Coolant reservoir full, low, then full?!

MilehighV70XC · Post by **MilehighV70XC** » 20 May 2013, 19:31

Thanks RSPI I have seen your video and read that post. That is why I am exhausting every possibility before I do the head gasket.
After the pressure test today, I think I am going to have to come to terms with this.
What damage I am doing by letting it go tell it gets much worse. Will I damage the cylinder. The car drives perfect still

socompsp · Post by **socompsp** » 20 May 2013, 20:31

worse case for any failing head gasket is hydro-locking. from reading through this thread i have gathered you know water does not compress. if the gasket fails in such a way where enough coolant enters a cylinder, you will lift the head and/or literally blow the motor apart. even with a small leak this can happen suddenly, the age of said gasket only makes the situation more urgent. id get it taken care of asap. if youve never done the work on a volvo head i would have a shop do it, it may cost a lot of money but lots can go wrong, last thing you want is to snap a head bolt, that will dampen your day. breaking a head bolt, and screwing up the valve cover were concerns of mine which is why mine is currently in a shop. i burnt two valves.. this ordeal is costing me $1900 (so far), but the labor is warranted

im a mechanic myself, if i owned a honda id have had this thing fixed the day after it happened, not the case here.. you seem smart, just think about your options before you act, it pays off in the long run.

Post by **rspi** » 21 May 2013, 05:58

In our case this went on for months. Started loosing a little coolant around Aug or Sept maybe, got worse in March, loosing about a cup every couple of days. Near the end right before I was sure of the problem my daughter took it on a road trip where she blew a hose and ran it out of coolant, stopped immediately and continued her trip (put another 800 miles on the car during the road trip). So, I'd say take as much time as you need. The issue would be if you ran it out of coolant, over heated it and destroyed the motor. It's what I call "Motor Roulette", driving around with a known coolant leak. As long as you stay ahead of the coolant leak you should be fine.

The thing about our leak was... combustion air was escaping into the coolant passages and forcing coolant out, if you have the same situation you should be fine.

As for you doing the work yourself, I say give it a try. It was my first head gasket job ever. Just take your time and don't worry about what has not happened. Take your time and use some good instructions. Follow them and if something goes wrong deal with it. If everything goes right you'll be thrilled and hope like hell you never have to do it again. Lol If a head bolt breaks there are awesome guys here that will guide you through that process.

Post by **jpr0204** » 21 May 2013, 06:20

Morning All,

As mentioned before, please rent the block tester and perform the test. This would put an "end all" to the possibilities.

rspi, an EXCELLENT write-up on the head gasket procedure.

- Joe

MilehighV70XC · Post by **MilehighV70XC** » 21 May 2013, 07:15

I might try the block tester but It was tested about two months ago and no signs of hydrocarbons in the coolant. The level in the reservoir never rises just lowers. Every test for a bad head gasket has come back negative except for the mystery coolant loss and lower compression in cylinder 2.
I don't mind doing the head gasket. The only thing that scares me is messing with the cams. Everything else seems pretty straight forward. I am just going to let it go for a while longer and and start making m parts list. I will update when something happens or I fix it
Thanks for all the help and opinions.

LASteve · Post by **LASteve** » 16 Oct 2013, 15:52

Do you have an update on this?

Reys · Post by **Reys** » 16 Oct 2013, 19:10

I had my headgasket just done a few months ago by a reputable shop, I did notice the reservoir rise and fall, but figured it was normal under different operating temperatures, some days i open the hood and its just above min, other times in the middle, should i be taking my car back to the shop as the work is under warranty still?

Post by **jblackburn** » 16 Oct 2013, 21:12

Reys wrote:I had my headgasket just done a few months ago by a reputable shop, I did notice the reservoir rise and fall, but figured it was normal under different operating temperatures, some days i open the hood and its just above min, other times in the middle, should i be taking my car back to the shop as the work is under warranty still?

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=59537

Reys · Post by **Reys** » 19 Oct 2013, 12:26

Thanks Jb

MilehighV70XC · Post by **MilehighV70XC** » 24 Oct 2013, 20:17

LASteve, No update yet, replied to your other thread

Coolant reservoir full, low, then full?!

Re: Coolant reservoir full, low, then full?!