1998 V70 Radiator Connection to upper hose broke (pic)

Post by **wlhoran** » 23 Sep 2015, 10:47

The connection between the radiator and the upper hose that runs to the engine and has an S-bend in it broke today. Just snapped clear off so now the hose has no connection to the radiator ( see picture, you can see the male connection from the radiator inside the hose) My car was losing coolant and I wasn't sure where since there were never any puddles under the car and no sign of any coolant leaking onto the engine or through any of the hoses or connections. Will this be an easy fix? Do I shell out the money to get the radiator replaced? Do I need to get the thermostat replaced too? Is it worth it to fix all this then to do a pressure test and find out the head gasket blew too? P.S. the car was running fine even after the connection broke, just got a little steamy from the coolant draining onto the hot engine and the coolant light coming on inside. I really don't want to have to junk the car.

Post by **kahl** » 23 Sep 2015, 11:42

On a 98 V70 AWD I got last November had the same radiator top pipe brake. I installed a new radiator and I also replaced the thermostat for no reason other than my piece of mind. I did do a compression test before buying the car. All cylinders were between 172 and 176. This upper radiator pipe failure seems to happen quite frequently.

Herb Goltz · Post by **Herb Goltz** » 23 Sep 2015, 13:34

Get a new radiator-- consensus seems to be that it is difficult to make a lasting repair on radiator necks. If you are concerned about the head gasket, do the compression test first. Good luck!

Post by **oragex** » 23 Sep 2015, 14:42

The remaining lip is really small. If you can find a short piece of metal pipe that goes tight over the remaining lip, put some strong cement glue to seal and maybe it will work. But I won't call this a long term fix because one day you may be on the road and see the temp gauge jumping in the red and then it will cost quite more to fix it.

Post by **scot850** » 23 Sep 2015, 14:56

Was this an OE radiator? Hard to tell, as the OE radiators I have had all had a metal sleeve in them in the top hose connector. I'm not sure if they go all the way in or if that somehow causes a week area over time and makes them brittle at that point.

There has been someone trying to sell a 'repaired' radiator on kijiji up here for months and no takers even at $20. I think that says it all for repaired top hoses connections.

Good advice is to swap the radiator for a Nissens or Behr from the general press here. My preference is for OE as I find them easier to get a good seal on the top hose. Oh, also replace the top hose as they go hard and are difficult to re-seal on a new/different radiator. Just don't use APA/URO hoses.

Finally, start soaking the 2 radiator mounting bolts down the sides of the radiators with Deep Creep or similar now. Threads are to the top, but these are prone to seizing and the bolts or captured nut shearing when people force them (ask how I know!!).

Neil.

Post by **cn90** » 23 Sep 2015, 15:03

Virtually all radiator breaks at that point around 140K-200K.
Plastic + age + heat = breakage.

Get OEM or Nissens rad.

Scholz · Post by **Scholz** » 23 Sep 2015, 15:52

Nissens was great. I suggest new bushings for the radiator mounts as well.

Post by **erikv11** » 23 Sep 2015, 17:13

cn90 wrote:Virtually all radiator breaks at that point around 140K-200K. ...

Silly. Yes, top outlet pipe is one common failure point, another is the side seams, another is the oil cooler. I have seen OEM, p80 rads go to 250k without failing and I have seen them crap out at 110k. 140k-200k is a common failure zone but by no means do they all fail. On some other cars, e.g. my Toyotas, they virtually never fail.

I'm in the OEM camp on p80 radiators, but I would consider a Nissens for a car that I knew I wouldn't have very long.

Post by **pkc303** » 23 Sep 2015, 19:43

Mine broke, bought a new one. Not that diffcukt to replace.

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 25 Sep 2015, 07:57

wlhoran wrote:I really don't want to have to junk the car.

Jesus. Do people really junk their cars over stuff like this?
You know what, I'll take it. I've got a contact who will ship me a car over the pond for a 1000 bucks. Just give me your address, and I'll have someone pick it up. I'll spend 100 bucks on a new radiator here.

- S