Coolant leak and possible engine damag

Steveskel · Post by **Steveskel** » 17 Dec 2016, 13:40

Evening.
I've got a 1999 V70 2.5 petrol.
Last night the wife phones me saying the coolant light was on. She had driven it 15 miles.
On inspection the lower hose jubilee clip had come off and no coolant remained. The engine temp was high with the blowers on.
Ive repaired the leak and today put in 5 L of 50/50 Prestone coolant. I've run it and the blowers blow hot. I've had the engine idling and loosened the expansion cap to remove air. This required a 1/2 litre top up. Drove it with no warning light at first.

On my second drive the coolant light came on and I topped up 1/2 litre. Again it drove no problem and no light.
I checked the oil and it's between the marks with no froth, nice and clean.
I removed the oil filler cap and there was a bar that had oil on it but wasn't bathed.

My questions are
1. Should you see a level of oil when you remove the cap?
2. How will I know if driving it 15 miles with no coolant has wrecked the engine?
Thanks
Steve

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 17 Dec 2016, 14:09

The bars under the oil filler cap should not be bathed- that is normal.
Just drive the car for awhile and see if it drives right and keep an eye on the coolant level. If you over-heated the engine enough to warp the head you will start using coolant, but burning it through the engine rather than losing it like you did the first time. It looks like you might have dodged a bullet on this one. Of course the right thing to do if the engine temp inches even a tiny bit above mid-line is to pull over and stop the engine.

Post by **rspi** » 17 Dec 2016, 14:12

1. No.
2. Likely, these cars are very unforgiving to overheats.

Post by **rspi** » 17 Dec 2016, 14:12

Also, you may want to tell ALL of the drivers to your cars that RED lights means STOP IMMEDIATELY. A tow is cheaper than a new engine.

Post by **rspi** » 17 Dec 2016, 14:16

Oh, and the proper way to check the oil level is with the dip stick.

Steveskel · Post by **Steveskel** » 18 Dec 2016, 03:03

MadeInJapan wrote:The bars under the oil filler cap should not be bathed- that is normal.
Just drive the car for awhile and see if it drives right and keep an eye on the coolant level. If you over-heated the engine enough to warp the head you will start using coolant, but burning it through the engine rather than losing it like you did the first time. It looks like you might have dodged a bullet on this one. Of course the right thing to do if the engine temp inches even a tiny bit above mid-line is to pull over and stop the engine.

Thanks a lot.
The Mrs says the temp gauge was reading normal as she drove with the light on. She had turned the blowers off as they were blowing cold. When she put them back on the temp shot up so she turned the blowers off and stopped to phone me. On resuming a 5 min journey the temp stayed normal.
Is this a good sign and should airflow over the engine even with no coolant be sufficient to stop it overheating? She wasn't static in traffic and there was no steam.
If the head gasket had gone will the oil turn milky?
Thanks
Steve

Post by **abscate** » 18 Dec 2016, 05:36

Airflow over the motor won't cool it. It sounds like you just ran low on coolant so you should look for a leak, including the heater core inside the car. The oil won't necessarily go milky on a head gasket failure

Post by **shiloh51933** » 18 Dec 2016, 10:02

Well the good news is your expansion tank level sensor works properly and she restarted after you fixed hose then refilled with coolant. I had a '98 V70XC that hydro locked when the expansion tank level sensor failed to turn on warning light as all the coolant leaked out of a hose that split(hose behind motor near expansion tank). I had the A/C running, it was hot outside and my temp gauge on dash cluster never moved past half way mark. She started smoking but it was too late by the time I pulled her over to check out what had happened.

Post by **dyn blin** » 19 Dec 2016, 12:18

Steveskel wrote:
MadeInJapan wrote:...and there was no steam.

These were designed to dump coolant under the car to avoid a safety issue with steam blocking forward vision. "makes attention to the dash that much more critical, as many of us have learned at least once.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 22 Dec 2016, 17:18

These cars have some extra safety measures built in that's for sure! Glad you dodged the bullet on this one. My S40 does not have a level sensor in the expansion tank- can you believe that? I am fabricating one for it. May newer model S40, V50 and C30 owners have lost coolant and have ruined their engines as a consequence and post about it all the time. The lower radiator hose is now a "have to" replacement item on any of these cars approaching 100K miles to be on the safe side. Ford owning Volvo for awhile really did a number on some of these made during those model years!