Volvo 850 R Project. Need advice on repairs.

[ACarmona]

Hey all, I've decided to do the radiator replacement first and also all the oil cooler lines and the two main radiator hoses first. My tags are expired and so I'm not going to be driving it until Stage 0 is done and get it re-registered. It's not a big deal I can't drive, I have a road bike and my commute isn't crazy long.
I can't figure out which radiator to go with between Nissens and Genuine Volvo. At the moment I'm inclined to get the Nissens because I can afford it with all the other lines and hoses for a single project.
The hosing I want to use throughout the engine bay are Do88 from Eeuroparts, and seem reputable after visiting their website. Is there a difference between these iPd and Mishimoto hosing? Plus I like the Idea of a Swedish company on my Volvo. The Oil Cooler Lines are Genuine Volvo and there are inlets and outlets for both correct? After those are replaced, I was thinking of working on replacing the rest of the hoses in the engine bay. The question I have about that is should I do the PCV first before replacing the hoses? or will it not matter much since I won't be driving for a little while.
I've been looking on FCP for the Radiator, Trans Oil Cooler Lines, and a Timing Belt Kit, Eeuro for the Engine Oil Cooler Lines, and iPd for the PCV Kit. The last mechanic I went to pointed out that one of the "bypass" hoses around the back of the engine had the wrong type of hose/line on it.

Integrity Auto 1.png (322.31 KiB) Viewed 1801 times

What type of hose do I need to be there? I was thinking of replacing all the vacuum lines around the bay as well at some point in the future so if it needs to be a vacuum line then what do you guys recommend?
Anyway, thanks for reading! I've got a roommate who is about as experienced as I am who is willing to help me with all these repairs and was also thinking about contacting Robert from the volvo DIY series on Youtube for some help on the TB, PCV, and other projects soon later on in my quest to clean this volvo up!

[polskamafia mjl]

+1 on hitting up Robert while he's on his Western Helper Tour. He's on this forum as well; username rspi.

I know I'm going against the grain with this but I recommend 1-800 Radiator. Great pricing and it comes with a lifetime warranty.

Do88 is good, mishimoto is good, lots of great options for vacuum, coolant, and boost hoses tbh. Do88 also have an aluminum radiator if you have the extra $$ handy!

For your oil return lines and the transmission cooler lines you can rebuild them for cheap instead of spending tons of money on brand new ones which will end up leaking eventually anyway. This write up is for the trans lines but the procedure is the exact same for the oil lines -> https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... hp?t=55794

While you do the PCV is a great time to also replace all/most of the other vacuum hoses in the car.

From your picture its difficult to tell what exactly we're looking at but to me that looks like the short coolant hose on the back of the engine on the passenger side. Two hose clamps on it means its probably not a vacuum hose.

[ACarmona]

So I'm finally ready to order the parts for the first project and after reading a billion threads about the trans/oil cooler lines and have decided to just rebuild them instead of replacing them. There is only one hose (upper Driver's side) that has a tiny bit of wetness after the metal crimp and all the others are just leaking at the radiator fitting so I'm thinking its just the o-rings to the radiator. The fittings at the block for the two lines on the driver's side are dry and the area around the passenger side at the block oil lines was too dirty to see if it was leaking. All of the seals and O-rings are going to be replaced anyway but I might not have to rebuild all of them. I was also thinking about replacing the Thermostat since my A/C doesn't work and feel like this would pay off in the long run replacing it now. Since I don't intend on buying 4 brand new oil lines, I'll have enough to get the PCV kit at the same time and be ready to do that when I have the time. Up until now I've combed through all the sites and found all the parts I need at http://www.eeuroparts.com/Cart/CartList.php
My only questions are; are these all the rings I'll need for all four of the cooler lines? When I was looking under the car at the radiator, I could see a little green drop of coolant just sitting at the seam between the black plate at the bottom and the metal top that has tabs that connect the two. Is this the Radiator or the Intercooler behind it that's leaking? also the blue Samco elbow hose coming out of the top center of the rad/fan assembly and the bottom one coming out of the bottom center of the radiator/fan assembly are covered in an oily film and feel soft. Do these need to just be replaced or is there something deeper wrong with the IC? I would be saddened greatly if it was the IC too but at the time of writing, none of the mechanics I've seen have said it was.

Anyway, If there's anything I've missed parts wise please let me know as I will probably wait for a few replies to finally order.
Thanks for taking your time to read!

[polskamafia mjl]

Well assuming that is coolant then it should not be coming from the intercooler. Only the radiator should have coolant.

Silicone hose will 'sweat' oil if it gets inside but I don't know what kind of effect that has on long term strength of the hose.

[ACarmona]

Thanks, Polskamafia. I'll just need to do some heavy cleaning in the bay over the course of the project. What would you recommend for cleaning around the electrical plug-ins around the fan assembly, throttle body and turbo?

[polskamafia mjl]

If you're just trying to get oil and grime off then an engine degreaser will work well or you can use my favorite all around cleaner: brake clean.

Just point, spray, and wipe clean.

[ACarmona]

The only piece of info i haven't included yet is that about a week ago I was driving home and spontaneously decided to keep driving up about a 35-40 degree hill for about a quarter mile and after being at around 3-3500 rpm the whole time I decided I should just turn around. I stopped at the nearest stop sign and noticed a whistling sound coming from the bay. I looked at my temp gauge and it was a tiny bit above the middle, got out of the car and noticed the tail pipe was smoking a very small amount but continuously. I opened the hood and tried to locate the whistling sound, by this time it was getting fainter but sounded like a teapot whistle. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere under my short ram air intake. At this point I had people coming up behind me so I went back towards my house, paying attention to see if there was any more smoke while I was driving but it seemed to have stopped. I even let it idle for 10 minutes after I got back to make sure I didn't see any more. Gave me a heart attack. I was thinking that bypass hose the mechanic was saying was the wrong type of hose, or maybe a pinhole in an exhaust hose?

[polskamafia mjl]

Hard to say really. High pitched tea kettle makes me think of coolant coming out of somewhere under pressure. Check coolant level and also check to see if any vacuum or boost hoses have come loose. An exhaust leak wouldn't be high pitched but you can check for them by plugging the tail pipe with the car running and looking for escaping exhaust gases along the piping.

As far as the "bypass hose" goes there's nothing actually called that. If you can get a better picture of it we can try to ID it for you.

[ACarmona]

So I finally ordered the first set of parts and have to go to the auto parts store in town and pick up some last essential tools like a set of ramps, a torque wrench, and extra clamps for the trans and oil lines to the rad. Are there any bolts/screws I should also replace? I think maybe he was talking about the compressor bypass valve line or hose? Anyway they are all getting replaced and I'll see which ones failed when they're off.

[polskamafia mjl]

If any hardware needs to be replaced (bolts, screws, other fasteners) they will usually be included with the parts you buy.