Oh boy. I lent my car to a roommate to run a brief errand. I had recently replaced the upper radiator hose, which didn't fit perfectly (wanted to tug at the radiator a tiny bit) but seemed to be fine. Then I got a phone call, "your car temp went straight to the top, smoke started coming from the engine, I pulled over as soon as I could." Then I saw the damage, yikes.

I called a Volvo shop just to see what the hell I should do. They said this was surprisingly common of the plastic-sided ones. So I understand I just need to replace it. I have a friend who was about to replace his radiator when his Volvo was totaled in an accident and he offered to send it up to me for the price of shipping!

My question is... I wasn't driving the car when this happened, I was told the car was shut off within half a block (although uphill), just long enough to get the car off the road. Should I fear engine damage from this? Also, my radiator has always been slightly loose. You can kind of move it a little with your hand. I think this is due to my car being salvaged, and having had some body damage in the past, but I've put like 10k miles on it over the last 4 years and this has never been a problem. Just looking for thoughts, advice, etc. Thank you!

 

Here's a suggestion - try to get some JB weld on there. Be careful - you dont want it going in - just as a cover over that crack. Let it set a good 24-36 hours just to be safe. Cover up way more than that crack just to be safe. Put coolant/distilled water in and have your buddy start the car while you can hear how the engine runs.
Also, ask your buddy to keep an eye out on that temp gauge while you are tinkering around.

Hopefully, you will be lucky to get a new radiator and hose on and still drive it. The upper hose was only $13 at the dealership back in January when I got it and it fitted perfectly.

Maybe Pierce can give some more insight, but I think this will be a cheap way for you to determine the extent of damage.

 

Thanks but this crack looks pretty extreme and i definitely dont' want JB weld getting into my engine or the radiator, nor do I want it to crack apart when I'm far away or on the highway.

What do you mean "get lucky and be able to drive it?" Is it possible I have incurred engine damage from the sudden loss of coolant?

 

Is it possible - absolutely. If it were a 5 cylinder engine (from the S/C/V 70s) then you definitely have ruined it. Going up half block uphill definitely worsens your chances. But being a red block, they are very sturdy and which is why I said you might be lucky.

 

Uh oh. Is there any way to tell before installing a new radiator and running it?

 

If its a significant crack and a leaky hose, i would not risk it.

 

So you'd have to run the engine to tell, then I guess I have to replace the radiator first. Good thing my friend LA has one he'll send me for just the cost of shipping.

 

Yep. Definitely not worth risking it more. Did you roomie tell you if the car was sounding louder/weird/knocking by the time they stopped it?

 

I'll ask again but the "story" I was told was that the temp gauge shot up and smoke started coming from under the hood and they pulled over and saw it was leaking coolant everywhere. They did say that when they first started it it made funny noises at idle, but it kind of always does that, and since I had a hose leak earlier, which I fixed with a new hose, they knew to keep a close eye on the temp gauge. I imagine if it had cracked and leaked before the big blowout, the temp would've gone up too, but they said everything was fine before that.

 

"funny noises"? Also, if there was smoke coming out everywhere means it was overheated all the way to the read and probably drive for a "little more" than half a block i would say

 

I had my cars t-stat crap out on me at the beginning of the year. My gauge would go past half stay there for little under a minute - then the t-stat would finally open and temps would be normal. This happened 3 times - never had any smoke coming out

 

These aren't car people, funny noises might just be an old car to them. Idle is slightly inconsistent when it's warming up anyways and they said it went away. Also the fan rubs against the cover sometimes.

I think the smoke was from the coolant bursting and burning off. I don't know if what they told me is true, and it doesn't really matter because I can't prove it, but if all the coolant spills out at once, I imagine air would be getting into the engine really fast and it would overheat really fast.

 

Idle - missing vacuum lines or clogged idle control valve or MAF or plugs & wire.
Why is the fan rubbing against the cover? Fix these while you are changing the radiator.

You can buy a new one on ebay for $60 or get one from a dealer for double the price. Fix it once fix it right. If you take some basic care, you can have the 240 for a while. Mine is about to hit 270K miles. And my '98 C70 is at 295k miles.

 

I'm gonna wait a few days and see if my friend will seriously mail me the one he has. Really hope my engine isn't blown

 

a B230F is probably *FINE* after what you did. if it was only driven a half block from where it split, its very unlikely to have done any real damage. at worst, you weakened the head gasket, and it may start seeping coolant in umpteen 1000 more miles, and eventually it might even fail completely and require replacing.

If you want to keep this car, don't get a cheap radiator. I put one of IPD's brass ones on our 240 years and years ago, it will likely outlast the car sigh, I don't think those are available any more. my 740 has a recent Nissens, thats the OE brand.

side note, I wish our Volvos could get Behr radiators like Mercedes 300E's use... much nicer build quality.

 

Thank you for the encouragement!! The radiator I'm promised is good quality I am told, no plastic. Looking forward to installing. Hoping for the best.

 

While you are changing the radiator, change the hoses too. IPD or your dealer. OEM quality always. Also, clean up/replace (its $5) your flamtrap as well as the idle control valve. Simple DIYs and will keep your 240 happy

 

Don't JB weld that radiator it is too far gone and if it fails again you could risk the engine. The engine is probably fine. I would buy the original radiator from Tasca Volvo, it cost almost the same as a high quality after market one. You definitely don't want to go with a cheap one. Change the thermostat and use a good quality antifreeze.

 

IMHO, the best antifreeze in these is Zerex G-05, that's essentially the same formula as the original Volvo branded green stuff (not to be confused with US green stuff, which is straight glycol). G-05 was also the 1980s/1990s Mercedes standard antifreeze (tinted blue for benz). My household water is quite hard, so I use supermarket distilled water bought in the 2.5 gallon brick to dilute it. I take a spare jug, pour half a new jug into the empty one, fill both back up to the 1G line with distilled water, label both 50-50 with a black sharpie on all sides, thats enough antifreeze for a complete replacement and then some. G05 keeps its anticorrosive properties a lot longer than a plain green prestone type antifreeze.

 

btw, the factory Volvo radiators are made by Nissen... they have plastic side tanks and an aluminum core. they last about 20 years or 300K+ miles unless something catastrophic happens.