The car is a 940 turbo wagon. I just noticed seepage of coolant out of a minisucle hairline crack on the upper end driver side plastic tank and just ordered a replacement radiator and hoses. The crack breaking through to the outside must be recent as I think I would have noticed it before. This is likely a no-brainer, but thought I would ask anyway: Is it safe to drive it at all in this condition? Any predictability to a blowout? At the moment, we are trying to juggle cars to keep this one off the road until I can fix it next week; the parts should be here by then.

Loosen the fill cap. Without pressure in the system, you can drive without it blowing apart. You must keep a close eye on the coolant level since it will be prone to overflow. BUT, if you have another car as backup, use it.

Bob K

'94 945T (daughter co-opted it for college, used to be mine)
'99 S80 (mom-in-law's)
'88 240DL (son's)
'84 242Ti (for sale)
'89 560SL (wifemobile)
'88 300TE (my commuter)
'68 GT500KR (future commuter/under restoration)

Thanks for all the replies. I will play it safe and keep the car off the road until I can fix it. This is my wife's car. She is going to use mine. Although not convenient, I can use other transportation this week.

Guri,

You may, as a stop gap measure, patch the crack with some epoxy putty (Marine Patch etc.) or JB Weld. When the rad is cool open the expansion tank cap to release any pressure in the system, clean the crack area with some alcohol, scuff the surface a bit with 80 grit sand paper, wipe it again with de-greaser solvent or alcohol and apply the patch and let it cure. That should help reduce the chance of a larger failure until the new rad arrives. It would be a good time to replace the T-stat and expansion tank cap as well the rad and hoses. Good Luck.

The 1st friday of spring break, I got home and my radiator cracked in the same place. A 1995 940. *This* must be the year to replace your radiator if you have a '95... :)

Expoy did not hold, roughing and cleaning was a waste of time. JB is the way to go. a couple of Brickboarders (steve included) suggested using a combination of materials to get me through the several days it took my new rad to arrive.

This worked for me:
1) Drill a small hole in each end of the crack, it prevent further breakage.
(You can drill additional holes on each side if you wish to aid in "gripping").

2) "Groove" out the crack and make it *very* clean.

3) Apply a coat of JB weld over the whole shoulder, crack, and everything on the flat surface.

4) Apply a layer of fiberglass tape (the mesh that we use for drywall) Let it set a bit and apply another layer of JB weld, completely seal the tape in.

5) Repeat 3 & 4 as many times as you wish. I had two-three layers to cover the tape and to seal the drill holes completely.

6) Let the JB weld harden completely

7) LOOSEN your expansion tank cap. This will prevent pressure build up.

8) Don't drive very far. My repair last from Sunday until the Thursday that my new expansion tank and radiator arrived. The repair held fine, but I didn't want to push it.

BTW, The radiator replacement procedure can be done in under an hour.
Take some pictures if you can. My camera conked out and didn't advance any of the film that I shot, so I didn't get any photos. The 940 removal is more straightforward than the FAQ suggests. You do not need to remove the airdam. The Rad sits on some rubber bumper brackets and is not screwed into anything at the bottom.

Ditto RepairmanJack. I replaced the radiator in my 95 na 945 a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad to know that the life expectancy of the radiator can be known and predicted with such accuracy.

Seems like an OEM radiator can go for about 10 years before it breaks. That's abit better than the 8 years listed in the FAQ.

If the crack is in the radiator tank you are tempting fate. If it's leaking, it's already gone. On a na 940 this is a half-hour job. In my opinion this car is not roadworthy and driving it is asking for a disaster. Better leave it home.

No brainer--don't use the car unless you just cannot get away from it--it's plastic gluded to aluminum so it could fail hard any time under the internal pressure of the coolant.

I can only tell you my experience. On my 93 945(which I sold a few months ago)
I had the same crack you described and I used JB Quik Weld. It held for a little while...4 days or so and then started leaking a little.

On my daughters 94 940, I was filling the tank on an extremely cold day just before Christmas 2004 and I saw anti-freeze pouring out from under the hood. I checked it out to find that the neck of the radiator had cracked off at the top and it was leaking profusely. I was fortunately very close to home and nursed it home with quite a bit of fluid still left. I promptly ordered a new radiator from eEuroparts.com and it came a day later(they have the fastest shipping!!). It was an identical replacement Nissens, not like the all metal one I put in the 93 945.

The moral of the story. You get 10 years and little more out of the OEM rads.And it's a true 50/50 gamble for the repair. I wouldn't do it unless you are just driving close to home.
--
94 940 106K ,98 V90 96K