94 850 turbo losing coolant.

Jul 07, 2005 5 Replies

My 220K 94 850 turbo wagon has lit it's low coolant light twice this year now. It never used to do this, so it's leaking somewhere.



From the top, I can't see any obvious leaks, and, after 15 minutes idling in one spot, there were no drips on the floor. (too slow a leak for this). There is no coolant smell inside the car, and the hoses were replaced a few years ago, and still look good.



Are there any common leakage points for 850's of this vintage?


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Get an old coolant resivoir cap from a scrapyard, drill a hole in it and insert a tire valve stem. Pump it up to a few PSI with a hand tire pump and look for leaks.

Look under the heater unit on top of the tunnel. If the heater core leaks, it can run down the tunnel and under the front carpets.

I have a 94 850 Turbo with 285k. Don't forget to check on the back of the radiator. Clip-in hoses cool the turbo and transmission, one set on each side of the radiator, one hose on top and one on bottom. "Driver's side" is transmission.

Remove the clip and there is a small clear gasket that appears to be a weak point. One of mine had a split. I replaced this gasket (about $8 at the dealer), put a hose clamp on the clip and the leak went away.

Well, I found it. There was some suspicions dried spray around the top main hose. I idled for a while, no leak. I then disconnected the fan and waited til the temp gauge started creeping up. When I shut down and checked, coolant was spraying from the crimp between radiator end cap, where it's crimped to the core. Time for a new radiator. At least there are aftermarket ones, so I won't have to pay hundreds for the Volvo-branded item.

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has pretty good prices on these radiators.

John

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