I was driving my Volvo when I heard some strange noises with the engine.. I popped the hood up and saw the coolant levels were very low, there was a fuel station around 3-400 yards up the road so I drove there as slow as possible...
I tried to top up the reservoir but the water just leaked straight out, I've jacked up the car and got underneath but can't see where the leak is coming from...
Please help!! My car is still parked in the fuel station as I don't want to risk moving it any further... Any ideas?? Thank you

 

Get qualified help. It's obvious you are lost and none of us can see the car so we would just be guessing. Also, driving as slowly as possible when the engine has no coolant isn't necessarily the right strategy. Getting to where you can turn the car off as quickly as possible (within reason naturally), shutting the car off to let it cool down then restart and move, or calling a tow truck would all be better.

 

Welcome to the forum
Moved your question to the S40 section.

 

My crystal ball has dead batteries....Where are you located at?
For all anyone knows, you could have someone around the corner from you, and no one would know it.
The same crystal ball locates leaks that cannot be seen from my dining room, so I'm afraid I can't help there.

Martin

 

JH, if coolant is leaking straight out you probably have a bad hose or totally blew a radiator seam. The only other choice is the coolant reservoir itself which should be easy to see if its leaking from up top. problem with looking from underneath is the air shrouds block your view. I'd start by inspecting the reservoir, its hose, the top radiator hose, and if you can remove the top shroud, take a look down at the lower radiator hose. Final inspection is to look towards the rear of the motor for the coolant hoses going to through the firewall to the heater core. Next concern is what caused the leak in the first place. If you can find a bad hose etc, you should also replace the thermostat as that may have gone bad and caused a pressure build up. Did your car's temp guage go up indicating any overheating? Since you're leaking coolant from the fill (assuming you're not just spilling some), the car's not driveable (an overheat can warp the head - a $1500 repair) so you're looking at a tow to a shop just the same.