1996 - 850 GLE - Coolant Leak Radiator?!

Quicken · Post by **Quicken** » 05 Sep 2015, 00:28

Hi There

Once again needing some help and advice on solving a problem. Just discovered a few days ago that my coolant was low, warning light came up on dash, checked the coolant in the reservoir, which was low. Topped it up and checked it the next day, it was fine, but checked again after 2 days, it was down by about 1/2 inch from the max line where i topped it off to. Topped it off and few days later found some drips under the engine compartment on the passenger side. Opened the hood and found this shown below in the picture

I believe it is the radiator leaking, can anyone confirm this from the picture? So far I have been checking coolant every morning and topping it up asap if it was low. The temp seems fine right now, didn't notice any fluctuations.

Thanks in advance.

Quicken

Post by **abscate** » 05 Sep 2015, 03:46

It does look like a leak at the plastic Al joint of the radiator.

No stop leak or " miracle sealer in a can" products unless you need less than 3 months of life out of the car.

The Nissens radiators seem to be holding ok as a lower cost alternative to factory

Post by **tryingbe** » 05 Sep 2015, 06:10

Only replace the radiator, do not attempt to put any "stop leak" in the system!

Post by **jreed** » 05 Sep 2015, 06:31

My radiator cracked at the same place. I replaced it with OEM. Afterwards I cut the old radiator open and took a look at the crack from the inside... wrote it up here:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=55629

: View of crack from inside the radiator endcap; Radiator End cap crack inside.jpg (154.63 KiB) Viewed 1633 times

Quicken · Post by **Quicken** » 05 Sep 2015, 12:05

Thanks guys

I have contacted my local volvo dealership service and they said about $1000 Cad to replace and do the job. A bit over my budget, so I am going to get the Spectra Premium CU1851 Complete Radiator for Volvo, 2 reviewers said it fits their 850, so I think I am going to take the chance, it is about half price of what the dealership quoted about $200 Cad. As for the labour part, after I looked through the steps, I don't think I can do that, so I will either take the part to the dealership service or local Canadian tire auto shop, which says it will charge around $400 labour. Any inputs?

Kudos to Jreed, you have a fantastic write up about changing it, I am just not that mechanically inclined...the furthest i ever went on my volvo was taking out the dashboard and changing the odometer gear....

Cheers

Post by **tryingbe** » 05 Sep 2015, 12:51

No turbo? Easy job 2-3 hr job, maybe 4 hours if you take it very slow.

Post by **abscate** » 05 Sep 2015, 13:36

If you can do a dash in/out, you can do a radiator!

Post by **scot850** » 05 Sep 2015, 13:47

Agreed. If you can do a dash, the radiator is fairly easy by comparison. Hardest part is to make sure whether you do the job or someone else, is to get plenty of visits to the 2 mounting bolt threads at either end of the radiator with PB Blaster or Seafoam Deep Creep. The bolts have a tendency to rust in place and removing can end up with the welded nut snapping off or the bolt shearing and having to drill it out.

Also, buy new top radiator hose at least as they it needs to be flexible to get a good seal. I'd take the opportunity to replace both, but just don't use URO or other cheap hoses.

Shame you aren't closer or I'd give you a hand to do this.

Neil.

Post by **RussB** » 05 Sep 2015, 14:11

Get the Nissens. It's a great aftermarket radiator. As said, if you can remove the speedometer cluster, you can swap a radiator