So after the whole issue with my wheel bearing, which is now fixed lol, there is now coolant building up on the floorboard on the passenger side. I've read some threads about the heater core, and I took a look at it today, and had the car idle for about 15 minutes with nothing leaking from the heater core. There's not even any signs of leaking on the area underneath the heater core. My question is, where would the coolant be coming from if the heater core is not leaking? I read that maybe it's a heater matrix? Not really sure what that is. I looked all around the passenger side and it doesn't seem like the coolant is dripping down from anywhere unless it's underneath the fire resistant padding (or whatever padding is under the carpet). Any help would be appreciated!


Thanks!


Tim

 

Set the heater at the hottest setting and try idling for 10 minutes. If not set to hot, the water valve is closed and the heater core would not reveal leak even if it had it.


JPN

 

Let us know what you find.

 

I still have the faint smell of coolant and found this on volvospeed.

It may or may not help. But you never know.

http://www.volvospeed.com/vs_forum/i...showtopic=9717

G.L.


Later.

 

Sorry so long for a response, some issues came up lol.

When I looked for a leak before posting, I let the car idle for about 10-15 minutes, while looking at the heater core to see if it was leaking down into the passenger side. I had the heater on full blast the hole time, and it was set to the hottest temp both for driver and passenger. I do have the ECC. BTW, not sure if I mentioned this, but mine's a 1993 850 NA. Since it's been slowly leaking (refill reservoir every 2-3 days), it's got mainly water in the coolant system now, but it's still got that faint smell of antifreeze when I turn on the heater.

I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow, and let it idle for at least 15 minutes with the heater going. Are there any coolant lines running under the padding or anything? Maybe I should drive it around a bit instead of just letting it idle and then take a look to see if it's leaking?

 

I don't know if there is anything other than the heater core that carries coolant under the dash. I'll attach a page from the factory manual to see if you can find something out of it.

I wouldn't drive with pure water in the system; this is a cause for corrosion build-up (cooling capability should be fine but you do not have freeze protection, which you may not need in warmer climate).

It is strange.


JPN

 

I dont know much about the 800 series but I've had the same problem on 940's before. Turned out to be the water heater valve itself which is located up above the foot pedals on european cars. I'm not even sure if the 850 has the same arrangement but it might be worth checking out anyway.

Paul

 

Another place to do a quick check is where the heater hoses go into the heater core. Look on the firewall in the engine compartment and see if you see any signs of leakage there