Hi,

My brother had a head on collision (55KPH) in his 240, the radiator hit the fan and is now leaking from near the top. Water will only reach the middle of the radiator, it will reach the water pump, but not the very top hose. Can I run the car with a water hose in the expansion tank? (Water still won't reach the top, but it will keep providing water to the lower part) Or will it overheat/destroy the engine?

Thanks

Heh, I'm getting this visual of a Brick running down the road with a REAL long garden hose attached to it! Seems a new radiator would be more practical. ;-)

Justin B.

ok cheack this out the bottom hose is the hose that supplies the water pump water as the water in the block boils it is forced to the thermastat this is why there should be a sealed system(presher)/since you have a hole in radiater no presher is made so the t-stat wont open.(it will over heat)ok where was i, as water touches the stat the stat opens at a spec temp than the water is led out threw the top hose and into the radiator and this cycles over and over .once a engine is at normal temp the stat stays open.the water in radiator is at half cause thats the lowest point of breakage/leak as the water enters top of radiator it falls threw to the bottom or top of water level as the weight of water is what supplies water to water pump.if you take out t-stat and keep water in radiator you could drive it as it wont build preasher but the water pump will ciculate the water and cool the engine if you drive it with t-stat in it will over heat and warp the head if you take the t-stat out and since there is a hole in radiater the water will leak a little so make sure there is water in it and no t-stat it would be nice if people could explain there anserws a little better as it would show they have a little knowlege of what there saying and get it fixed as soon as possible but it can be driven as long as there is at least 1/2 radiater full water hope this helps short distance only

There's no quicker way to destroy a Volvo engine than overheating it. Replace the thing- plastic tank radiators are weak anyway. Even if it was GOOD it was due for replacement. Don't drive the car except to turn it around in the driveway.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '86 244DL- 215K, 87 244DL- 230K, 88 744GLE- 198K, 91 244 180K

Your cooling system needs to be sealed because it needs to be pressurized to keep from boiling at too low a temp. So, yes, your unsealed system will overheat and damage the engine.
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'84 '285' rice-eater with lotsa hp & performance goodies

Amen to beetle's comment. Even a new rad from fcpgroton is not expensive... get a replacement ASAP.

get a new radiator or get a good used one. It's not worth risking the engine over it.