2004 Volvo v70 2.5 turbo radiator Topic is solved

jc3131 · Post by **jc3131** » 08 Oct 2021, 12:34

Hello! My radiator was recently replaced. I have three problems: There is a neck at the top to attach the hose. Normally, aren't they supposed to have a "burr" or lip the hose goes over? Mine did not have that, and the neck is shorter. Was it cut off, or are some like that?
Also, I'm told the hose clips are intended for single use. New radiator should mean new clips, right? Some of the clips had broken off.
Finally, the plastic piece on the side that attaches to the radiator matrix has a 1/2 inch spot that appears melted or glued (can't really tell). It's right where the plastic meets the metal. The plastic has a smooth surface except where that spot is. It's uneven or bubbled as if a compound was inserted there or it melted. That's where the leak is. What could cause that?
Twelve days after replacement, it overheated and the engine blew. Most of the coolant was gone, but there's stop leak in what remains.
I'm not aware of a radiator without the "burr" for the hose, and what could cause a new radiator to have a damaged spot like that apart from manufacturer defect. What do you think?

Post by **matthew1** » 08 Oct 2021, 13:24

Welcome to MVS, JC3131.

You had this radiator replaced by a shop? New radiator? What brand?

Post by **chrism** » 08 Oct 2021, 14:01

It sounds like you’re in for a battle with whoever installed the radiator. Take plenty of photos of the problem areas that you describe and have a more quality-oriented mechanic look at them and give you their opinion.

As for the overheated engine, that is a major bummer! You certainly don’t want the person that installed the radiator to repair the engine.

Who purchased the radiator? Did you see it before it went in? Was it butchered up during installation? More details and maybe photos uploaded might help.

Post by **cn90** » 08 Oct 2021, 17:07

- Don't drive the car now.

- Looks like it is aftermarket rad.
For this year/model, I personally only buy Volvo genuine rad.
It is a bit more expensive but it fits perfectly.
I posted the diagrams in forum...

jc3131 · Post by **jc3131** » 08 Oct 2021, 20:02

I bought the car from my regular mechanic. He got ill, then his shop did this. A Volvo expert installed a new engine and found the radiator leaked (!). I have the one he replaced, but I don't have the original one. The new one has the "burr". I don't know what brand the first replacement is.
First of all, the driver information module (dim) was malfunctioning. I didn't know what that was at the time. All gauges go hard left (zero) at random times. The shop would reconnect the battery cables and it would reset until next time.
I'm told the 2.5 turbo doesn't tolerate overheating. My wife is the driver. She took it in because it was leaking coolant. They couldn't find anything wrong and sent her on her way. The dim acted up again and it overheated. She took it in with steam coming out. They couldn't find a problem. Dim went out again, overheated a second time. Radiator replaced. Week and a half later, engine blew. My Volvo expert said the coolant fluid was almost empty along with the other problems. I've got a sample of the fluid with Stop Leak in it. Looks like the engine couldn't take three overheatings. Something fishy here.

jc3131 · Post by **jc3131** » 08 Oct 2021, 20:04

and thanks matthew1, chrism & cn90

Post by **firstv70volvo** » 09 Oct 2021, 00:00

jc3131 wrote: ↑08 Oct 2021, 12:34 Hello! My radiator was recently replaced. I have three problems: There is a neck at the top to attach the hose. Normally, aren't they supposed to have a "burr" or lip the hose goes over? Mine did not have that, and the neck is shorter. Was it cut off, or are some like that?
Also, I'm told the hose clips are intended for single use. New radiator should mean new clips, right? Some of the clips had broken off.
Finally, the plastic piece on the side that attaches to the radiator matrix has a 1/2 inch spot that appears melted or glued (can't really tell). It's right where the plastic meets the metal. The plastic has a smooth surface except where that spot is. It's uneven or bubbled as if a compound was inserted there or it melted. That's where the leak is. What could cause that?
Twelve days after replacement, it overheated and the engine blew. Most of the coolant was gone, but there's stop leak in what remains.
I'm not aware of a radiator without the "burr" for the hose, and what could cause a new radiator to have a damaged spot like that apart from manufacturer defect. What do you think?

The neck of the radiator that the upper hose attaches to should and must have a lip to retain the upper hose and if it doesn't have the lip a section of the neck broke off cleanly and this piece is in the upper radiator hose. After seven years my radiator did exactly this, it was a clean break all around behind the lip and the hose then slip off and it dumped all the coolant.
Did this happen to the new radiator they installed? If this happened to the new radiator they installed it would likely be due to them over tightening the hose clamp but I wouldn't expect it to be clean break around the neck lip with a new radiator, they neck will usually crack when over tightened but a used radiation with a lot of heat cycles the neck can break cleanly. Did they install a used radiator?
When the car overheated after the new radiator was installed did it loose the coolant because the upper hose blew off from the neck breakage? The shop you're taking the car to really seems suspect because they didn't find anything wrong the first time when it was leaking coolant and didn't find anything wrong when it came in steaming the second time but what's worse is they sent your wife and the car on the way without finding and repairing the leak on multiple occasions.
If the coolant loss isn't obvious with fluid seen on the ground and the coolant level is low then it could have been a head gasket but this is something the shop could test for and if you were losing coolant fairly quickly, as it seems the car was, and it was the head gasket you would have also probably seen it in the exhaust.
Bottom line it sounds like the shop had several chances to find and fix the coolant leak but they didn't and sent the car out again and then the third time it came back in (the second time the engine overheated) they replaced the radiator and then it lost coolant again and the engine blew because of no coolant. If this is how it all happened the shop is responsible in my opinion.

jc3131 · Post by **jc3131** » 15 Oct 2021, 16:39

I wasn't available for a few days. It was a new radiator. The break on the neck is clean. I don't even see blade marks for cutting it off, nothing, but that doesn't mean much. My new mechanic didn't find the piece with the "lip". Since the DIM was malfunctioning, my wife didn't know it overheated before the engine blew. We only know the fluid was very low on a new radiator less than 2 weeks old. My fluid sample has Stop Leak in it.(!?)
More to the story: The car has a faulty DIM part. It controls dashboard display. It would intermittently go out and all gauges would point hard left (zero). That happened prior to all 3 overheating episodes. She took it in about half a dozen times and they would reconnect the battery cables and it would reset until next time. They thought they had it fixed before she bought it, then they said they didn't know what caused it. My new Volvo mechanic sends the DIM to Canada for repairs. When he removed it, he saw a sticker from the Canadian repair place. They told him their records show a different VIN # for it and at the time, it was fine so they sent it back (to whoever that was). Whoever installed it in this car probably went to the junk yard and pulled one. Turns out, they have specific code numbers that must match exactly to the car. It's not a match. They're sending a proper one from Canada.
I think I have a case against the shop that installed the bad radiator and caused the engine to blow.

jc3131 · Post by **jc3131** » 15 Oct 2021, 17:29

Thank you! Excellent info!