2007 Volvo S80 3.2 Water Pump Repair Report

[Skymongrel]

I know there is a lot of info on this repair but thought I could contribute my experience as an sub average repair hacker!

My son's 2007 Volvo S80 3.2 (131k) developed a coolant leak. He was repeatedly topping it off and getting "low coolant" warnings. After we got the coolant out of the steering pump reservoir (yeah wrong reservoir Skylar!), we got to the
problem at hand. Although I didn't suspect the water pump as it had a replacement only 10k miles ago by the previous owner, it turned out to be the culprit. If you put your ear close to it it made a metallic whirring noise and there was coolant visible below the pump. I searched all the forums on the procedure for this car and actually found some great ones for the LR Freelander2 that was very helpful (same engine). So fully prepared and bad weather coming to upstate NY I embarked on this doable task.

Basically, I followed these steps in this particular order;

Remove and/or move:

Air box, throttle body air intake, battery covers, battery, battery box (more on this later), low pressure power steering hose, Air
conditioner brackets, Air conditioner, lower A/C conditioner mount, brake vacuum pump, upper heater core hose (above P/S pump), power steering unit, P/S to W/P coupler, water pump, idler puller, tensioner pulley, serpentine belt.

Although I'd planned on replacing the drive pulley, it hadn't arrived in the mail yet and as the original appeared OK (it rotated only in one direction, turning it the other way it moved slightly and then stopped rotating, thanks Paul! ) so I skipped the installation.

A couple things I ran into that I hadn't read in other reports; my battery box bolts were totally rusted in place and the box had standing water in it. Apparently my rear battery cover at the windshield cowling doesn't seat well and may have contributed to this. I'm usually pretty good at removing rusted bolts...but using a torch here didn't go well and there wasn't a socket size made that fit the rusted heads! Vise grips didn't work either. I ended up ruining the battery box trying to get the four bolts out. I should have been more patient but bad weather was on its way!

Also, the power steering pump doesn't easily "just move out of the way" to give you access to the water pump, there is a high pressure hose clamp just out of reach that wants to hold it in place. I removed the upper heater core hose just above the pump and then tied the pump tightly over the now missing battery box area.This gave me access to replace the water pump, idler pulley and tensioner pulley and serpentine belt (BTW I reused the original WP/PS coupler, also try using a rubber band to hold coupler to water pump for re-installation!). Frankly all parts looked OK, may just have been a bad aftermarket water pump or o-ring.

I also rebuilt the brake vacuum pump while I was in there (which also gave me extra room for the main task). In addition I heeded warnings about the thermostat and replaced it as well. I'll share my experience with this!

If I hadn't lost my torx bit to the bowels of the engine bay this job would have been easier but no....nothing I do is easy.
To remove the thermostat I chose to remove the passenger side headlight (less than two minutes with the S80, pull two head light alignment pins, disconnect electrical - done), the thermostat-to-radiator hose, and moved the steering pump fluid reservoir out the way tying it off securely. This gave me pretty good access, and with torx screwdrivers and bits and a right
angle cordless driver, I removed and replaced the thermostat. Job done! Well sort of...

I topped off steering pump and radiator fluids and started the car up. I continued to top off coolant as air bled out. Took a few test drives and continued to top off with MORE coolant. Hmmm, adding a lot of coolant! Pump's not leaking, thermostat is not leaking....but the radiator hose that looks clipped in place was NOT all the way home! Pushed really hard and it
seated. I swear I originally push hard to seat this thing but this was a big fail. So glad it didn't totally pop off during my test drives or this would be a "Someone want to buy an S80?" story!

Hope you enjoyed my DIY story and maybe my details will help someone.