or master cylinder?
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Post Back. That's whats makes this forum work.

Hi all,

More/different info. As PhilC noted, oil dipstick wasn't that badly seated (still, the O-ring is due for replacement). The REAL problem however appears to be a coolant leak at lower left of the engine.

The other symptoms reported by my son last night and confirmed by light of day:

- Check Engine light.
- Low coolant. (He did not look to see if engine temp ran high as he was busy worrying about the white smoke!)

This a.m. I confirmed very low coolant level; I slowly added several quarts of coolant/water mix to the reservoir, only to find it dripping down the rear left engine block, onto the tranny, and onto the driveway.

The car was tilted slightly rearward by the slope of the driveway; I quickly started up the car and turned it around so that it was tilted frontward. The leaking stopped, although not sure if this was also because it drained to a level where it no longer wanted to leak.

I pulled the engine codes and got only one: 1-2-3, which per the FAQ means "signal missing to/from coolant sensor" and that could mean bad connex, corrosion of ground, etc. (Not sure if coolant is really low it could also throw that signal?)

My visibility to that part of the engine is poor. Questions:

1) Is there a hose or hose connection "down there" that could be broken, causing this major coolant leak? Is this driveway repairable? (If it's a gasket or seal, fuhgeddabowdit.)

2) Can the car maintain enough coolant to get to a garage? (My trusty Volvo mechanic, unfortunately is about 10 miles/20 mins away.)

Sign me,

Goin' nowhere

Did it smell like burning oil? Dipstick looks well seated in the pic.