Took out my old airbox today to swap it with a newer nicer one. When I got it out I noticed that there was a little bit of coolant in the bottom part of the old airbox. Any ideas as to what this means? How it got in there?
My old airbox did have some holes drilled into it to hold the top down because the clips had all broken off. The car is a much quieter with the new airbox BTW.
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1988 760Tic - 155,200 1966 M-B 230 sedan - 98,000 - Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Well the radiator sits right next to it, and the hose to the overflow tank actually sometimes runs over the airbox around the edge (turbo layout).

I would check the hoses from the radiator on the airbox side for leaks, and would take a close look at the radfiator itself to be sure there isn't a rusted/corroded/pinhole letting coolant shoot out under pressure or something.

I wouldn't worry about the coolant as an indication of some type of engine malfunction though. As far as I know there is no fault that would lead coolant to go into the airbox... into the exhaust, but the airbox only cycles air into the engine with no return to the airbox itself.

good luck,
rt

Thank you for suggestions. I think you're probably right. The more I search under the hood the more I think it has to be a hose or something to do with the overflow tank. I can't find anything else that could transport coolant into the airbox. Also the fact that the old airbox was held together with screws meant that it didn't have a very tight seal around the top and that would give spraying coolant and entry way into the airbox. I'll probably go pick up some extra hoses and maybe another overflow tank at the local Volvo scrap yard this week. Then I plan to replace the radiator in the coming months. Thanks again.
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1988 760Tic - 155,200 1966 M-B 230 sedan - 98,000 - Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

You might also check the overflow cap to make sure it is operating appropriately. When the cap fails it can start spewing out coolant under pressure, and it's possible this coolant "might" get to the airbox (though I highly doubt it).

good luck,
rt