My car used to cool itself just fine. Then my brother drove it for a day and since then it's been acting real strange. The first time I drove my car after my brother used it, the temp guage shot to redline in 5 minutes. I pulled into a gas station, and there was less than half coolant in it. There looked to be a very minor leak around the hose between the reservoir and the radiator. The heater fan also would not blow hot, even with it cranked to full. I filled it up, and that was the end of it.

Then the lower hose sprung a leak. No problem, easy fix. Then the upper hose started getting 'balloony' and it blew out. No problem, easy fix. Also did the thermostat at the same time, making sure to rotate the air hole to the top so bubbles could get out.

During all of the aforementioned events, my car has had one unifying symptom: Five minutes after startup, the guage, even with full coolant, will head for the red zone quickly (takes maybe 20 secs). Strangely, this is easy to stop. All I have to do is turn the temp control to full hot for maybe 10-20 seconds, and it'll drop all the way back to normal very quickly. I don't even have to turn the heater fan on, and it will do this. After that 10-20 seconds, I can flick the temp control back to cold, and it'll not overheat again the whole time I'm driving the car.

I've noticed that a few times that I've done the heater control trick, when I've turned on the heater fan, it'll blow cold for maybe 10 seconds, and then suddenly BAM full heat in less than 2 seconds. This is totally different from the response I used to get from the heater, where as soon as I flicked the temp control it'd start pretty warm, and gradually get hotter in an even progression.

So what could this be? I've never dealt with something this strange before, and it's kinda bothersome. The car, other than this, cools normally. I've checked the coolant and oil, and there's no mixing of either. No white smoke out the back either. Also, no coolant loss from the reservoir since fixing the hoses.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

I have found that any head gasket leak that causes the cooling system to pressurize too much will also leak coolant into that cylinder when the engine is off and cooling down. This causes a rough cold start as the coolant shorts out the spark plug briefly before it clears and begins running properly on four. If the cold start performance is OK, then I would say, especially as the heater works so well, that you have a blocked radiator.
Quick check for the rad. Remove both large hoses. Cover the lower outlet and fill the rad. Remove the cover (maybe your hand) from the lower outlet, and the water should run out smoothly and quickly. If it gurgles, or changes "velocity" as it runs out, you have some blockage in the core. Re-core it or replace it.

Thanks for the help, Rhys. It really was coolant flowing into the combustion chamber. I didn't really notice the bad cold running because it had always been a bit rough until it warmed up. Yesterday it got a lot worse and started missing all the time from the water pouring in. Once again, thanks.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

Do this on a cold start. OPen the hood and take the cap off of the coolant overflow tank. Position yourself so you can see where the cap fits the coolant tank.

Start the car, and after 20 seconds, rev it up to 2000 rpm or so. If you see coolant rising up and overflowing out of the tank, it's the head gasket.

Hope you pass that test.

Good luck,

Bob

:>)

Thanks for the tip. It turned out the coolant was leaving through cylinder #2 that it'd drop before it had a chance to rise. You helped point me in the right direction.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

Sorry to ruin your day. Having replaced the head gaskets on two 240 turbos your symptoms match exactly. The "fast warm" up you are seeing is actually steam caused by exhaust gases getting into the water chambers in the head. This is also causing your hoses to ballon. Change it out ASAP since uneven cooling of the head will cause warpage. Besides, the head gasket job isn't so bad once you've done it once or twice.

Thanks for the tip. It did turn out to be a blown head gasket. I'll be hoping for no warpage or cracking when I pull the head. Until then, the car has basically rendered itself undriveable. Thanks again.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

Were the hoses actually worn out, or did they develop leaks/pinholes due to ovepressurization of the cooling system. What I am getting at is, do you think you may have a clogged radiator? Your symptoms are similar to those I had on a 91 240 this spring. Even though radiator was only 2 years old, it was 60% clogged! The over pressurization from the water pump running at a dead head caused coolant to escape wherever it could, usually forcing its way out at the hose connections. Replaced the radiator, no more problems.

good luck.

Thanks for the help. It turns out that the head gasket had blown, causing the superhigh pressure and blowing the hoses. I appreciate the advice.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

If you are planning to remove the thermostat, you can test it by putting it in a pan of water and heating on the stove until you see the thermostat open. Use a thermometer, cooking, digital, whatever you have. I also suggest a test of the car by driving without the thermostat. It will take a long time to warm up but it should be smoothly progressive. This can tell you if the problem is something else.

John, thanks for the tip. Turns out the head gasket had blown, which sent a lot of air into the coolant passages. Your assistance is appreciated.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

Run the car with the rad cap off while the car is cold. Check for exhaust in the coolant. I'm only curious because the hoses both blew within a short period of time. And the VERY quick heat. Sounds as if there is a lot of air getting into the cooling system somehow.

It might not be the case at all, but it is worth checking.
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Chris Herbst, near Chicago.

Chris, you were correct. I should have known when the coolant started smelling really bad. Turns out there was a lot of air in the system alright. Hopefully I'll be looking at the inside of the engine tonight. Good work on the hypothesis.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

THe previous post ofChris Herbst would mean definitively a replacement of a blown head gasket... !
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240 '88 B200K wite sedan 255K km Europe virgo+all turbo gauges, Phoenix Gold + Kenwood ampli, Focal door speakers + tweeters, Kenwood 6'x 9', 10 CD changer in enlarged globe cabinet, dubble rear coil springs , hitch, fog lights, 2 extra rectangular pencil lights, 2 X 3 rear red driving lights

Well if it is a blown head gasket, his brother has some explaining to do.
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'80..245..M46...b21a..SU carb..

ROFL... could it be the extra power the car is making LOL.

Hi,

normally a car can' t never reaches full hot after 5 minutes (even volvo 240).

The thing is: your thermostat doesn' t open when the coolant is getting hotter!!
In the beginning no coolant is circulating.
It is stuck close:..........

solution:
If it is the original thermostat, replace it.
If it is a new one, then probably you put in the thermostat vice versa, OR, you put in the thermostat the right way, but with the "bleeder pin" downward.

This little pin has to be in the upright position.



succes
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240 '88 B200K wite sedan 255K km Europe virgo+all turbo gauges, Phoenix Gold + Kenwood ampli, Focal door speakers + tweeters, Kenwood 6'x 9', 10 CD changer in enlarged globe cabinet, dubble rear coil springs , hitch, fog lights, 2 extra rectangular pencil lights, 2 X 3 rear red driving lights

You made a good point, that's always worth checking!
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Michael 'Street'... one AZ '85 244DL 187K miles

Kurt, thanks for the reply. I'm not sure it's the bleeder thats the problem for this reason: It did this before I changed the thermostat, and I put the new thermostat in the same way as the old one was. Before my brother drove the car, the car didn't have this problem. Dunno. Other ideas? Thanks.
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Isaac Babcock - '83 245DL and '83 244ti, Peace, love, and all that good stuff

HI,

the only thing left (if you are 100 % sure that it is correct installed) is:

1. the new thermostat self is faulty.
2. the " " has a complete wron opening temp (wron model)


Because the cooling system of the volvo 240 is very simple, robust and straightforward.


Kkurt
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240 '88 B200K wite sedan 255K km Europe virgo+all turbo gauges, Phoenix Gold + Kenwood ampli, Focal door speakers + tweeters, Kenwood 6'x 9', 10 CD changer in enlarged globe cabinet, dubble rear coil springs , hitch, fog lights, 2 extra rectangular pencil lights, 2 X 3 rear red driving lights