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I swapped cars with my son today as his car was suffering with another Hepu water pump failure. I was involved with replacing that when I got a call from him. He and his wife had gone downtown Cincinnati to celebrate his birthday. After they parked my car he saw the low coolant light come on and steam coming from under the hood.
He explained that there was coolant all over the brake booster and strut tower. I had to assume it was a heater hose. I packed the tools and several gallons of water. I also threw some odds and ends in the car before heading downtown.
When I arrive I had him start pouring water into the reservoir and immediately saw water coming out of one of the heater hoses. It was immediately apparent that the problem was a failed plastic heater control valve. The end of the valve had broken off.
I removed the hose clamps and pulled the plastic piece out of the end of the hose. One of the random items I had thrown in the car was some C clamps. I cut sections out of a towel and rolled them up. I then twisted them into the ends of the hoses and then clamped the area over the towel pieces with C clamps. We filled up the reservoir again and headed to their house.
The towel and clamp fix lasted the eight miles to their home. When I checked it upon arrival I realized it had not leaked at all. So we started home and the twenty five mile drive was without further incident.
I had changed the heater control valve a long time ago and I should have been doing some tugging and pulling on it occasionally to avoid a failure like this. I remember that the plastic valves were all that was available when I last replaced it. On the outside chance that someone has found a quality replacement more recently does anyone have a recommendation or a cross reference to offer up?
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Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal
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I don't know if this is a wise move or not, but being aware of the potential issue (this being my first Redblock Volvo, my approach is this: I installed a new plastic one when I went through the car upon purchase. And I will simply replace the valve each time I renew the coolant, that is to say every two years. Maybe that's overkill, but I figure it can't deteriorate that much in two years, and I've drained the coolant anyhow. Perhaps I'll push it out to every other coolant change, since I'm only putting 3 to 5k / year on the car. Cheap insurance, although it's not the most fun job, I'll admit.
For what it's worth, I went with the ProParts Sweden valve. No opinion on longevity, as I drive so little.
In my research, I did come across a (I believe) Ford part that could be used. I think it was half-metal, but it looked sturdy enough.
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IMO A bit too much of a nuisance to replace the heater control valve just for the heck of it. Maybe every time you change the coolant, and definitely when you replace the water pump, it's a good idea to carefully inspect the whole cooling system while it's drained, checking for any damaged, crazing or gummy rubber hoses, pinching them and stress testing them with movement, also stress testing the heater valve by trying to break off the nipples by hand. If everything survives that then it's going to last a few more years. The original metal and bakelite style of valve is the only one known for sudden failure.
Similar to Randy, I handled an original heater valve while disconnecting the hose to replace the heater core and the nipple just cracked off, saving us from a later emergency guaranteed to happen at the most inconvenient time. I'd known they were a problem area, just never bothered to check this one. As another cooling system story not that many years ago in one of our 940s, on a long highway trip and over an hour drive from home, I had what turned out to be a head gasket start to go that under the added pressure split open the sharp bend in the lower heater valve hose sending the temp needle into the red. I bummed a couple of milk jugs full of water and turned around to drive home, mostly taking secondary roads, stopping every 10 mins or so to top up. These red blocks can take a lot of abuse. An old saying from the Amazon days was "Don't be afraid to drive 'em like you hate 'em", and we said that half-seriously knowing full well that we were challenging the Norse gods.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now
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Having been the caretaker of a modern BMW for a span of eight years, I've grown rather vigilant about keeping fluids and belts where they belong.
My car came with a complete service history from the selling dealer, indicating two water pumps and one radiator replacement before I got it. Oddly, the coolant hoses were never changed. I can only assume the same was true of the heater control valve. Odd that a dealer wouldn't at least recommend the hoses. They were a little soft, and the return line was clogged. Oh well...
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The old Volvo control valves were metal on one end. Of course it was the other end (plastic) that failed.
If is embarrassing to admit but the failed one was over a decade old. When I started to replace the one in my wife's 940t it broke off immediately upon handling it- so a bullet dodged there.
While the replacements from FCP was plastic it was of much heavier construction than the original type.
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Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal
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I used to use GMB pumps, but switched to Hepu largely due to posts on the Brickboard praising their service.
The 745 referred to in this post is my son's. The current pump failed at 315K. It was installed in 6/22 at 297K. So less than two years and 18K. The failed pump at 297K was installed on 11/19 at 277K. So less than three years and 20K. That pump had been installed on 4/16 at 235K.
So three failed Hepu pumps in eight years and 81K miles. These are internal seal failures evidenced by coolant expelled through the weep holes. I thought a contributing factor might have been due to system pressure but I switched to a black cap when I changed pumps in 11/19.
This has not been my experience with Hepu pumps on three other long term B230 equipped cars. Of course I have had to remove pumps and reseal that poorly designed "donut" between the head and the pump many times since I started driving these cars 40 years ago.
These last two pumps have been covered under FCP lifetime warranty or I probably would give another brand a try. So at this point I am not a big fan of Hepu pumps. I am, however, a big fan of FCP and their lifetime warranty.
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Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal
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I agree with Randy, but have not had the number of water pump failures he's had. Anecdotally here, the Hepu used to be considered slightly better than the GMB, but not as good as the Genuine Volvo.
Anything that FCPEuro sells should be considered reasonably reliable. For decades now they've sold thousands of aftermarket water pumps for our RWDs and with their excellent customer service and lifetime guarantee would have stopped selling anything with a high failure rate many years ago. Another thing to consider with FCP is that they sell water pump and timing kits, which contain the Continental belt, INA tensioner pulley, Corteco seals and Hepu pump, all well respected by us shadetree types, so take that as a hint of their preference. They currently list the Genuine Volvo pump, and for less than half that price also sell Graf, Hepu, Meyle and Febi(Bistein), the latter two currently out of stock. Graf pumps are a highly rated brand in the aftermarket, also priced a little higher. Rockauto has the GMB at an extremely attractive price.
I think a lot boils down to quality control during manufacturing. In that regard the GMB used to have a poorer reputation (such as the stamped impeller occasionally coming off the shaft), but in recent decades seems to have improved, while reportedly the Hepu quality control (such as with their castings) has gone downhill a bit. Over the years I've happily used both Hepu and GMB depending on availability and price, mostly Hepu when I can find them at a good price. I currently have a GMB on the shelf waiting for the next install as I picked it up cheap from Rockauto combining it in my order to make for cheap shipping.
I'll note that in my then brand new 740 the original Volvo water pump showed a drop of green fluid down in the weep hole within the first year. Dealer service spotted it and said if I was loosing coolant they'd gladly replaced it under warranty. I kept waiting for it to get worse or for something else to justify leaving it in the shop for a day, but it never did, actually got better with age and within another year there was no more sign of fluid in the weep hole and I sold the car some years later still with the original pump. Go figure.
I'm currently chasing an increasing loss of coolant in one of our 940s that's been slowly getting worse for over a year. I know all the usual suspects, but have yet to pinpoint it with evidence. The top mushroom rubber do-nut on the water pump did need raplacing, and that seemed to slow it down, but it's still slowly dropping. That engine already had one head gasket leak a few years back, so hopefully not again, also hopefully not the heater core. I'm going to swap in another known good rad cap just for the heck of it then next maybe the water pump which has long passed its best before date and I've got one on the shelf, so like a 30 minute job. After that it will be time to get more serious about it possibly being the head gasket.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now
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Found it. Radiator finally started dripping from a hidden leak. New Nissens to arrive tomorrow. Original Volvo lasted 14 years and the first Nissens made 14 years, so I'm not complaining. Even found one in semi-local stock at a good price.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now
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Hi Randy. That looks like the original Volvo heater control valve design, half metal, half plastic. MTC sold the same design in the aftermarlet. The plastic in those ones got brittle with age and it was just a matter of time until the neck broke. The new ones from Volvo are all black plastic and look sturdy. The ProParts Sweden one available in the aftermarket looks almost identical to the new Volvo one. I've not had any problem with them. The vacuum nipple is a slightly different OD and is also at a different angle. Volvo has an adapter rubber elbow that's available to replace the original Volvo rubber sleeve. I got one and it didn't properly fit the ProParts one. I found by pulling off and turning the original one around it was a decent fit, but it was a tight bend at the bottom. I put a small piece of vinyl tubing over the tube as a sleeve so it wouldn't kink at the bend and used a drop of RTV on the hose and slid the nipple over it so it wouldn't accidentally pull out. I've done this twice now.
BTW. I now pack in my Volvo emergency kit a small assortment of PVC plumbing plugs to use plug the heater hoses, be it from a broken heater valve, a split heater hose (bottom of the lower bend can get gummy) or a leaking heater core. Along with that are a couple of ring clamps and a sharp serrated knife to cut the hoses square. A good minimum kit is two 5/8" and one 3/4" plug (fits best at the bend), all available from the likes of HDepot. 11/16" would be ideal to also have, but are not common to find. It's not a high pressure system so in a pinch you can live without using ring clamps if the serrated plug is an really snug fit.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now
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94 944t 318K (I try to remember to include this in my posts)
Thanks for your reply Dave. When I check my records on that car I see that I replaced the heater control valve in 2008 @175K. Certainly longer than I should have expected that thin wall plastic to hold up.
Both of our 94 944t cars have been removed from the line up for long trips. We make a 1200 mile trip every five or six weeks. I too have a "road box" for traveling but it can't cover all the possibilities. For years I was able to walk into an auto supply store and get what I needed, but those days are gone for 30 year old Volvos. Stranded for lack of parts makes for some bad days.
Randy
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Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal
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Hi Kitty, Just in case you didn't notice, although his RWD post didn't indicate it, Randy's pic shows a 700/900 heater control valve that lives between the back of the block and firewall as opposed to the 140/240 ones between the interior firewall and blower housing by the gas pedal.. The new 700/900 ones sold as Genuine Volvo look exactly like the ProParts Sweden ones which are considerably less expensive. It wouldn't surprise me if they're from the same mfr.
The 140/240 ones went through a couple of iterations of design. The Wagonmaster ones look solid. I much preferred the original Volvo design with the thermal sensor coil and an adjustable saddle screw. Those could maintain cabin temp much more consistently, making the temp control almost a set and forget for most of the year.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now
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Wow, Kitty, good memory about the Ranco name and it being the original metal design with the thermal coil. I'd totally forgotten about it. Don't recall seeing mention of that one here for well over 10 years. I only ever had to replace one of those and I vaguely recall I did get the Ranco one rather than paying through the nose for one from Volvo, but not sure where I got it, perhaps a local Volvo aftermarket distributor I used to have, but more likely FCP Groton (now FCPEuro) or IPD. Even more wow that there's still some stock out there on eBay and the price isn't that gross.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now
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On the subject of the 200 valve, IPD is selling what they call the, "original style heater control valve." Made by MTC, which may or may not be a red flag, they are asking $144.95 (yikes!). But their website shows pix of the Ranco valve (the trademark is clearly visible) which I think is kind of chicken shit. Show what you are selling, IPD. I wrote to them about this but I did not receive a reply.
Judging from the pix, the knock-offs cited by kgv look pretty good. But looks can be deceiving. Who will be the first to try them out? Anyone? I would but I have one good used and one NOS and I don't need one at this time anyway.
Just for purposes of trivial information, the Ranco one is Volvo OE. Oh yeah...and certain Triumph sports cars used the same valve. TR-4/5/250 all used it and probably other models.
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'79 242, '84 DL 2 door, '80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon, '15 XC70 T6 AWD
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