2002 s60 coolant leak, possible engine damage, evil dealer

[crflammang]

My s60 turned itself off on the freeway after the check engine light came on. I look under the hood and my coolant tank is completely empty. A local mechanic tests it and finds there is a leak.

Here's my problem: No one will even try to diagnose what all is wrong with my car because they can't read the volvo electronic codes or something, so I've got to take it to the only dealership in town.

I've met them. They are evil. Yelp agrees. They charge $160 to open the hood and will probably take my next month's paycheck if I give them my keys.

What do I do? I need a car for work. I can't afford to pay the local dealer. No mechanic is comfortable even checking for gasket damage or whatever.

P.S. car starts fine. No smoke. No weird noises. It just starts losing power after a bit and turns itself off. Little error message display on the dash is always blank. It never shows messages.

[kahl]

Where is the leak? Go to an auto parts store and have them read the code and let us know the code. Keep your coolant tank filled. Was or is there any signs of coolant in the oil?

[precopster]

There are $15 ELM327 bluetooth diagnostic devices selling on eBay which are used together an Android phone or tablet with a free App called Torque that may point you to the code(s) causing shut down.

It may or may not be sensitive enough to read the actual error code causing the issue but it's worth a try considering the small expense.

Priority number one for you is to fill the car with coolant (not water) so you can spot where the leak is. A common leak point is the reservoir hose heading to the engine block or one of the heater hoses where clamped to the engine.

Removing the engine cover's 5 bolts will help and by filling it with coolant then getting the car to full temp by driving it then drive it up on ramps (a further $30 for ramps) with engine fully warm you will sooner or later see the coolant leak.

Another method is to go to an auto parts store to purchase a coolant system pressure tester which is a hand pump connected to a pressure guage and a special cap which temporarily replaces the coolant reservoir cap. This can be better because you don't need to bring it up to temperature and have scalding coolant drop on you. The pressure you use on the built in guage is very important and should not exceed 15psi

If you can't find any leaks it's more than likely there is a head gasket breach.

Finally running a Volvo without a fully operational intstrument panel is a potentially dangerous thing to do because there is a low coolant warning inbuilt as well as other warnings that can prevent damage to the engine and transmission. After sorting the coolant leak this should be the 2nd priority.

[oragex]

Alas, you need to have the DIM (instrument cluster) repaired because, as mentioned, the messages displayed are critical - you would have seen a 'coolant low level stop engine' message. Repair service for the DIM is $150 off Ebay.

Next, I would unclip the electrical connector near the coolant reservoir, then lift the reservoir, disconnect the hoses (might spill) and inspect the reservoir as some are known to crack.

There is a chance the check engine light and the loss of power are not related to the coolant loss. There might be some other issue there. Depending on how many miles, there might be issues with the alternator, battery, a seizing pulley, or other things.

As for a head gasket check (to find out the coolant lost cause), you can perhaps get one of these things off Ebay for cheap