'93 850--Coolant leaking, but from where?

RegisWhite · Post by **RegisWhite** » 31 Dec 2010, 11:22

Hi to all, and happy new year!

Weird thing, and I did a search on here for similar problems--found a few, but they all seem to be related to V70s, and not totally describing my situation. I just discovered a pretty substantial coolant leak on my 850, that ONLY seems to happen AS SOON AS I SHUT OFF THE CAR. In other words, I put it up on ramps and started the engine, all was well; then, as soon as I shut the car down, it was like... it was like my car was relieving itself (!) right there on the driveway. The first sign of this was yesterday when my "radiator panic light" came on on the dash; I got it home, found the low coolant, filled it up, then the same thing happened today.

The expansion tank hoses all look OK, with no obvious signs of leaks on the tank side. The leak appears under the passenger side, dripping down past all the undercarriage parts, in such a way that I can't visibly see where it's starting. The other end of the large expansion tank hose is going to the engine block, and it feels dry all the way down, as near as I can tell. I don't THINK it's the hoses, is what I'm trying to say...

Two other quick things: When I put the car on the ramps and started it, my cooling fan didn't come on, but I assume that this is only because I just had it running for a minute or two. Also, when I was actually making a trip in the car this morning, it did heat up to regular operating temp, heater air was hot, all of that--it seemed to work normally at that time.

The leak obviously happens out of that expansion tank--it's not coming out of the radiator, I mean, because I can definitely SEE that tank drain (gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...) when the "coolant whiz" begins. Any help is appreciated; help with pictures is even better!

You're all super; thanks for the help!

RW

Post by **j_cd** » 31 Dec 2010, 11:36

If it's a passenger side leak it might be the hose between the radiator and thermostat. I had to keep tightening the clamp at the radiator until it finally stopped leaking.

Post by **confused_al** » 31 Dec 2010, 11:45

RegisWhite wrote:The leak appears under the passenger side, dripping down past all the undercarriage parts, in such a way that I can't visibly see where it's starting.

This is what I had when my water pump was leaking. Take out the TB cover you will know for sure.
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=33910

Post by **bronxnativ** » 31 Dec 2010, 12:31

Worst case scenario, water pump. Make sure you check it. My expansion tank was leaking from the bottom hose and a crack on the side of the tank. My expansion tank cap had also lost pressure, creating a leak from the top. Check these items while the car is on and at normal operating temp. Hopefully not the water pump. They are a bXXch to replace!

I got a good deal for the expansion tank from IPD and I replaced both top and bottom hoses of expansion tank from the dealer. I was surprised that the hoses were cheaper at the dealer than IPD. For the expansion tank cap, I just went over to my local Advance Auto parts. I spent less than $50.00 for all parts mentioned.

Good Luck!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 31 Dec 2010, 15:55

Places to look for leaks on the coolant system are the expansion tank cap, particularly if it is gray in color - the gray colored ones all split and leak and the nipple off of the expansion tank back to the thermostat housing - they all crack and leak.

From there you get deeper into the woods with the radiator itself or the water pump.

Other obvious stuff is the hoses but I have never had a hose fail before the aforementioned items which always gave me a golden opportunity to change the hoses since I had to drain the coolant to make the other repair anyway. The cap and the expansion tank are excluded from that statement but everything else requires a full coolant drain.

...Lee

RegisWhite · Post by **RegisWhite** » 31 Dec 2010, 19:20

Thanks for the input! I'll have some time to check into this further tomorrow. I guess I'll just have to put more coolant in the overflow tank, start it up and shut it off, and deal with the spray of coolant! Maybe if I buy some of those pads like you use when potty training a puppy and lay 'em down underneath the car...

I've been reading the posts here about changing out a water pump and timing belt; wow, does THAT sound out of my league! I'll post what I find out when doing a better examination tomorrow...

RegisWhite · Post by **RegisWhite** » 01 Jan 2011, 20:53

UPDATE: That leak is definitely not just oozing from a bad hose connection. I was going to do more detailed surgery--get the timing belt cover off and so forth, as documented here--but I just couldn't get that done today. Frankly, I'm wondering strongly if this is something where I'll need to bite the bullet and take it to a mechanic. I'm new to lots of this--I don't yet own jack stands, and I'm hearing right and left that, if I do some little thing wrong as far as that timing belt is concerned, the car (or at least the engine) is RUINED, so I'm wondering if this is one of those times when even Kenny Rogers would say it was time to "fold 'em"...

Am I overthinking this? Is it really easier than it sounds and looks? I don't want to spend hundreds of bucks, but replacing the car would be a heck of a lot more expensive than paying to have the water pump changed. Just looking for some opinions, I guess.

If I DO take the timing belt cover off, do I have to do some complicated thing where I'm taking the wheel off, taking ANOTHER "lower timing belt cover" off, and all that? Can I just take off the top, plastic cover and be able to see anything more than I'm seeing now? Crawling around under that car with a spotlight didn't get me anything more than to be able to say, "Yep, it's still leaking..."

Thanks; I appreciate the help!
RW

Post by **precopster** » 02 Jan 2011, 04:24

If you're keen on removing a timing cover.........

It's as simple as this, remove the 12mm upper timing cover bolt and remove the upper timing cover to view the timing gear. Look down toward the lower left of the timing components.

If the water pump has been leaking with green coolant you should see a pool of it at the base of the timing cover on the left.

If not and you don't feel confident to tackle the rest by all means take it to your friendly maechanic. Just make sure if the pump is at fault that he replaces as many of the timing components as you can afford . Or you can supply to your mechanic, if he's a friendly kind of fellow, courtesy of one Mathews Volvo Site sponsors at a greatly reduced price.

Good luck & keep us posted.

Post by **j_cd** » 02 Jan 2011, 09:38

You should take the car to a good Volvo mechanic if you don't feel comfortable doing a job. I've rebuilt my turbocharger system, throttle body, PCV, and more, but there's no way I'd try to replace the timing belt. I had someone else do the oil pan o-ring job as well. That one I blame partially on 26" of rain in one week, but I wasn't all that psyched to do it anyway.

Luckily my indie volvo mechanic has quoted a fairly reasonable price of $610 for the timing belt replacement. It does sound like your leak is quite possibly the water pump. You're not going to hurt anything just by taking the cover off and having a look.

RegisWhite · Post by **RegisWhite** » 02 Jan 2011, 15:39

I'm off work tomorrow, it's supposed to be sunny and not god-awful cold here, so I plan to take that cover off and see what I can see. I think I'm on friendly enough terms with some mechanics that I could supply the parts to them, BUT... there's still that deer-in-the-headlights issue when the words "1993 Volvo 850" come spilling out of my mouth...

More to come!