I'm looking at a 97' 850 GLT to buy, and it has some issues...
It has the telltale white goo on the end of the dipstick. Is this guaranteed to be a blown head gasket? I am used to seeing the oil turn pink when the head gasket is blown, but it didn't really look like that. It didn't seem very bad to me. I didn't think to pull the oil cap (Duh!), so no info there... There wasn't any residue or smell in the water overflow. The seller claimed he had a Volvo mechanic friend "look" at it, and he said he thought it was the radiator leaking internally, which would be a real deal maker for me... Does anyone know about this issue? The car only has 130k miles on it, so if it was an easy fix i'd jump on it. The seller is asking $1500 for the car.
Has anyone ever heard of the radiator leaking like that? what are the chances that the head gasket is blown? Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

 

Well my friend,I've bought many cars ranging from $200 jalopees to 32k mini coopers.All of which were pretty good,except one...My experience with white,pink,any milky color in the oil = broken car. Blown head gasket mainly. When oil mixes with water and high temperature it gets milky.....Run like hell..My two cents anyway.............

 

Well I would look under the oil cap. If you are in a Northern climate and the car only takes short drives some may show on the dipstick. There is some moisture that collects in the motor from short drives.

If the radiator broke internally then it should be like chocolate milk. Also usually it is the tranny cooler that will break and not the oil cooler. But it could be possible.

Also if the headgasket blows another tell tail sign is excessive pressure in the coolant bottle.If you run the car for like 2 minutes or so and there is alot of pressure in there it is most likely blown.

 

I'm calling BS running from this one.... at least for now. Follow Tech's advice, and especially check the coolant overflow bottle. Also, do a forum search on milky goo on the dipstick. The 850's for some reason seem to be prone to this if they are not driven on longer trips or infrequently. For what it is worth, we have a 95 Turbo with 210 K on it. It has had the "milky goo syndrome" when not run hard for the last 45,000 miles and it runs great, no runs, no drips, no errors. A co-worker has a 97 with the same issue and he had over 160K on his. It seems more prone with synthetic oil than regular dino oil

 

Concur with tech. We see that here in PA with all makes of cars. When driving short distances in cold weather, the condensation doesn't have enough time to burn off. Some longer drives once in a while will help. If you let it go too long it will build up and will need cleaned out by other methods.

 

Pull the dipstick while the car is running and see if it puffs smoke. If so it may be a clogged PCV system. $130 in parts and 6 hours of your back breaking, lol So, no matter which fixes it, it's still considerable work.

If there's not a lot of oil in the coolant or visa versa, then I don't really think it's something to run from screaming. The price however... steep for something needing service and no turbo.