In the 97 850 R I sold to my son in law there is a problem where it keeps getting leaks in the cooling system. I had to replace the resevoir before I sold it to him, then he had had a hose blow, then the radiator went and now it's leaking again somewhere. My suggestion was to change the thermostat. Anybody else have any other ideas?

The car has close to 240K on it right now. We did change the head gasket and 140K.

He is thinking about selling it. How much you guys think it is worth? The body and interior and in very good condition, but it runs rough sometimes, but when you step on it it smooths right out and takes off. Codes always say misfire in cylinder 1, but it's so intermittent we can not figure out what is causing it. Been doing it ever since we changed the head gasket.

 

You should do a leak down on it. IMO it sounds like a blown head gasket. Blown head gaskets dont always do the oil/water mix, they can go from cylinder to water and be just enough of a leak that it requires pressure to get through it. Each compression stroke pushes pressure to the coolant system, eventually you have a very charges coolant system that can swell the reservoir, blow hoses, etc. The only way to find this is with a leak down test.

 

Thanks, that is kind of what my son in law was thinking also.

 

++1; Good advice from Boxpin.

I assume you guys are talking about a cylinder leak down test; yes?


In addition i would suggest a cooling system pressure leak down test:

1. engine cold; pressurize the cooling system to 1 bar (~15 psi) and let it sit overnight with the spark plugs out.
2. then in the AM, ck the pressure; perfect is no pressure drop.
3. Assuming there is some pressure drop; ck everywhere for external leaks and repair as necessary.
4. Have a helper crank the engine (disable spark and fuel) while you observe from engine bay; see any gushers, then there's the problem..