1999 V70XC overheating

grntrdbx · Post by **grntrdbx** » 30 Jun 2012, 19:17

I just turned 220k on the odometer Friday morning on the way to work (3miles before I arrived in the parking lot) and when I made the Michigan left to pull into the parking lot I saw steam coming from the area under the hood by the passenger strut tower. I popped the hood and saw that the coolant was bubbling out of the overflow reservoir. I figured I'd let it cool down and check it out later. I came out about 4 hrs later and pulled the reservoir off and the hoses attached to it and inspected them. I didn't see any cracks or pinholes in them so I put them back on after work and added about a 1/2 gallon of water. I drove to my parents' house (about 3 miles away) and by the time I got there, the temp gauge was just coming into the red and the coolant was bubbling in the res. again. I waited about 1-1/2 hrs, pulled the upper hose and saw that the inside of it was starting to break down. I thought that the system might be clogged up with this soft rubbery residue, so I drained the coolant system and removed the thermostat and flushed the system out with water. I ordered a new upper and lower radiator hose that night, picked them up the next morning and reinstalled them with the old thermostat, filled the system with water and drove it to an auto shop to have them do a chemical flush and replace the thermostat if needed. The temp gauge got up to the red on the 4 mile trip. I had the heat turned on and the fan on high on the way over to the shop but the heat was not blowing out that hot (I thought it would have been cooking me just having water in the system). The shop did the flush and put a new thermostat in and drove it around only to call me and say that it was still getting hot. The radiator seems good (replaced about 4 yrs ago) and the heater core was replaced at around 120k if I remember correctly. I was getting a little coolant smell in the cabin before it overheated. I should probably replace the heater core, but is it possible that the heater core is plugged with the upper rad. hose material and it is blocking the flow of coolant in the coolant system? When I purged the system with water at the upper rad. hose connection earlier, I was getting water flow through the engine back up to the water port in the head under the thermostat. Is there a heater control valve that may be plugged and not bypassing when the car is turned on and running? Just so you know, the car was running normally before I turned 220k.

Post by **rspi** » 30 Jun 2012, 21:35

Sad to say that we are having the same issue with our S70 GLT. I believe that we have some kind of breach on the head gasket and I'm going to start doing the job first thing Monday morning. What I've learned: It appears that the early stages of a bad head gasket is combustion air getting onto the coolant system. These hot gasses cause the coolant reservoir to over flow because of the pressure in the system. If driven far enough, all of the coolant will be forced out and you will experience a full blown head gasket failure and overheat.

We have been milking ours for at least 4 months. It's my daugher's car and she keeps filling the res with coolant and her car is NOT overheating, as long as she keeps the coolant filled. I just replaced her coolant tank because the old one was looking very stressed as the pressure builds it was looking like it was about to explide. Has lots of hairline cracks in it.

Here is my main thread on the issue: http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-s70- ... ems-63516/

grntrdbx · Post by **grntrdbx** » 02 Jul 2012, 20:08

I just drove it back from the place where I had the coolant system flushed and charged. I drove it for about 5 miles at which point it was just getting into the red. I pulled over and let it idle for a few minutes and the gauge showed that the temp was decreasing a bit, so I closed the hood and putted down the side of the road with my flashers on for about a half mile, pulled into an empty lot and let it cool down with the engine off for 15min. The gauge showed that the temp was in the middle of the range so I decided to go for it and see how it did. I drove it until it went into the red (near the top) and rolled the bones. It stayed in the red for about 1-1/2 miles then started to drop to the half way mark again, so I kept driving. I stopped at an intersection and the gauge jumped up to the red again but I thought I would still chance it. About a mile later it dropped back to the half way mark until I was about a mile from home at which point it jumped back to the red, down to half and then back to red when I was approaching the house. (The entire trip was about 25miles). Is it possible that there is still some type of obstruction in the system or is this sounding like the head gasket is going? I am visualizing air pockets in the system followed by coolant intermittently surging through the head. I just checked the oil and the color and level is normal. Trans fluid was dark but up to normal level also.

Post by **rspi** » 02 Jul 2012, 20:26

That's what most people do, roll those bones. Sad to say that I have read several threads where the bones dried up and turned to dust for a few people. As long as there is some coolant in the motor it can survive, once it runs or boils out, that head will be toast.

If you don't need the car I guess you can just drive it until the head overheats enough to crack the block, burns a few valves or warp the head enough to stop you in route. The thing is, and I may be wrong, if you have it fixed while the problem is just a seeping head gasket, you may be able to get away with a shop fee of $200 or less. Once you throw a rod, burn a few valves, destroy the head, you'll be looking at a shop fee of $600+ if they are able to save it.

I pulled our's today and dropped it off at the shop with new Valve stem seals. Hopefully I'll get some good news tomorrow.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 02 Jul 2012, 20:46

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My car purchased in Jan this year had around 233K miles. The temp gauge would go up and down. Found there was no Thermostat

. Put one in and the temp held steady but there was still coolant coming out of the Coolant Cap. The Expansion Tank was warped at the top due to the constant expansion and contraction so after a new Tank and a drain and fill no more problems.

Change the Cap, Thermostat and/or tank to see what happens. When the Temp starts to rise turn on your AC and see if both fans come on and if the temp gauge goes down to check fan is working.

How To Tell If Your Head Gasket Is Blown

How To Fix An Overheating Car

How Steel Seal Can Fix A Leaking Head Gasket

Fixing Tough Head Gasket Leaks

Another member recently posted that the Steel Seal worked on his car for 1 year.

Blessings,
BKM
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Post by **rspi** » 02 Jul 2012, 20:59

Scotty is the bomb.

I forgot to add that our temp sensor when out when it overheated that one time. So, letting the temp raise and fall can damage the temp sensor which will destroy the gauges ability to give you a correct reading.

When our problems started, I had my daughter change the res tank cap. That didn't help. The car only overheated once, when it ran out of coolant. My last ditch effort was to replace the coolant res tank which I did with no improvement.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 02 Jul 2012, 21:11

rspi wrote:Scotty is the bomb.

I forgot to add that our temp sensor when out when it overheated that one time. So, letting the temp raise and fall can damage the temp sensor which will destroy the gauges ability to give you a correct reading.

When our problems started, I had my daughter change the res tank cap. That didn't help. The car only overheated once, when it ran out of coolant. My last ditch effort was to replace the coolant res tank which I did with no improvement.

+1 Quite the character! Agreed, that the Cap, Thermostat, Tank and/or other Cooling System related parts will not fix a Head Gasket but just needs to be checked before going down that road.

Blessings,
BKM
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Post by **rspi** » 03 Jul 2012, 15:14

Yesterday I pulled the head and took it to a shop 70 miles away. They called this morning and said the head was severly warped to 12,000th's (whatever that means) and that they believed they could straighten it out if I took them the cams and top of the head, so I did. The bill will be $390.

Sounds to me that just 1 session of a slight overheating can mess up the head and start the count down to more expense or total engine failure. I feel fortionate that the cost is only going to be $390. If I went and got a used head from somewhere, I would have to get it check out and likely spend more money.

I should get it back Thursday and get it in Friday. Those that do, please pray for me.

grntrdbx · Post by **grntrdbx** » 04 Jul 2012, 12:42

rspi, I didn't ask you if you were seeing any coolant or foaming in the oil. I'm surprised that if the head gasket was leaking that you wouldn't see any signs of this in the oil or any smoke/steaming from the exhaust if the coolant was passing through the combustion chamber. WRT the 12,000th's warpage that you are not familiar with, this refers to the flatness of the bottom of the head where it comes in contact with the block. They are saying that it is out of flatness on that plane 0.012 inches from end to end. They should be torquing it down to spec (preferably on a torque plate for that head) and measuring it, and if it is out of flatness, milling it accordingly to get it as close to 0 as possible. I'm not sure if you can still run a standard factory head gasket after they machine the head, but I bet you can. I'd make sure before I reassemble it though.

I'm out of town right now, so I'll revisit the situation when I get home next week.......and I have replaced the overflow tank within the last couple of years so it checked out OK.

Post by **rspi** » 04 Jul 2012, 16:57

No, found no coolant in the oil or smoke out the tail pipe. I think it was a minor leak in the gasket and combustion gasses were getting into the coolant system. My guess is that happens in a minor gasket leak, that's why people do that chemical test that I was not able to find the kit for.