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Blew out my heater core. I've got it bypassed until I can pull the dash and get to it. My question is, can a radiator shop weld the split shut or am I pretty much stuck to getting a new core?
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Just removed the core from son's 240 (a true bear of a task) and the radiator shop owner pointed out the little bit of white scale in the fins and said "leak - throw it away". He said the unit's construction made it difficult if not impossible to repair, and even then other leaks would not be far behind - they do just wear out (corrode out). Given the hours of labor involved, I'm happy to spend the cash on a new unit to NOT have to do this again. And I'll have the shop pressure test the new one before it goes in. He said 3/4 of the aftermarket ones are junk.
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)
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Bob,
I don't know if you have your new 240 core yet or not, but I recently saw photos (gallery?) showing a difference between OE and aftermarket coolant flow paths.
I can't recall the physical difference well enough to describe it, but the OE has equal heat on each side—where the aftermarket was cooler on one side. This shows up as uneven windshield defosting. And cooler feet on one side too, I suppose.
Sorry I don't have more detail at this time.
Later... Best I could find was this text extracted from an archived post at
http://www.brickboard.com/ARCHIVES/2000NOV/20115499.shtml
I'm going to address this as if your flaps are OK and not part of the problem.
The volvo heater core is actually a split design that sends
heat to each side then the coolant flows up the middle to the outlet and
back to the engine.
This way each side gets heat and the middle is cool
air to cool the resistor for the heater fan speeds. Where the hot inlet
heater hose attaches you will see the metal pipe split and go to each side
if one of the smaller pipes clog then you can have heat on one side and
not the other.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.
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"He said 3/4 of the aftermarket ones are junk."
I can agree with that! I put a new "Four Seasons" heater core in my 745T last summer and I'm getting the smell of coolant from the interior vents again when it's set to heat :( The car is in storage for the winter and will get another new core this spring (under warranty). The replacement will most likely be Nissens, which I have been told is factory. I'm REALLY not looking forward to taking that dash apart again! Good thing I really like my Volvo!
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '91 745Ti, 291K km and '91 745 NA, 388K km.
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Hi Tom, Noel,
Tom, your Volvo has the EXACT same symptoms my 745T has. If I have the dial set to heat, I smell coolant as soon as I turn the fan on shortly after starting the car. The smell subsides after a few minutes. The simptoms are pretty much the same as when the original core was bad. My original core didn't "blow" it just weeped until I replaced it. I don't think much got into my carpeting and such as it was a very small leak. There was a little in the ducts under the core which I cleaned while it was all apart. Although, there's some rust on the floor under the driver's seat. I figured it was caused by road salt from the feet of the previous owners, but maybe it was caused by coolant.... I don't think so though, as I didn't see or smell any coolant there. Anyway, I'm REALLY not looking forward to taking that dash apart again! I hope the 745 NA doesn't deside to dump it's core!!! Does anyone know if Nissens is actually the factory core manufacturer? Oh, and as a note, be gentle when installing a new core, apparently they are easy to damage.
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '91 745Ti, 291K km and '91 745 NA, 388K km.
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Chris / Tom,
I think my leak was a 'worst-case scenario' result, compounded by the fact that I kept refilling coolant as it kept leaking out. It was winter at the time, so the heater was always on. I'd just moved to the US from the tropics, so was not familiar with heater-cores or aware that coolant-lines were piped into the cabin (none of my earlier cars had or needed heaters). By the time I'd identified the problems, my carpeting probably had a gallon or more of the stuff in them.
Like you - I am dreading even the thought of having to do that repair any time soon (even though it's been 7 years since I did it).
Noel
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Hi Noel,
Yeah, unfortunately I think you're right about having the "worst-case scenaio". That's a shame :( Although, I've heard of cores failing suddenly, that would really suck! I was saying to my Vo mechanic today that if I get a 960 or V90 I'm going to be VERY particular about the coolant in it, so that I can hopefully avoid replacing the heater core for as long as possible, plus keep the inside of that aluminum engine in good shape...
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '91 745Ti, 291K km and '91 745 NA, 388K km.
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posted by
someone claiming to be tom108
on
Wed Jan 26 13:44 CST 2005 [ RELATED]
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My mechanic took 5 hrs to put in an aftermarket core.only 100 $ cheaper.On looking back maybe shoudl have used genuine volvo,I dont know whether that maybe a factor.Though the antifreeze/coolant level looks okay,I can still smell of coolant 1 yrs after change of core,on turning on the fan initially for heat.Gradually it goes away each time but returns when i first turn the heat on in the morning,
Mechanic said there is no leak.
He told me the coolant soaked foam will smell like this for 6 months but now it's been one year.
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When I replaced my heater-core, 50% of my labor was spent in...
- removing & cleaning ALL the carpeting
- Squeezing out the coolant from all the foam
- Drying out the sodden heat/sound-insulating boards above the exhaust lines (under the carpets in the front and rear foot-wells)
If it takes a while before the heater-core leak is identified, you might have a heck of a lot of coolant soaked into your carpets without being aware of it. The rear-air ducting that goes under the front-seats helps to distribute it very effectively !
Noel
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Given the difficulty of removing the core, it is NOT worth installing a used unit.
By the way, how old is the car? What coolant did you use and how often did you change it?
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