I have a 1992 Volvo 960 with 140,000 miles. It has developed a small radiator leak and I was considering using one of the leak fixes you pour in the radiator instead of going through the trouble of removing it and having it repaired. Is there a particular product that is good for this application? I need to keep this car through the winter and maybe the spring. Thanks for your help, Ralph
radiator leak
Jan 05, 2010
7 Replies
140K is barely broken in, personally I would just replace the radiator, I don't like pouring the various types of magical goo in cars, it can gum things up and make a mess.
In addition, this car probably has a combination plastic and metal radiator. If the plastic portions fail, you dump all of your coolant, immediately. Part of owning a classic Volvo of that era is replacing the radiator to stop tis from happening, even if you just install a new plastic and metal unit. There are also solid metal aftermarket units.
Yeah the plastic radiators are horrible, and Volvo is not alone in using them. Nothing made of plastic should ever be used as part of the cooling system, when (not if) it fails, it almost always does so catastrophically. I suppose perhaps it's planned obsolescence for the car.
i agree...swap out the radiator....although its aprox a 3 hour job....
3 hours? Couple bolts, 3 hoses, cooling fan, oh, there's coolant lines if it has an automatic, still I don't think I've ever spent more than an hour changing a radiator.
on the 1993 940t the whole front end needs to be "tweeked" to get to the unit....
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