Hi Folks,

New here but I've had more than a couple Volvos! Last July I picked up a very clean one owner 1994 850 sedan with 124,000 miles on it. Car has been meticulously maintained and I have a 3" stack of service records as proof.

I have put 6K miles on car since purchase with no issues until now. I noticed when the nights started getting chilly that the car wouldn't heat up properly and there was very little cabin heat. I figured changing out the t-stat and the sensor would most likely remedy that but before I got to it I noticed something else. We had a warm rainy day the other day and I turned on the defroster. the car was at normal operating temp and there was plenty of heat coming through the vent. But I can smell antifreeze in the heat. Not sure what this might be due to? Bad heater core? water pump leaking?

Any direction I can receive would be appreciated. I am pretty mechanically able but not great with diagnosis.

Thanks!!

Scott

 

Sounds like a bad heater core. Fell the carpets next to the center console in the driver and passenger footwells. Also, peel them back a little and look around as that is where the heater core is....behind the center console stack. If the carpets are damp/wet, or you see evidence of coolant around there, you have a bad heater core. Not too bad or expensive to replace.

 

Fix it quick! The heater cores are easy to get to (thank goodness) but the plumbing through the firewall is a little bit fragile. Look at RobertDIY video on youtube, he does a great job.

 

Thanks guys, I have the core on order. I'll let you know how it goes. I found a few helpful vids on the tube of you.