Coolant Reservoir lifespan question...

Post by **cn90** » 06 Jan 2019, 11:41

- In my 1998 V70 NA, the coolant reservoir cracked at 14y/120K miles time frame...

- My 2005 XC90 2.5T with 120K miles, the coolant reservoir is fine.

- My 2004 V70 2.5T with 110K miles, the coolant reservoir is also fine.

So, my question is: for those of you with S60/V70/XC90 with 2.5T engine (or 2.4 engine), when did your factory coolant reservoir (years/miles) started to crack/leak?

Georgeandkira · Post by **Georgeandkira** » 06 Jan 2019, 11:52

Hasn't happened over 3 NA V70s, a '99@140K, '02@198K and '07@94K.
Not with 3 turboed Saabs nor 3 NA Saabs.

The only one I've seen was in a late '80's Jeep Cherokee with a leaking/hissing reservoir/header tank years ago when it was 18-20 years old.

Post by **oragex** » 06 Jan 2019, 11:54

The coolant reservoir is generally robust in P2. There were a few situations with tiny (invisible) cracks allowing for slow coolant and pressure lost, but rather rare. Just my theory, but for some reason these P2 cars can sometimes get a very hot top of the engine sometimes, which after a while may affect the plastic of the coolant tank (it also causes the small plastic cover on the top of the engine to smell burnt. Maybe then the reservoir may develop a crack. The gasket under the cap can also start loosing pressure at some point, but not common either

Post by **ndphotonl** » 07 Jan 2019, 11:07

I just replaced the reservoir just for the sake of looking better under bonnet, but it was still intact after 195.731 miles (I drive a 2002 S80 2.4T).

Volvo S80 2.4T Old vs New Coolant Expansion Tank by Andy Ramdin, on Flickr

Post by **erikv11** » 07 Jan 2019, 13:04

If you care about part lifespan, you're asking the wrong question. Ask "what is your experience?" rather than "when did your's fail?" If you observe 1,000 units and one of them goes bad, those are very different and far more useful data than if you watch one (or a few) until it fails. Only looking at units that fail is useless, it compounds the N=1 misconception.

Comments like oragex's, from a experienced user who has seen a lot of vehicles, are the most useful anecdotal ones unless you collect a bunch of data.

06 S60R (B5254T4), 155k, still on factory reservoir, no leaks or visible cracks.

Post by **Rattnalle** » 07 Jan 2019, 13:19

Never had a car where it failed. And I'm now on my third 200k+ miles Volvo. None of them looked anywhere near as bad as the one pictured above either.

Post by **cn90** » 07 Jan 2019, 19:55

Well,

I am sending this 2004 V70 to my daughter in college 1200 miles away, thus the "preventive maintenance" question.

In other words, I want to take care of potential issues ahead as I don't want the car in the shop 1200 miles away!

Post by **abscate** » 08 Jan 2019, 03:31

Post up her flag so we can let her know where friendly MVS people are nearby.

Post by **erikv11** » 09 Jan 2019, 11:22

On the at-college car I replaced all of the cooling hoses (except the heater core hoses) with Volvo hoses, plus ECT sensor and thermostat. Left the coolant reservoir and the radiator. These are P80 cars, I also dropped in a new fuel pump and relay and new cam position sensor (pricey), to help ward off most chances of no-starts.

A wagon is a great college car, good move.

Post by **abscate** » 09 Jan 2019, 13:45

My last two I sent 199 and 99 miles away, respectively. Just on the border of their respective AAA tow ranges.