Will not flush - 2001 T6

[Tannhauser]

Hi guys - Long time listener, first time caller. I gather I'm about 13 years too late here and most of you old geezers have either bought the farm or did the smart thing and parted way with these money pit Euro cars. But I just bought a 2001 S80 T6 and am hoping someone can help me out.

When I got this thing the coolant level was under the min line, a day or two later the reservoir was bone dry. So I put it up on ramps, ran it for a little while and then pulled off the bottom radiator hose (the **** that came out looked rank) to drain what was left in the block. Then I filled up the reservoir with distilled water and left the cap off and the funnel in and turned the engine on (a Chrisfix video said the engine should start sucking the water out once it gets to operating temp and you can pour in the remaining capacity of water). I only managed to get about 4-5 litres in though, and rather than it sucking the rest down it started to boil up and gush out of the funnel.

I then topped it up with some radiator flush and took it out for about 15 mins. It maintained operating temp, no issues. Let it sit for an hour and pulled off the radiator hose and got out roughly what I put in. Tried to put the remaining water in (the coolant that came out after the initial flush still looked pretty nasty so I wanted to flush until clear) and again, struggled to get 5 litres in and rather than suck it all down it started boiling over the top.

I noticed a very small hair line crack at the top of the reservoir that a bit of fizzy water came out of, and I could very clearly hear hissing coming out of the cap when the water in the tank got super hot. So I presumed the closed system was not in fact closed and replaced the reservoir and cap with one out of a wrecked XC90. System now closed, but pretty much the same thing - couldnt get more than 4 litres in before it was at the max line, it didnt seem to suck much down even with it running, lightly revving and heater on blast. It's almost like more gets sucked into the radiator after I switched it off and it's cooling down than when it's running.

I've never owned a car before, am not mechanically minded and really just want to get this thing filled with 9.5L of coolant so it's one less thing to worry about. I need to take it into Volvo about an hour away next week to get the airbag recall done, I've also got a torn seatbelt at the back that I need to replace or it wont pass roadworthy. I thought the dude I bought it from would help me out because he is mechanically minded, but then he said I was completely retarded for only wanting to use distilled water to mix with the coolant concentrate, that wanting to replace the transmission filter and fluid was totally insane, and that he's never seen a coolant tank cap fail on a Volvo and even on 23 year old cars it should be indestructible and I must've done something wrong when trying to flush it.

Could it be the water pump or the thermostat? Apologies for the novel, having some bad times over here with no one to help me : /

[volvolugnut]

You have some good plans for the Volvo repairs. The 'dude' has some less than great ideas for helping you.
I am the proud owner of 2001 V70 T5 with 214K miles.

The coolant tanks and tank caps fail on Volvos. Find a good used one, or buy new ones. The 'dude' does not know Volvos.

If the water pump has failed, the engine would have immediately over heated.

I suggest getting the kinks out of your new vehicle before bothering with getting the airbag and seatbelt replaced. If you find a major problem you would have wasted the safety money.

volvolugnut

[packetfire]

Your coolant capacity is said to be 8.8 liters, so your concerns are very valid.

When you run the car and then turn it off, the heat goes up, as the water stops moving around, and the water in the block gets hotter. So, I'd suspect that the thermostat is not opening up when it should. This is fairly easy to check, remove the thermostat and put it in a pan of water on the stove with a thermometer to verify "opening" temperature. But one the thermostat OPENS, this seems to open the water to the leak, which very well could be around the thermostat or the little bolt-on housing extrusion it sits in. So, slide some cardboard under the entire engine, remove the plastic under-engine cover, and run your engine to get it warmed up, and then turn off the engine, and let any leaks drip on the cardboard to tell you where things are leaking. The water is going SOMEWHERE, and you hope it is leaking, as a head gasket would be more expensive than a hose.

[Tannhauser]

You have some good plans for the Volvo repairs. The 'dude' has some less than great ideas for helping you.
I am the proud owner of 2001 V70 T5 with 214K miles.

The coolant tanks and tank caps fail on Volvos. Find a good used one, or buy new ones. The 'dude' does not know Volvos.

If the water pump has failed, the engine would have immediately over heated.

I suggest getting the kinks out of your new vehicle before bothering with getting the airbag and seatbelt replaced. If you find a major problem you would have wasted the safety money.

volvolugnut

Yeah I didn't want to argue with him because I don't have much experience with cars. It just made sense to me that a 23 year old vehicle that has been sitting there unused for years is gonna need some stuff done. I've read a lot of complaints about the transmission so I thought it prudent to replace the filter and fill with fresh fluid, maybe get a Transgo shift kit further down the track when I've got the cash.

The tranny fluid looks kind of brownish (perfect according to the dude!) and it's a little clunky when getting into drive initially, I'm not sure why preventative maintenance is insane, why wait until something is broken and then have to fix it?

Unfortunately I'm not that smart and I've already blown more cash on tyres, a battery and other replacement parts than what the vehicle cost itself. So Im kinda all in now and am praying there is nothing majorly wrong and I can get it on the road. Being in Australia doesnt help, very little parts for these cars here and shipping from Europe or the US costs a bomb : /

[Tannhauser]

Your coolant capacity is said to be 8.8 liters, so your concerns are very valid.

When you run the car and then turn it off, the heat goes up, as the water stops moving around, and the water in the block gets hotter. So, I'd suspect that the thermostat is not opening up when it should. This is fairly easy to check, remove the thermostat and put it in a pan of water on the stove with a thermometer to verify "opening" temperature. But one the thermostat OPENS, this seems to open the water to the leak, which very well could be around the thermostat or the little bolt-on housing extrusion it sits in. So, slide some cardboard under the entire engine, remove the plastic under-engine cover, and run your engine to get it warmed up, and then turn off the engine, and let any leaks drip on the cardboard to tell you where things are leaking. The water is going SOMEWHERE, and you hope it is leaking, as a head gasket would be more expensive than a hose.

I've got the turbo version which I believe is 9.6 litres. And yeah, that's my concern because the water does have to be going somewhere, but it's not leaking out of the car. No fluid leaks underneath the car that I can see.

Volvo in my country want $320 for a new thermostat and the housing which is daylight robbery. I could take a change on an after market part from Europe for way less, how would I diagnose whether the head gasket is cactus?

[packetfire]

I think it would be better to get some tracer dye, and diagnose with the thermostat removed, which should be ok for a car sitting and idling while you look for leaks that are obvious.