1996 Volvo 850 Turbo Tan Gunk In Water Reservoir

[ufos8mycow]

First time here and I hope you guys can help. I know next to nothing about cars other than common sense things.

I just bought a 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo on Craigslist for $600. It's a solid car with no rust, runs like a dream with no bad noises (no unusual sounds at all), super clean inside and out. I got it from a local non-profit charity and they used it to go between the community garden and home.

I was told when I bought it that it had a coolant leak and that I would have to keep an eye on it. I have driven it to and from work for 3 days now and have only had to use maybe a half gallon of water if that.

I have not seen any indication that it runs hot. No indication on the dash that it's running hot at all.

Now I noticed ALOT of tan gunk in the water reservoir.(Noooo!! Oil in the water!) The oil on the dipstick is clear light brown with zero indication of any gunk. Same under the oil cap. I suppose it's possible they had an oil change recently and hid it.

The oil is at the right level and I haven't seen any excessive oil loss in the 3 days I've owned it. It does seem to have a very minor oil leak somewhere because there is oil near the radiator/front of car but I can't see any dripping.

I'm fearing a head gasket issue but the car truly does run very quiet and I can't imagine a blown head gasket on a car that runs this well.

I removed the water reservoir today and ran water/dish washing detergent mix through it and removed most of the tan gunk. I rinsed well and re-installed the tank. I was told to keep an eye on it and see if the gunk returns in the same large amount.

I know that I can part the car out and send the shell to a junk yard and easily make my money back. I could probably get $500 if I drive it in lol. ( I also found a brand new never used Remington Floating Head Electric Razor in the glove compartment that retails for $65 so I got that going for me)

My concern is if I can get a year of driving out of the car minimum.

With your great Volvo wisdom what do you think I am looking at for a repair? Is it the death rattle head gasket or a less expensive fix?

Thanks ahead of time for anything you may be able to tell me.


p.s. here's a pic of the original ad

[rspi]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you want to sell that car for $600 send me a pm.

If you are loosing coolant, you likely have a leak in the:
1. heater core
2. water pump
3. some coolant hose.

If you are getting "gunk" in the coolant system, chances are, the radiator is bad and causing a little oil to leak into the coolant system. A not so common problem with the radiators on these cars. The radiator carries coolant, oil and transmission fluid.

[ufos8mycow]

I appreciate the quick reply! I appreciate the videos and I'll watch them at work tonight.

I'm really wanting to keep and drive this beast of a car. So selling it is the last thing on my mind. It's the first Volvo I've ever owned and I kinda fell for it on day one. I think I spent 4 hours just sitting in it pushing the multitude of buttons just to see what would happen next. (I have windshield wipers on my headlights!!!!! lol) I absolutely love this car.

A couple of other things thats wrong with it-

1- ABS/Trac lights are on on the dash. From what I've read I need a module.
2- Check Engine & Service lights are on. (One goes off after 10-15 seconds, can't remember which one)
2b- All of the dash warning lights seem to be working fine when I turn the key so these lights are the only ones that stay on.
3- The electrical wire that plugs into the bottom of the water reservoir was unplugged. I did not plug it back in yet.
4- Car is not smoking at all.

In the glove compartment there's a stack of service records an inch thick. There's an oil change sticker on the windshield showing regular oil changes. Last one about 5 months ago. Whoever owned this car took care of it.

Don't know if this information helps with the original post but I thought I might add it.

Thanks again everyone

[mecheng]

I had dirty coolant fluid when I bought my S70, I changed the rad fluid along with a flush and all is fine now. Try that first.

[matthew1]

1- ABS/Trac lights are on on the dash. From what I've read I need a module.
2- Check Engine & Service lights are on. (One goes off after 10-15 seconds, can't remember which one)
2b- All of the dash warning lights seem to be working fine when I turn the key so these lights are the only ones that stay on.
3- The electrical wire that plugs into the bottom of the water reservoir was unplugged. I did not plug it back in yet.

Please make new topics or posts to existing topics for these, if you need to. (Keeping topics... on topic.)

I'm really wanting to keep and drive this beast of a car. So selling it is the last thing on my mind. It's the first Volvo I've ever owned and I kinda fell for it on day one. I think I spent 4 hours just sitting in it pushing the multitude of buttons just to see what would happen next. (I have windshield wipers on my headlights!!!!! lol) I absolutely love this car.

Welcome to MVS and Volvo ownership.