2002 S40 coolant leak

GAIL166 · Post by **GAIL166** » 05 Nov 2015, 21:01

The A/C button in my 2002 S40 kept flickering on and off and then about 20 mins later I had coolant leaking from the front right side bottom of the car. The dealer said it was caused by the bottom radiator hose was bad and the bleeder screw was leaking. The fix the dealer offered was to change the bottom hose and my radiator with a new radiator - $680.00 Why do I need a new radiator and can't I just replace the bleeder screw. The dealer said the bleeder screw is not available by itself and so I would need to buy a new radiator. Can anyone confirm that this is true or is there a less expensive fix?

Post by **alschnertz** » 06 Nov 2015, 03:39

Not sure why the A/C light was flickering because of a bad radiator hose.
Where is this "bleeder screw"?

Post by **kranz** » 06 Nov 2015, 04:53

I can only relate my experience with a '98 V70. A year or two ago, I had a leaking bleeder screw on the original stock radiator. I was able to get one from one of the forum sponsors. However, just last month I replaced the radiator itself. It had begun to leak with 199K miles on it.

GAIL166 · Post by **GAIL166** » 06 Nov 2015, 12:28

Kranz: Where is the bleeder screw? Is it the same thing as the drain plug? And are you saying I am not able to purchase the bleeder screw alone? I don't know much about these parts but would hate to purchase a whole new radiator if not necessary. Please advice.

Alschnertz: Volvo said because the coolant was leaked the car started to overheat which caused the compressor to kick in and out as needed hence the a/c button flickering on and off. If this is not true please advice.

Post by **alschnertz** » 06 Nov 2015, 14:23

Oh, the drain plug, that would make more sense. I've been all over my '01 and don't recall ever seeing a "bleeder screw". But maybe a '02 is different.
Generally a bleeder screw would be at the highest point of the cooling system. Because it is used to "bleed" the air out of the system.

I think it would be unusual for the drain plug itself to fail. However, the bung (female part of the connection) that the drain plug (male part of the connection) screws into is part of the radiator. So if the bung / radiator connection has failed, it is likely that you would need a new radiator.

That's my guess so far.

Post by **kranz** » 07 Nov 2015, 14:41

OK, I meant the drain plug or threaded fitting on the bottom of the radiator used to drain the radiator core. Didn't mean to add confusion. Mine was made of plastic and began to leak. A new one solved the problem.

I did a quick check for your model and there is a Genuine Volvo 30644376 drain cock available for a nominal sum from a couple of online sites. Could this be what you need?

Luvmevolvo · Post by **Luvmevolvo** » 11 Mar 2016, 14:15

I had a similar problem. It seemed to leak a bit from that plug after we replaced the radiator hours earlier so my husband checked and started tightening the draining plug (plastic and cheap) and it snapped, leaving half inside. The plug looked like it was toasted so that's why it snapped off. We managed to remove the very flushed, snapped off piece from the hole and we just used a galvanized screw that fit in the thread in its place. No more leak there.