2005 S60 R Drinking Coolant

[ejsimcox]

My 2005 S60 R is going through coolant. This is a new issue. There are no leaks that I can see. Once in a while, I can smell a faint smell of coolant when driving.

Oil looks and smells fine.

I don't know if this is related, but about the same time, my mileage became terrible. I checked tire pressure, air filter, etc. No OBD II codes.

110,000 Miles.

Any ideas?

[SuperHerman]

Head gasket if you find no leaks. I bought a 2004 S80 with 78K that had a 40k history of various repair shops, including the local Volvo dealer, trying to find the cause of mysterious coolant loss. No one did until it was too late. Up until the end, no one found any traces of coolant in the oil as the leak was ever so slight.

When I bought it the head gasket finally gave way I got it for $1300. The machine shop that redid the head believed the wear marks on the head gasket I brought in with the head and the head showed a very faint line which may have been a machining error from the factory or the effects of a bad head gasket over 78k miles. It was properly cleaned and machined and I have had no problems.

After the fix I rented a gas tester from Autozone, had to buy the fluid, which detects gas in the coolant. I did this over the course of one week a couple times to see if the new head gasket solved the problems. The fluid changes colors if a slight leak is present. No leak.

Maybe you want to go this route, but first check all your hoses and coolant flow points. Another thing pull each plug and look to see if any are really clean. Use a scope or flashlight and compare piston domes - if one or two are cleaner than others it would point towards head gasket.

[abscate]

Lift your carpet and check for coolant on floor. It could be heater core failure