1999 V70XC AWD antifreeze leak

tyrendis · Post by **tyrendis** » 15 May 2015, 08:10

Hey guys!

I noticed in the past few months I have been purchasing a large amount of coolant as my sensor light turns on frequently. I checked the other day finally and noticed dripping coming from the passenger side of the bottom of the radiator. However it appears to be traveling there from somewhere else. I am not sure if the leak originates in the radiator or in the line itself. Is there a viable way to diagnose the leak location? I can take pictures if required also

Seaway · Post by **Seaway** » 15 May 2015, 08:57

My car had coolant leaks at the upper radiator hose and at the short hose connecting the hard metal lines to the the turbo (at the firewall). The leaking upper radiator hose was identified by seeing the white reside the coolant left after it burned off/evaporated. You could have a leak at the other end of the hose at the radiator junction. Run the car up to temperature and see if you can see where it is leaking.

I was also leaking a small amount of coolant from my heater core, but I caught it in time and changed that out the other night. Any syrup smell in the cabin?

tyrendis · Post by **tyrendis** » 15 May 2015, 09:14

syrup smell? like maple syrup? no but there is an odor that I would probably attribute to the coolant. ill have to run it up to temperature after work today

mika · Post by **mika** » 15 May 2015, 09:18

He is saying that one common coolant leak location is the heater core (your carpets would be wet). Otherwise, it should be preety easy to find a coolant leak if it is under the hood, just look around. There is a top radiator hose (left side up high, goes to thermostat), and other one snakes around to the right side, connected from bottom of radiator and goes around to the back by the airbox. Most leaks are easy to see. There are other locations obviously where you can leak, just times some time and take a look

Tip: top off with <distilled> water for now.

tyrendis · Post by **tyrendis** » 15 May 2015, 09:30

yeah my carpets are dry. I'll take a look later today though

obayha · Post by **obayha** » 15 May 2015, 09:47

Overflow bottle and/or hose going to it. It was a very slow leak in mine for a long time and hard to locate. Hoses are old and clamps come loose.
Shane

Post by **abscate** » 15 May 2015, 10:16

You carpets can be dry even though there is coolant underneath them. The padding on these cars is really thick and can hold gallons of coolant

There is a tray under the radiator that catches coolant leaks and delivers them to the lowest point, so you cannot reliably locate a leak by the drip position under the car.

Post by **850 LPT** » 15 May 2015, 10:58

If it is coming from the radiator area, you need to take the big plastic air guide thing out that covers the area from the bottom. It will probably be obvious when you do.

I recently had a pesky leak on my XC from the little hose feeding into the reservoir at the top, even with a new tank and new hose.
In that case the clamp made the difference. For some reason the Volvo engineers decided that a half barb would be enough to seal at the tube connection

. Silly design.

tyrendis · Post by **tyrendis** » 15 May 2015, 11:53

850 LPT wrote:If it is coming from the radiator area, you need to take the big plastic air guide thing out that covers the area from the bottom. It will probably be obvious when you do.

I am unsure of the area you're referring to

Seaway · Post by **Seaway** » 15 May 2015, 12:34

850 LPT is talking about the plastic cover on the bottom of the car that is there to protect the bottom of the radiator and the associated hoses. It's sometimes called the Splash Guard. Your car may not have one as they are known to break off.