I recently purchased a 2001 S60 after getting my other car totaled in an accident. So far I love the car but am having trouble with running low on coolant every 24-36 hours depending on how I much I drive it. I purchased the car in January and didn't have this trouble until about a month ago. My mechanic (very highly regarded in this area) replaced the radiator (said there was a small leak) but I still have the same problem. I took it back today and they are going to put the system "under pressure" for the 3rd time and I am running out of patience and money. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. Other than the coolant running low, the car is running great.

 

I'm running into the same thing with my Cavalier right now except it's even more intermittent than yours. I dumped about half a pint of coolant in the mall parking lot the other day but for some reason it still shows enough coolant in the resivoir. (i guess i over filled). This is the second time it's done it and I've been have tiny leaks ever since.

There are any number of places a coolant system can leak and from what i've been told they aren't all that obvious. You could have a cracked tube, your thermostat seal may have broke, the water pump might be starting to go...etc. My mechanic budy told me to "just be patient and we'll find it it eventually...in the mean time, stock up on coolant." Thank god i don't pay him for this crap! Imagine if a dealership told you that...lmao....

I've also bean told that a pressure test doesn't find micro cracks. Those only appear after the engine warms up and pressure is applied. I'm betting this third pressure test won't find it eighther.

Question for tech: Could he just throw some stop leak in the top tube to his radiator?

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll ask them about the stop leak. They have had the car for about 24 hours and I haven't heard anything yet. Don't know if that is good or bad!

 

lol...neither probably...I'll bet they just haven't gotten to it yet.

 

Do you see any coolant under the car when parking it? If it's leaking you have to see it somewhere. Do you smell it? If it's leaking onto your exhaust you will smell it.

 

That's the strange thing...there isn't anything puddling under my car when I park, nor do I smell any coolant when driving or after I get out of the car. Initally, the mechanic said that the leak was so small it probably only actually leaked when the system was running and under pressure, and the coolant would onlly leak while I was driving so wouldn't necessarily drip when I parked. However, I paid a bunch of money to get a new radiator (what was leaking) and I am having the exact same problem. It has only started since the weather turned hot down here and I started using my A/C more, but someone told me that shouldn't affect the coolant level. Is this true? It is so nice of you all to answer and help me figure out this problem! Thanks.

 

I'm wondering if it's burning off inside the engine? If the head gasket is cracked it would do that.....?

 

A friend of mine suggested the head gasket, but he also said that if the head gasket was gone, I should be experiencing other problems with the car. Is this true? It seems to be running great other than the low coolant. This is the first Volvo I have owned, so don't really have a knowledge base to draw from with regard to how the car should feel and handle. thanks again for taking the time to think about this and offer suggestions!

 

I'm not sure to be honest. Your friends probably right. I don't know how different the car would run if you were burning coolant within the cylendars but given it isn't a carbon chain like oil or gas i'd think you'd notice at least a knocking sound. Then again...it could be that your gasket it only cracked on the inside. if you're only leaking a tiny bit into one cylendar it would probably just come out as water with no ill effects. At any rate, a 2001 shouldn't need a replacement this soon...unless you have an unreasonable amount of miles on it.

I'm no mechanic so my theories are less valueable than the others in here....this kind of stuff is a learning experience for me too.

 

Just spoke to the mechanic, they said they released a large air pocket from the coolant line, so maybe that had something to do with it. Re the headgasket, he said there is a test you can do to see if the head gasket is OK or not and mine appears to be fine. They are going to keep it for another night and drive it to make sure all is well, so we'll see. When the same thing happens over and over despite spending $$ to fix it, I begin to question the info I'm getting and want a 2nd opinion. Also makes me gun shy anytime I hear or feel anything abnormal. I should have the final verdict by tomorrow and will let you know.

 

Air pocket eh.......?

I'll be interested to see how this all turns out.

 

Yea, I know. Talk about things that make you go HHMMM. The air pocket story may be true, or maybe they realized they didn't do something that they were supposed to do, or missed something obvious but don't want to admit it, who knows. All I want is my car fixed properly and to not have to pay any more money than I already have to get it that way.

Talked to them this morning, and it is still running fine, but they want their #1 guy to drive it to lunch for one last check. Sounds a bit fishy to me, and if this wasn't such a highly regarded shop I would be getting nervous. Maybe they just need a bit more time to put the engine back together! HAHA It seems odd that they would want it for 3 days just to let different people drive it around to "check it." Frankly, I don't care what they are doing, don't care if they made a mistake, as long as whatever it is they are doing now is going to fix this problem once and for all -- and I don't have to pay anymore money.

I'm supposed to pick it up at abotu 12:15 so will let you know what they say and how it's running. It's a great car!

 

great! Hope it all works out for ya!

FYI: If this problem ever happens again, getting the air out of your system is really easy. There should be a screw on one of the metal fittings at the lowest portion of the coolant system that you can unscrew...then just wait for the coolent to start coming out and BOOM...no more air! Provided that is, infact what's wrong with the car! lol.

 

OK, here is the latest. Got the car back, head out of town on a trip. After less than an hour, the coolant light comes on again. Pour more in and keep going. About an hour later the oil pressure light comes on. We decide to pull off a the next available stop. About 2 miles later a big POP sound from the engine, then this wacka wacka wacka sound like a pump not able to pump. We pull off and turn the car off. When the tow truck arrives, he asks to turn the car on, at which point there is this horrible metallic sound comes through and smoke pours through the tail pipe.

Well, a 150 mile tow truck ride, and 5 days later and we have a dead turbocharger. We figured the coolant was leaking into the turbo, and was evaporating so that is why we never saw a leak anywhere. The car had a bunch of sludge in it because the previous owner didn't care for it properly, and with all the other work I've had done on the seals and oil pan, etc, it must have moves the sludge around clogged a line to, in or aroung the turbo.

Anyway, despite my initial reaction to go and do bodily harm to the people I bought the car from (who lied to me and said the previous owners were personal friends and had taken immaculate care of the car -GGGRRR), we are going forward with the repair and I'm taking it to Atlanta this weekend to test it. I won't be able to trust the car again if I don't get it back on the road.

The mechanic said the engine is fine, they changed the oil and it looks clean and no problems there. I told him I am considering selling it, he said he understands, but there really isn't much more to go wrong at this point that I haven't fixed. He suggested I go back to the people I bought it from and see if they will give me some $$ for the problems and lack of accurate info.

So, buyer beware. Even when you do all the right things in researching a car to buy -- which I thought I did -- stuff still happens. Anybody have any idea how much a new turbo installed on an S60 should cost. They quoted me about $1,500 and I have not had any luck getting a price off any websites. Thanks.

 

that really blows...
Did you bring the car to a mechanic when you were buying it?

 

$1500 sounds about right....You could try to do it yourself for cheaper. Some would say just sell it and buy a new car but given your repair history it might be worth fixing...if only to get a good price upon sale. Tough brake man...don't give up on her yet!

 

Thanks for confirming the price.

I told the dealership that I wanted to take it to my mechanic to have it looked at and they said "well, we have a 30 day guarantee so you can take it there after you buy it and if there are any problems, bring it back." Stupid me, I didn't do it before I bought it. The only thing that keeps me from smacking my head against a wall REAL hard over this is that the mechanic said the problems I have been having may not have shown up on a simple "check me out" inspection they would have done. This is sort of verified by the fact that despite them running countless tests on the car over many days over the past few months, they couldn't figure it out until the turbo died.

I would be game to change the turbo out myself, but I am a girl and don't have any mechanical experience with cars. There are many things I can do, but work on cars isn't one of them. OK, I can change my oil and change a tire, but that's it (did I mention I'm very good at adding coolant too!)

The good news is that the head gasket is fine, the engine is fine. Trying real hard to be optimistic. I'll give her another try before I sell her. I REALLY like this car and want to keep it. It makes me mad that someone would own such a great car and not take care of it! Why own such an amazing piece of machinery and not care for it properly? Anyway. Thanks again for your help!