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95 850t oil in coolant excessive consumption

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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95v850t
Posts: 2
Joined: 9 March 2014
Year and Model: 850t 1995
Location: PA USA

95 850t oil in coolant excessive consumption

Post by 95v850t »

Hello,
New to the forum and have been researching this problem for a while online. I just bought this car and was told by the previous owner that it uses a lot of oil. I found oil in the coolant reservoir which it seems 90% of the time is the oil cooler. I pulled the radiator and pressurized the oil and trans tank coolers and I get no air bubbles. This car also has other oil leaks which, with the oil in the coolant, is probably contributing to the excessive loss of oil. There is also seepage from the dipstick tube and the oil fill cap which means the pcv system probably is plugged or barely flowing.
Now my question is, is it possible for the oil to get into the antifreeze through the turbo. I know its possible to do so through the head but that is more likely to get coolant into the oil. There was little to no oil when the radiator was drained. When the lower hose was pulled and the engine drain opened was when the majority of the oil contaminated antifreeze came out. Most of it from the engine drain. There is no milky oil, and no smoke from the engine(that I know of). I have only driven it twice and once was at night. No overheating or other signs of a bad hg. I did find that someone used some sort of stop leak in the coolant. It has been sitting in my garage for about 8 days before I drained it. It was not run beforehand so everything has had a chance to settle.
This oil was not mixed with the antifreeze, just floating in it. The last owner was driving it regularly and I believe the oil would slowly build in the system. She drove it to my house and the oil was still separated in the bottle, not mixed. So what do you guys think, still a bad radiator cooler, or something else. All I can find online is the oil cooler as the culprit.

Ozark Lee
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Post by Ozark Lee »

The chances of oil and coolant mixing in the turbo are remote. The coolant flows through the inside of the turbo body casting and isn't held back by a seal. About the only way coolant and oil could mix in the turbo is a crack in the housing.

You are correct, most of the time it is a cracked oil cooler in the radiator.

...Lee
'94 850 N/A 5 speed
'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
1989 740 GLT
1986 740 GLT
1972 142 Grand Luxe

95v850t
Posts: 2
Joined: 9 March 2014
Year and Model: 850t 1995
Location: PA USA

Post by 95v850t »

Ozark Lee wrote:The chances of oil and coolant mixing in the turbo are remote. The coolant flows through the inside of the turbo body casting and isn't held back by a seal. About the only way coolant and oil could mix in the turbo is a crack in the housing.

You are correct, most of the time it is a cracked oil cooler in the radiator.

...Lee
Ok, thanks Ozark I think I can rule the turbo out then. I have a new radiator , but I think ill put the old one back in flush it good and run it just to see if it returns and how quick. Maybe it was a old problem.

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