Difficulty of removing turbo on 98 S70 GLT

[erikv11]

Heater hoses is a simple replace but don't buy aftermarket, either leave them there or buy the Volvo ones. Check the pricing before you make the decision, they are expensive.

Heater hose just pulls right out or the firewall when you pinch the little clips.

[benpineapple]

Definitely a radiator. Don't be too intimidated by the radiator replacement job, it's really not a tough fix. I just did one on my buddy's 00' V70 this past weekend, took 3 hours to do (and that's including an Autozone run).

As far as turbos go, if they're not obviously trashed don't bother pulling or rebuilding them. If it'll make you feel better, spray some seafoam in it.

[beigg]

trans fluid at rest, not running, cold op temp will read higher then normal.

[VolvoS70Driver]

I have so very many other irons in the fire right now and this came up in the middle of everything that I am forgetting some of my basic car knowledge so I am very appreciative of all the input here. Hopefully it is, as is being suggested, a one way direction for the leaking and I only have to deal with the coolant system. When I disconnect the tranny and oil cooling lines from the radiator that should tell the story. Opened the back block drain and it is sloooowly draining out goop. Gonna take a good flushing to get all that mess out.

Do have a couple side questions. There is a vacuum line that connects from the intake hose to a small hard line that runs along the rear hard coolant line. The very first time I overhauled the pcv system and pulled this line, it was very corroded on the end and I used a small drill bit to manually open it up. Question is, can I reroute the entire vacuum line and bypass that tiny hard line or does it depend on the heat from the coolant line for any reason? I am suspecting, based on how it's connected underneath that it may be a fuel vent line that sucks up vapors and by warming the flow, insures that it is actually a vapor when it gets to the intake hose. Just a guess though.

I am going to pull the turbo as I was able to take the cooling line banjo bolt off the top and goop came oozing out so want to get it up and clean it real well anyway. Probably won't do the rebuild unless I find something awry which I don't expect but there is an area of white at the joint between the turbo and the down pipe which could indicate an exhaust leak so if nothing else, will put fresh seals at the two joints. Turns out that there was not a broken stud, the lower two nuts are located on the opposite side of the joint. Got too them no prob once I was crawling underneath it.

Now second question. As there are several places in the system that I will not be able to directly access to clean, I of course will thoroughly flush the cooling system one everything is all back together. I haven't flushed a cooling system in like, forever, if then. Since I am trying to clear out oil based stuff along with any other corrosion, debris and whatnot, I was trying to decide what chemical(s) to use. My intent will be to leave the thermostat out for the initial flushes. Stuff I am considering using though not necessarily in this order; dish soap, vinegar, dissolved borax, laundry soap (front load soaps are much less sudsy), and of course regular coolant flush stuff from the local parts store. I do want to make sure I don't put anything in that could compromise the water pump as I elected to not change it when I did the timing belt about 15 or 20k back and since I am now not going to have to pull the head, Don't want to have to disassemble the front end of the engine.

I am also wanting to try and flush out the block ahead as much as I can as I really don't relish putting whatever remnants of what is in the system right into a brand new radiator.

Any thoughts are much appreciated.

[abscate]

Oil in the radiator really isn't that bad, just flush it with lots of water and keep flushing until it runs clear and non-oily. Oil will actually be good for your water pump, too! I know the emulsion looks nasty, but if you didn't overheat the car, and your oil didn't get a ton of water in it, you have saved your engine and have done well. I flush my radiators by opening the drain, putting a hose into the reservoir, and idling them for 15-20 minutes with the hose water positively overflowing the system from the top. Never leave this unattended or Swedish Gnomes will come out of the ground, pull the hose out, and ruin you engine.

[VolvoS70Driver]

Yea so I got the radiator pulled this afternoon. Still not so sure pulling the head wouldn't have been easier. I searched a bit on removing it and saw about disconnecting the A/C coil so managed that and strung it up with some heavy wire. But after dropping the two main bolts, the SAS pump was smack in the way. So got that loosened up and then managed to shimmy it down.

A quick down and dirty pressure check using a little compressed air and right now I'm not convinced it is the radiator. I could hold pressure with the rubber tipped air hose on one opening and my nitrile covered thumb on the other. I know that isn't a definitive test but I saw zero signs of air exiting the coolant openings. Might try a longer test with a gauge and measure pressure drop over about 5 or 10 minutes on both the trans oil circuit and the engine oil circuit. That or secure a fresh nitrile glove over each coolant port and then pressurize each oil channel for a bit and see if the gloves every try to inflate. If that checks tight then I may have to reconsider head gasket. Can't think of anywhere else the fluids would cross paths.

[Ozark Lee]

If the radiator holds pressure then the next step for me would be to use a block tester to check for exhaust gases in the overflow tank. You can "rent" the block tester from places like Autozone for free but I think the fluid is about $8.00.

The block test, if positive, is pretty definitive but it isn't always accurate if it is negative. We have had people pass the block test but fail a leakdown test and find that the gasket was indeed blown.

...Lee

[sleddriver]

.... Since I am trying to clear out oil based stuff along with any other corrosion, debris and whatnot, I was trying to decide what chemical(s) to use. My intent will be to leave the thermostat out for the initial flushes. Stuff I am considering using though not necessarily in this order; dish soap, vinegar, dissolved borax, laundry soap (front load soaps are much less sudsy), and of course regular coolant flush stuff from the local parts store. I do want to make sure I don't put anything in that could compromise the water pump as I elected to not change it when I did the timing belt about 15 or 20k back and since I am now not going to have to pull the head, Don't want to have to disassemble the front end of the engine.

I am also wanting to try and flush out the block ahead as much as I can as I really don't relish putting whatever remnants of what is in the system right into a brand new radiator.

Any thoughts are much appreciated.

My indy uses SHOUT! laundry pre-treater to flush out a cooling system when the radiator fails. I too experienced the 'chocolate milkshake' symptom in the coolant tank. What a mess. I drained the coolant, pulled the radiator fan, then the radiator out the top. Cleaned the coolant tank with degreaser + hot water.

SHOUT! did a great job of breaking down the oil residue. I was surprised but it just works.

[IG-88A]

I just did all my heater hoses, heater core, expansion tank hoses, and turbo coolant hoses last weekend. It was a long job. But the worst of it was getting the old equipment out. If you decide to do the heater hoses at the firewall, save yourself some trouble and buy the firewall coupler/junction from FCP, Part #: VOL-3522035. If you use new Volvo branded heater hoses, everything plugs right in as it should. I have read accounts of guys getting confused about how these all attach because of changes in the o-ring washer thicknesses/configurations over the years. The reason I say to buy that junction piece, is because I had a hell of a time disconnecting the heater hoses from it. The only way I was able to successfully get them out was to break the thing apart. Wrestling the old one out and the new one in is a bit of a chore. Just disconnect your throttle cable at the throttle body so you don't have to fight any tension on the gas pedal when you're trying to maneuver it in there.

Its all accessible by removing the two lower trim panels along the footwell area, on either side of the center console and the lower dash pieces in the knee area on driver and passenger side. You'll also want to remove the metal reinforcement piece under the dash in the passenger side. Make sure you have a good pan, bucket or a bag to catch the coolant when you break the seal on the heater core. Its kind of tricky to get into place. But just be patient. And pull that air conditioning drain hose out of the floor to get it out of your way. It simply plugs right back in. Robert DIY has a great video on youtube regarding heater core replacement. He also has a video on the firewall junction too.

And I bought a Nissens radiator when I did mine. It seems to be holding up okay so far.

[VolvoS70Driver]

OK, so got a decent pressure leak test done on the radiator this morning and after some time have been able to confirm there is a leak, albeit a pretty small one, between the engine oil cooler and the coolant section. I rigged up the test as shown in pic below. Repeated it three times and let it sit once with no pressure just to make sure it wasn't the heat of the mid-day sun heating the air inside the radiator causing a false positive. (Mid March and 80 degrees in NC, a year or two ago and this could have been snow) Took 10-15 minutes to get enough air passed through to get the balloons to stand erect. That was starting with about 50 psi air pressure.

So time for a new radiator. At least that makes me feel better about spending the money as now it is definitive. Found something a bit odd once radiator was out. This was on A/C coil.

Surely Volvo didn't source this from a US supplier.

Last thing I am trying to get apart is the down pipe from the turbo. There is a white like stain all around the joint and with all three nuts off, it seems almost like the parts are welded together. No place for a pry point to separate them though the down pipe flange shows just a little edge where I am going to try and take a chisel to it (not my favorite option but not sure what else to do)

Have decided I will not change heater hoses though will disconnect them from the coolant pipe and the block to flush the heater core out independently a bit. Also, the fitting from the one heater hose to the block is rusted all up and I want to change that. Am considering also taking that big coolant pipe all the way off and cleaning it good but undecided right now. Not wanting to create a leak where there isn't one. There is rust inside and out on it though and don't want to think I'm going through all this just to have to do it again if that pipe starts to leak.