1977 Volvo 244 Overheating!!!

Does it overheat when the car is driving at a decent rate of speed? If not, the fan clutch is probably bad, this will manifest itself worse sitting in traffic. Don't bother with used thermostats and water pumps unless you already have known good stuff laying around, brand new ones can be ordered from FCP Groton for a reasonable price and will normally last longer.

Its overheats when Im driving at normal speeds and uphills even worse...havent even attempted to take it on the freeway or anything...But when Im stopped at a stop light just sitting it cools down.

That's a little more unusual, I'd check the ignition and camshaft timing, also pull one of the spark plugs and look to see if it has evidence of a lean mixture, that can cause overheating.

Another thing to check is to see if the coolant expansion tank is cracked or the cap is not holding pressure.

Radiator is also suspect, see if you can feel it for cool spots, if the car doesn't have AC, you can pop the grill out and feel it from that side so the fan isn't in the way.

Also see if you can get someone to do a leakdown test, a blown head gasket will also cause overheating, you can often smell exhaust in the coolant reservoir in that case.

It doesnt have ac...and as for checking the ignition and camshaft timing...it has a hard time stating too I dont know if that has anything to do with it overheating or not but yea. And I forgot to add if the heater is on when the thermostat isnt in it doesnt overheat at all if the thermostat is in and the heater is on it still over heats but not as bad... So at first my best bet would be to replace the thermostat, water pump and fan clutch and see if that helps? as far as i can tell those are the three least expensive things to replace. Oh also a few people have asked me if it could be due to collant leakage but I dont think it could be because after we replaced the water pumpwith the used one because the old on was leaking really bad we put coolant in it and every time I would check to see if it needed more it hadnt went down at all and if it didnt it would barley go down...almost like its not circulating or something I dont know..

can we do a leakdown test at home? if i remember right someone looked at my car and said they thought my head gasket was leaking....if i replace the head gasket do i have to get the kit or just the head gasket its self? sorry for all the questions but your the only one thats been able to tell me somewhat of what could be wrong with my car. thank you by the way.

If the water pump shaft feels tight and it isn't leaking, then the pump is ok for now so just leave that alone.

If someone said the head gasket may be leaky, look at that first, it's easy to check, and you have to take all the other stuff apart to get to it anyway. You can do a leakdown test at home if you have an air compressor and a fitting to fit in the spark plug holes to pressurize the cylinders one at a time with the coolant cap removed, then listen for air hissing in the intake, exhaust, oil filler cap, and bubbling out the coolant, if the gasket is leaky, this will tell you as well as it evaluates the condition of the valves.

Oops, I forgot to say, get the whole top end gasket set, the rest of the gaskets and seals are only a bit more than just the head gasket and they should generally all be replaced.

probably does not solve all of the symptoms you describe, but a very cheap cleanup to try:

1. disconnect your radiator hoses and empty the cooling system (most will advise you don't try to preserve and reuse your coolant fluid, but replace with new instead).
2. remove your radiator and take it to your local do-it-yourself car wash.
3. lean the radiator against a wall, with the front of the radiator against the wall, and the back (with the hose pipes) facing you.
4. insert a quarter in the high-pressure washer, and blow all the bugs and road debris out of the radiator fins with the wash gun.
5. put it all back together and refill with coolant.

this technique did not solve all of my 91 240 overheating, but made a significant difference.

ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com...

Sounds a whole lot like it's time for a new radiator. And yes, running without a thermostat is *not* good for the car nor the environment nor your gas mileage.

I wanted to add this and see if it would make a difference on anything. Today was rainy and chilly outside and I had to go pick up my little sister from school it took about an hour...an hour of driving and my car just barely warmed up...it didnt even get to "normal" tempature. I dont know if that would help put into perspective more of what is wrong with it but I just thought I would add that to see if that helps figure out the problem any more.

Try this, get it all nice and warm to where it's running a bit too hot, then pop the hood and watch the radiator fan. Shut off the engine and go look at the fan, it should stop spinning when the engine does, if it keeps spinning freely then the fan clutch is bad. On some of these, you can pop the spring off the end and flip it around to force it engaged for testing. It's also possible the radiator is bad, but either way a leakdown test is worthwhile because it's cheap and tells you a lot about the overall condition of the engine.

Another thing to look at is the radiator hoses, in particular the one to the water pump inlet. They soften with age and can collapse under load (when the pump is running faster), which would fit with the symptom of not overheating at idle (pump running slow, so hose doesn't collapse).

Hoses are cheap--$10 each at IPD:

New thermostats are about the same:

You can try having someone watch the hoses while you rev the engine; the collapse will probably be visible. The lower one is probably the culprit. But if you're going to replace one, do both.

IPD is a good source; they sell quality parts, a cut above the local chain stores.

Gary

Pat, you're correct about cleaning out all the accumulated debris on the radiator but with a 240, I would more likely suspect the inside of the radiator. Given the history noted below, I am inclined to suspect that a radiator rebuild or NEW replacement plus putting in a NEW t'stat will probably fix the problem.

I once had a leaking head gasket on a 240 and the symptoms were not as reflected in the original report.

That's my opinion, offered absolutely cost-free and surely worth every penny spent.

Chuck Fiedler Noth>probably does not solve all of the symptoms you describe, but a very cheap

Do NOT panic. You have contacted a rich lode of useful information and experience. Between us we'll figure out what's going on.

The following advice is free but based on an experience that goes back before your 240 was built. First, do not buy used parts like radiators, water pumps and thermostats for a *30-year-old* car! Your time to install the part is (probably) no different and the part is some four to six times more expensive for new but so is the chance of success.

DO NOT buy these kinds of parts from a dealer! There are many after-market parts sources and they are MUCH cheaper than the dealers.

Also, you should not run without a thermostat, especially when it's cold but even in the summer. That 'stat is there to make the car run efficiently and not burn *bunches* on unnecessary gas.

Chuck Fiedler Nothing but Volvo since 1974