Passing a truck this morning. Suddenly cloud of white behind me. Cloud continued as I looked for a parking lot to pull into. Temp needle almost at red when I pulled in. Shut off engine.

Rad reservoir empty. Added water from water bottle. It appeared to stream out from the bottom of the bell housing. Towed home.

Diagnosis? (It's raining and cold so haven't started pulling apart things.)

The streak of bad luck continues.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb, M46 trans, 3:31 dif, in Brampton, Ont.

hi trevor,
i've seen a 240 lose all the coolant and pulled off on the side of the highway, dead.

i stopped and asked to help the college kid, and helped the himdays later after he had it towed.

after looking for any other leaks, etc, i replaced the belts and water pump. i can't remember if we replaced anything else.

started fine and ran well. happened about 20 years ago. i figured the cause was a result of poor maintenance from lack of car care experience.

regards,
byron golden
86 245
92 245
94 940

Add this post to the long list (and growing longer) of posts:

This happened. What can possibly be the worst-est reason. Oh yeh that.

I agree with Heck and Klaus. This same thing happened to my 242 in 2006 and I thought it must be the head gasket.

But cooler heads on the Brickboard prevailed. One of the heater hoses had a pinhole leak. You even suggested the temp sender as a possible culprit which made sense but was not the problem.

Start the engine when cold and look around on that side of the engine.


--
'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon, '15 XC70 T6

it is a blown head gasket. no doubts.

you may leaked out your coolant from 1 of the 2 heater core hoses and the head gasket went as a result of insufficient coolant causing it to over heat.

I wouldn't be so quick to condemn the head gasket. I do agree that the likely source of a leak is one of the heater hoses. The steam cloud could easily have been coolant getting on to the exhaust. First thing to do is a compression test. If the results are bad then a head gasket is in store. But if not - fix the hoses - install water only -- drive the car and see how it behaves. If normal - drain the water and install anti-freeze with a big sigh of relief. -- Dave

I agree with Dave, no gasket failure can produce a 'cloud' of steam. Those heater hoses are probably original, no one likes to change them because they are hard to reach.

--
Keeping it running is better than buying new

"I agree with Dave, no gasket failure can produce a 'cloud' of steam."
Thanks for the reassurance, all. Still raining so haven't investigated. But that water draining out from the bottom rear had me questioning.

Hopefully it is a heater hose. Will let you know.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb, M46 trans, 3:31 dif, in Brampton, Ont.

Are there any freeze plugs in the back of block, hidden by the bell housing, that may have started leaking?
--
Current rides: 2005 Volvo S80 2.5T, 2003 Volvo V70 2.4NA, 1973 Volvo 1800ES (getting ever closer to road worthiness)

"Are there any freeze plugs in the back of block, hidden by the bell housing, that may have started leaking?"
Not in the back but on the side.

The last one, passenger side, by the drain cock, has a block heater installed. After adding water to the reservoir I checked the hoses - no leaks. Then noticed water coming out from under the exhaust manifold. Traced it to the block heater.

Removed the blocker heater (#3 Robertson) and found that the "wing" in the back, made of brass(?), was soft and cracked. Metal fatigue? And had loosened allowing water to spew out. (The block heater is clamped against the engine with a "toggle bolt anchor" system as used in hollow walls.)

Hmm. So should I try using a wing from a toggle bolt or go buy a new block heater? Temporarily?
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb, M46 trans, 3:31 dif, in Brampton, Ont.

Hi again,

I looked around EBay because they often have old stock at good prices. I noticed an old style Kats that looks to have a brass wingnut and screw.
There's a Kats 11604 for $18.00 that fits your 44.5 mm bore, but it has an outer flange that may not allow it to go deep enough. Their application guide is no longer listing Volvos before 1985.

If you find one,

Apply minimal torque to the screw. The O ring on straight bores seals on the sides of the hole and the wingnut only retains it from blowing out. It doesn't increase pressure on the O ring, as it does on the stepped bores used on the B230 85- mid 91. Maybe that's why they changed, but it doesn't explain why they changed back.

Peter

I have nothing to add regarding the heater but Maplebone's suggestion of a temporary fix with an expandable plug will work to seal the opening till you have the heater worked out. I have some experience with those. They need a re-tightening after a few days -- and they are a TEMPORARY fix. The rubber will harden and leak within a short amount of time (weeks). - Dave

Hi Trev,

I don't think the wing nut is brass, but you'll know soon enough if you have a magnet.

I looked at the two new heaters I have on the shelf and they both use the same style of nut. One is a Zero Start, made in Canada with a brass face and the other a US made Kat's with a red Bakelite type housing.

They're both mild steel stampings, about 20 gauge or 1 MM thick. The wings are bent into a U shape and then each are bent up to about 45 degrees. A flat bar set between the wings, threaded for the tightening bolt, bends them back against the block. So yes, two cold bends on a small section about 3/16" wide will definitely reduce it's fatique resistance. The other requirement for fatigue failure is reversals of stress, and that may have come from many years of thermal cycling. It's hard to say, but an examination of the fracture surface under suitable power would tell the whole story. Fatique has a striated seashell look moving away from the point of initiation.

Anyway, I don't recommend using a drywall wing nut with it's small pins and springs. Seeing as you have over half the nut as a guide, I'd think that you could reproduce one in 30 minutes with vice, file, and drill. For temporary use I believe there are expandable rubber plugs available for this situation.

Unless the heater is relatively new, for the same amount of time and a little more money, I'd consider replacing it.

I'm glad to know you'll be back on the road.
Peter

I suggest a bolt and wing should be made of brass or stainless steel

May be you could borrow this from a used block heater.

I vote for a heater hose leak, or the heater return metal pipe faillure.

My car had a pin hole that showed up only at high speed under hot conditions.

Hard to catch diagnosis in my case.

Hang on, it can only get better.

Good luck.