I just bought a new to me 850 GLT n/a for $1000. Of course, they guy said it ran fine and had no issues (complete lies, as par for the course). I've decided, since I don't absolutely NEED a car, to make this my pet project. I've never worked on cars before, but it seems this is a great starting point. Issues I've found- radiator is leaking. It's obvious the guy put some sort of No-Leak sludge into the coolant. Also, the heater core. I've ordered both a new radiator and heater core, and have watched some videos, so I think I can tackle this on my own. Any advice/pointers/anecdotes?

Also, the oil was really....really...really old, until I changed it. I noticed on the dip-stick there was a light colored GOOP, which really worries me that the head gasket is blown. The car starts and drives just fine, no overheats although I haven't driven it far due to fear of the coolant leak. The underbelly of the oil cap was not goopy or milkshake colored, the coolant reservoir doesn't seem to have oil in it (although it's hard to tell from the stop-leak junk), so I'm wondering if there's a surefire way to tell. I will be replacing the radiator and heater-core this weekend, is there anything I should be on the lookout for while doing this task? I don't have the monies for a mechanic and even if the head is blown, I'll be doing it mostly myself, so please chime in and give a new Volvo owner/brand new mechanic some advice!

 

Also, the timing belt was replaced last year so that is at least one relief to be had in a sea of repairs.

 

What year is your GLT. small amounts of foam on the dipstick can be due to old oil and condensation that's never been dried out (ie from short drives). Testing for a head gasket can be done with a kit that measures HCs in the coolant and a gauge which measuring coolant system pressure. To start, how hard does the upper radiator hose get with the engine running? Radiators and Cores are common failure items in 850s so if your system pressure is normal, you should be ok - just do the thermostat and consider doing the engine coolant temp sensor as part of the job. As far as the job itself, the only suggestion is plan your attack when doing the heater core. One school of thought is to use the trash bag approach to collecting the antifreeze when disconnecting the heater core lines, a second is to disconnect the lines on the engine side and push compressed air to push out the coolant (but keep the trash bag for any drips). Sometimes the heater core leaks are just the o-rings - a few posters have gotten creative on solving that by going to generic hoses and clamps. As to the oil, I'm a fan of using high mileage oil (ie Castrol, Quaker State ) which has a seal softener - my 850 started leaking at the rear main seal when I tried to convert to synthetic - and the high mileage oil cured that, been using ever since. Also you may want to check the PCV pressure (see Robert DIY's Youtube vid on the how to's) as you build your to-do list to see if that's contributing to the oil foaming - but my hope is you have some condensation and an oil change should cure.

 

All my Volvos foam the dipstick in the winter. It's really strange. The sure-fire way to tell is coolant consumption, but that is not going to work for you...

 

Alright so finally got done replacing the rad and hc. One of the mounting bolts on the frame broke loose and had to be cut off. My question- I replaced it with a nut and bolt, but should I be worried about it's strength? There's only two of these things holding the radiator in, and I'm a bit afraid of it coming loose and backing out. Any advice?

 

I'd use blue loctite/threadlock on it and forget about it.

 

Thanks! I just ordered a PCV kit from FCP euro, along with new trans line retainers and some other stuff, and I'll be sure to loctite that bolt when I have everything disassembled. I had the car inspected by a local mechanic, who gave it a clean bill of health all except for the PCV. I really hope to have a working, running, breathing car in a couple weeks.

By the way, to any new folks who might be wondering, the heater core replacement is incredibly simple and can be done in about 30 minutes! RobertDIY is a great resource.