Driving home from the store in the 92 945T I suddenly noticed to my horror that the temp needle was way past the red. Pulled over immediately to investigate.

I found that the bottom nipple on the coolant reservoir had somehow cracked off and the connecting hose had dropped down.

While waiting for my sons to rescue me the car cooled down and when they arrived with water and tools we dug out the broken nipple section but couldn't reattach to the stub on the reservoir. So we filled up the system with water and McGyvered a cap on the hose by taping the water bottle cap on. This got me home with normal operation and temp needle right in the center.

Lessons learned (or relearned)

1. Keep your scan going-obviously mine had deteriorated since my flying days
2. Carry basic tool when you drive a car over 20 years old.
3. 900 series cars are tough

Next question-are coolant tanks still available?

Brian Mee

92 945T
91 240

I have had two incidents where quick loss of fluid dictated a new head gasket.

The last one was on the wife's 940 a few years back... driving late on a dark road, hit a large metal box showed up right in front of me out of nowhere... took out the bottom of the radiator. There was well lit gas stop about a mile ahead... thought I could make it. By the time I did.. it was good and hot. Had to redo the head and gasket.

Lesson learned. Watch the gauge ...and stop immediately if you see it going up!

Plus if you hit something like I did... just stop, period!
--
"Do you think that's air you're breathing now'? (The Matrix 1999) '94 940T (463K+), 92 245 (300K+), 90 740 (148k)

You should re-torque the head.

This is not too hard to do, and it just might lead you to taking action that would save your engine.

If there is anything wrong with the torque readings - consider changing the head gasket, using proper procedures, like new bolts if that is called for.

When the head gasket blew on my Suburban with a V-8 engine, I was astounded to find that several bolts on the ends of the heads were barely finger tight. This truck had high mileage, and was used hard by a bus company - I would have saved myself a lot of grief if I had torqued the head when I removed a lot of gunk from the rocker area!

finding a coolant resov. tank should be quite simple.

since you have a turbo let me point out the number 1 silent killer of this engine which few know about and even those who do seldom check.

on the passenger side of the car with hood open underneath the oil filter you will find two rubber coolant hose quite short that are forgotten and when they let go its all over for the engine unless stopped immediately.

they are turbo cooling hoses part numbers 9161383/4

you ought to check the efficacy of yours.

good photos here

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=157995

Good advice about the turbo coolant hoses guys. Luckily I renewed them a few years back when I replaced the blown head gasket. Actually since buying the car from Craigslist about 10 years ago I have replaced all of the coolant hoses, the heater core, the radiator, the radiator cap (green to black) and now the expansion tank.

Currently running on a 240 expansion tank (takes same hoses) from the work-in-progress 90 240 DL while the new 940 tank is shipped. Proving again that the moral of the story is to have an extra 240 around the house.

Brian Mee

92 945T
91 240
90 240 DL

Try to source a Volvo reservoir with a float in it and purchase the sensor connector as well.

Not sure how to wire it in to activate the warning light on the bottom of the cluster. I just run a wire to the cabin and under the dash to a red 12v lamp that I mount between the ignition and the fan control. Grab 12v from the relay/fuse tray.

The float switch is normally open with adequate coolant level. The circuit closes if the coolant level falls and lights the lamp.

Lots of places to lose coolant because of aging hoses on that car. Have you checked the coolant hoses on the oil cooler recently? They get soft and swell due to the oil that covers them when the filter is changed.

Randy

Dear BrickDad,

Hope you're well. Glad to hear you detected problem promptly and so avoided major fall-out!

Volvo coolant expansion tanks (Part # 9122997) are still available. The price at a dealer in the US is likely to be close to $62.00

What's the age of the radiator? If it is much over 10 years, it is probably due for replacement. The interval may be shorter if the car lives in an area with average "high" ambient temperatures, e.g., southern India, central America, US South/southwest, North Africa, Northern Australia, southern India, etc.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Yes Volvos are tough cars. Had overheating incident many years ago. The water pump belt had slipped off during high speed driving with frequent wide open throttle. Didn't realise that until steering feels heavy (no assistance) and temp reaching into red. Still continued driving until reaching a rest stop as it wasn't really safe to stop alongside highway. Coolant was almost dry after much forced past the reservoir cap. Replaced the belt with a spare. Waited to cool for about an hour then added water. Drove well afterwards.

Regards,
Amarin.

Don't do like I did and buy the Chinese POS. Buy ONLY the volvo expansion tank. It will outlast the car. Chinese one leaked. So, like an idiot, I had to buy the Volvo one after the el cheapo failed. 50.00 bucks.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-expansion-tank-740-940-960-s90-v90

If you order it from FCPgroton today, you will have it by Wednesday or Thursday since you are in VA. I doubt a dealer will stock it except for tasca Volvo.