So, I purchased a great looking S80 non-turbo 2.9L with 90K miles from a car lot the other day and was quite happy to drive it home. On the way home I got the low coolant level warning. I topped off the coolant and went on my way. Well, now it is just drinking coolant.

I can top off the overflow and within 15 miles of driving, the light is back on and the coolant level is back at the min. mark.

I have checked floorboards: Dry

I do not have much white smoke from exaust...just a little steam that dissipates before hitting the bumper (it is around 20 degrees here now)

There is no smell of burning coolant anywhere

The engine is running great. I am getting the expected amount of power and fuel mileage.

The oil looks like oil. Not milky or foamy..normal color and smell and at the correct level. Same with transmission fluid.

Coolant looks and smells normal as well.

No puddles, pools, or wet anywhere near car when parked and no leaks visible under the hood engine running or not.

One strange thing: The cooling system appears to be under a lot of pressure. Even after letting the car cool, when I release the overflow cap there is a big release of compressed air. I can let the car sit overnight and there is a ton of pressure under the cap in the morning before I start the car. Also the radiator hose is very hard when the car is running or not. Sometimes, when I remove the cap from a (seemingly) empty overflow tank, fluid will suddenly rush into the tank and fill it (has overfilled it as well) even with the engine off.

Thought?

Thanks!

Charlie

 

you seem to have covered the basics on this one in terms of diagnosing the issue,

on my 2.8 T6 the coolant tank is under the same kind of pressure most of the time and the fluid will rush "back" into the bottle if you open the cap ( read the label; " do not open when hot")

anyways, two things;

A) you have a leak, whether its internal (ie headgasket) or external remains to be seen
B) mixture is way off and the water is evaporating,

I also think its possible that there may be a blockage somewhere in the hoses and if its not recirculating correctly, its overheating and evaporating....

regardless, this is not good, i would take it to a shop and ask them to look for a leak first, take the plastic undercarriage off from under the engine and look for leaks, failing finding any i would proceed to check the coolant mixture,, white smoke shuold go away after the car warms up (ie 5 minutes of idling) if it does not then it could be condensation depending on the outside temperature, if its always present i would worry that you have and internal leaks and its burning....

good luck

 

Thanks for the reply.

I took it to a shop today and they are stumped.... Adding new info:

Coolant is the right mix, it is brand new. Also, car does not smoke at all once warm.
The shop looked everywhere for a leak; none found.
They tried changing the reservoir cap, no change...still emptying reservoir.
Did a pressure test on the cooling system, everything is OK.
Compression tested the cylinders, compression was approximately equal across all 6 and adequate.
There was no fouling of the spark plugs. They all looked good.
Looking at the piston tops (through spark plug hole), none look as if they are burning coolant.

Back to the pressure in the reservoir. The coolant looks a bit dirty to me (only 3 days old) and does smell a bit like exhaust. Now, when I remove the cap, the fluid rushed back into the reservoir and returns to normal levels. If I tighten the cap and let the engine run, the coolant slowly depletes from the reservoir until it is empty and is replaced by high pressure gas/air/fumes. The longer I run the engine the more air gets released when I take off the cap.

My question is this: Can I have a blown head gasket that is letting exhaust into the coolant under pressure? So, as the exhaust pressure builds, it moves to the highest point and pushed coolant out of its way rather than actually expelling it? So, when I release the pressure the fluid just moves back into normal position? Are there any other problems that could cause these symptoms? If it was the head gasket, is it possible that the one and only symptom would be dirty coolant under pressure with extra air/fumes in the cooling system...with seemingly no coolant going into the cylinders? Also, if this was the case, would the cooling system still pass the pressure test? That is the part that is really stumping me...it passed the pressure test.

Any help is appreciated. I am new to Volvos and this is pushing me into a whole new area.

 

You probably have some rust or other debris in your system that is clogging... Did you purchase from a Volvo dealer as a certified used car or just some random "Bob's Used Cars"? The dealers' "checks" are overblown but most of the "Bob's" just buy them at auction, detail them, and put them on their lot for quick turnaround. Sometimes when people get small holes in their coolant system, they use plug gum/putty... it can dislodge and clog small holes, but you should be getting a check engine light or other notification. Since it is so cold, you probably wouldn't trigger a hot engine light unless you were sitting in traffic for ages... If in doubt, call the CAR TALK GUYS! :-)

 

any resolution to this ? i have the same problem now exactly

 

I do as well. Help =(

 

inspect/ replace your coolant bottle cap, solved my problem

 

Did they check your heater hoses? I had a problem just like this. I would fill and coolant would be gone within 20-30 minutes of driving. No pools of water no signs of leaking just gone....my friend thank god is a Volvo mechanic for 30+ years and had seen this problem before. This is what was happening. while car was driving the pressure was such that it pushed the coolant out of a tiny hole on one of my heater hoses but while car was just at idle or off...nothing. I would really check your heater hoses good or just replace them all together because here's the deal...1. 2 gallons of coolant cannot evaporate that fast 2. it has to be going somewhere either in the oil, on the ground or out the exhaust. So if it is not a blown head gasket it could only be a handful of things 1.bad radiator,2. bad cooloant resevoir, 3.blown freeze plug 4. holes in heater hoses 5. leaky heater core(check carpets see if they're wet) 5. cracked block(very rare) Even with his pressurized pump on the resevoir, I could not see the leak just wasn't enough pressure only driving the car was so the shop you took it to may have missed it...TRY THE HEATER HOSES and also feel yourcarpets to see if they're wet...hope this helps

 

Hi, Have you tried draining the whole cooling system and refilling to make sure no airlocks are in the system. Does your heater work in the cab?

 

guys i already solved my problem but thanks, if anything like that happens again i will get it looked at for sure...

 

Inspect your lower, right side of the radiator for deposits of dried coolant. Common.

 

I was also losing coolant. The damn thing was coming from the heater hose and flooding my passenger side floorboard. Took me a while to discover where the coolant disappeared to.

 

Please emplain how/what solved your problem. Im have the exact same problem in a 02 s80 non turbo, 2.9l. Im loosing days of work and banging my head against the wall. I cant find any sign of fluid unless it was pushed through the bad cap. Since i've replaced the cap, thermostat and gaskets, found a small hole in the left, upper portion of the radiator about 3/4" below the heater hose spout. Unfortuneatly I couldnt afford a new radiator or find one at a salvage yard so I bought the best adhesve I could buy and even used a fiber mesh patch over the first and did a second patch. This was all recomened to me (off the record) by the local certified volvo shop/dealer. Im extreemly scared that its a blown head gasket but cant find and sign of fluid being mixed with the oil, smoke, or smell. motor seems strong and have no recolection of it ever overheating but does have 150k and was drivin by my sister who isnt my favorite pilot.

One thing that caught my intention after reading this thread was a clog. I've had a feeling that could be it since last night and when I puller the heater hose to inspect I found what looked like a peice of a rubber gasket inside. It was maybe 3/32 x 3/32 and an inch long, soft rubber. I am stumped how something like that could have got into the system and the thermo gasket was completelt intacked. Which was the gasket it resembled most. Could that be enough to clog it somewhere? How to fix?

I also did notice a pin lost in the thermostat I removed. I think it was a presure plug but dont know where it could have gone when it popped. There is a possibility it feel while being removed because I did not notice it till the next day. The thermo was also slightly warped.

Please give me any adivce you might have

 

i didnt wanna read all the post, but if its under "extreme" pressure then i would go straight to the head gasket, because, in theory this will put the cooling system at the same pressure it is when your piston is all the way up just coming down and explodes... and if you cant find it anywhere. thats what it is. you wont find it cuz its burning it, check it by doing a compression test on all the cylinders, or if its that bad, start it up cold and pop the hood with the engine running, loosen the cap for the coolant and put it back on. then within a couple seconds take it off again, remember the engine must be cold so the system wouldnt have any pressure on its own. and if you have a huge woosh of pressure and you can do this numerous times one after another and you have alot of pressure there, you head gasket is leaking and is going into the cylinder, not the suspected coolant going into the engine. also why does nobody put the year of the car... idk why people dont.. but you could have a oil cooler/radiator.. thats the only way to get trans fluid into the coolant.

 

oh also, dont rule out a bad heater core, they have a core in a box design and a drain hose out of the car, so put it to full heat and see if you can smell it, or it could leak out of the seal to and from the heater core, you would see this on the drivers floor most likely, the have foam under the carpet so you might not just "feel" it you will have to pull the carpet back by the gas pedal out and look..

 

Its a 2001 Volvo S80. 2.9L non turbo.

I cant find leaks in the cabin but I doubt the heaters been turned on for months so I''ll give that a shot now. Also I'm starting to feel that the fluid is not draining anywhere but it is settleing somewhere when the motor is off and after the system starts to build presure after about ten min it will begin to build back up in the overflow tank.

Another thing I noticed yesterday is that it keeps blowing holes in the radiator. After reading the last thread I wonder if thats the presure in the system from a head gasket leak.

I dunno, Maybe its a clog in the system also? I am stumped. Im lost, please help. I need to get back to work on monday..

Thank you for everyones advice. I cant explain how much I appreciate any input.

 

I replaced the cap on the coolant resevoir, guess it had a micro fracture

 

Sounds like my 98 XC70. You sure you don't have my car?? I have replaced everything and I mean everything that has to do with the cooling system, EXCEPT the head gasket. In the morning when all is quite and cool, much pressure is released when opening the cap. Only thing left is the gasket. It's way to cold here in Florida to attempt this now. Will wait till the cold north defrosts. please oh please let me know how you make out.

 

hello i am having the same problem in 02 s60, coolant rushes out of resivoir and coolant low light comes on. car smokes from exaust a little but then goes away.how can i know if it is freeze plug, heater hose or heads, is there a way to check it at home before going to a shop? please help

 

Same here. Mine is a 2005 XC70 with only 31,000 miles. I'm going to replace the coolant expansion tank cap and see what happens. I might to a system drain to eliminate air blockage. If that doesn't work it's the Volvo dealer.

This is my first post but I've owned an 88 760 GLE (loved it) and I bought this car as a friend was about to take it to the dealer and accept whatever offer she got. I gave her $500.00 over that offer with a view to selling it but I like it too much to sell it on. This is the only problem I've had in the 3k miles I've added. It is worrying as I drive the 1,300 mile round trip to FL.