Hoping for a bit of insight.... My 850 turbo wagon is loosing coolant, at a rate of about once a week i am having to fill the resivoir. Some symptoms that exist are also, when i hit the gas the coolant light comes on momentarily, and it does sometimes smell a bit of coolant inside the cabin. I am seeing NO evidence that it is leaking outside of the car.... no puddles ect....

Any help? its weirding me out! LOL

 

I have the exact same symptoms on my 1995 850 Turbo sedan. The coolant light only comes on if the reservoir is low... if it's filled properly then the light doesn't come on.

The smell of coolant inside the cabin increases dramatically if I turn on the heat at the hottest setting. This has lead me to believe my heater core is going bad and needs to be replaced. Try cranking up your heat to see if the smell of coolant increases in your car too.

Does anyone else have any ideas as to what could cause this?

Thanks!

 

Heater core? Have you checked for leaks with a black light?

 

most likely heater core if you have checked the engine compartment with a blacklight and found no leaks. I have to do the heater core on my 850 wagon next week because I'm having the same problem - no coolant leaks in the engine compartment, but strong coolant smell in the vents. Search previous threads to see more posts about this....

 

do you only smell coolant after the car has been sitting still awhile hot? do you also smell coolant outside the car?

i had a leaky coolant reservoir cap that caused these problems. i would smell coolant on startup until i got moving, as the coolant vapor that had come out the cap got sucked in the hvac intake.

 

Check and see if the front passenger side floor mats are damp/wet. If so, you probably are leaking coolant from the heater core

 

And have the cooling system pressure tested. The pressure would keep dropping at a slow rate, if there is a small leak. Or, you can do this by idling for 15-20 minutes; this puts stress on the cooling system and if there is a leak in the engine compartment, which I doubt as the other gentlemen have already suggested, would appear as small drippings, so try to smell for coolant in the bottom of the dash or black-light the floor. Make sure to set the heater at the hottest, this allows maximum coolant flow into the heater core.

The warning light is nothing but a fluid level indicator. If the fluid level in the reservoir gets low, the magnetic float sinks accordingly and the sensor probe's internal electrical passage closes with magnetism from the sinking float. With the engine stone cold, fill the reservoir to a level between Max & Min marks. I once filled it up to the Max line and when the car reached slightly above normal operating temp, coolant started to overflow from the cap.

Good luck,


JPN

 

i would start by bypassing the heater core untill you can verify if it is dammaged, that way you don't end up with a back seat full of coolant like i did

i would aslo check out the thermostat, that was my problem when my heater core went


let me know what you figure out

 

I'd bet on the above-just changed heater core on my old 850.

 

Walkthrough on this? Where to get part/best practices?

 

My 850 Turbo has the same smell of coolant in the A/C vents. I added UV dye to my coolant 3 days ago and replaced the coolant reservoir cap. Using a black light, I detect no leak in the engine bay, and nothing inside the car (carpet is 100% dry). I will keep checking each night when I get home from work... maybe it just takes time for the leak to show up with this UV dye.

The smell of coolant is much stronger when I have the heat on high heat with recirculation on.

Is it possible that the coolant leak is evaporating (going straight to steam) and not leaving any UV dye residue for my black light to detect and that the coolant fumes are being pulled into the A/C air intake? If so, why would the smell be stronger when recirculation is on?

I have the suspicion that my heater core is the problem. Do I have to remove the dash to change it? (I'm hoping it's just the center console.)

Any input / ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks.

P.S. I'm not trying to hijack this thread.... I thought since my question was on topic it would be okay to post it here... please let me know if this is not appropriate and I'll repost it as a new question.

 

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...=9717&st=0

Got parts from eeuroparts.com, but do not get the expensive ($10)sealing kit as they suggest-just get set of 2 O-rings from them for $2+change.

 

I just figured out where my coolant leak is. It is the water pump. The coolant is coming out of what looks like a freeze out plug on the actual water pump. I believe the coolant comes out at that point then hits something hot and evaporates and gets sucked into the A/C's air intake. I guess it's time for a new timing belt and water pump.

 

Glad you found the trouble. FIrst tiem I ahve heard of an 850 water pump failing though. The factory originals are pretty sturdy. Depending on the mileage, if you are going to change the pump nad timing belt, you might want to go ahead and change the belt tensioner, all idler pulleys, the serpentine belt, tensioner and idler pulleys, the thermostat, and the upper and lower radiator hoses.

Glenn

 

Great suggestion. I already have the new belt tensioner and pulleys ready for the job. I'll take your advice and get the new thermostat and radiator hoses while I'm at it. I have 147,000 miles on this car so it's probably about time for these maintenance items.

Thanks!

 

+ one on the write up..... it would be nice for someone to jot down a step by step on how to pull it... so i dont waste time and say... pull the whole dash? LOL....

But in regards to coolant being in the cabin.... leaking from the heater core.... where does it go? under the carpets, it seems like the at rate at which i loose coolant, it would have soaked the carpets....

Any thoughts? and with the black light method... any old black light bulb... sweep the cabin carpets and viola? what does it look like if it is coolant?

THANKS GUYS!!!

 

lol....... never saw the second page.... awesome write up thread, good pics.... how much is too much $ on a new heater core?

 

OK, so after several hours getting kinky with my wagon.... ive discovered that the heater core is in fact leaking, but the amount that it is leaking is TINY... the photo ill attatch over exagerates the leak. I ran the car with high heat for 20 min and i got one measly drip out of it... So as elchingon2002 mentioned, is it possible that the cooland is evaporating into steam once it hits that leak, either wat im ordering a new one.

The second photo is of the bottom of my raditior. it seem s that in last fed days the car has developed a small leak, possibly in the radiation itsself, but im wondering if it may be the water pump as elchingon2002 discovered... anyone wanna peek at the pics and tell me there prognisis?

Lastly, the 3rd photo is of what i believe to be the oil cooler lines??? right in front of the oil pan, near the filter.... anyway, theres a small oil leak dripping from these pressuriezed lines.... any thoughts?

forvive my clicky links

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...voleaks001.jpg
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...voleaks002.jpg
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...voleaks003.jpg

 

1. Remember it is leaking more in the core box.

2.Yes looks like the radiator is leaking very common. Water pump would be leaking from the engine not the radiator.

3.Yes that is the oil cooler lines looks like they are leaking pretty bad.

 

HMM.... ? can you elaborate? are you saying the leak might not be visible?

thank you!

i need a shoppping list

.. im going to go ahead and order the radiatior and Oil cooler lines... and i want to whack it all out at one time.... I dont want to have to find out that i was missing X seal kit or whatever, so could someone who has done these fill me in? replacing radiator, oil cooler lines, heater core, and possibly the PVC system.... what little extras are needed in the way of seal kits, special tools ect... should i replace the radiator hoses as well? Also might as well so while im down there things? timing belt ect? THANKS!!!!!