9 replies to this topic

[adimichele]

This weekend I noticed some coolant leaking somewhere from the front passenger side of the engine. I've been keeping a close eye on my gauges and my temperature gauge always goes to an exact 3 o'clock position, so I am not overheating unless my gauge is wrong.

I checked under the hood and could not see evidence of exactly where the leak was coming from. The leak is not constant. I first noticed in when returning to the car after grocery shopping. I had driven the car for approximately 30 minutes before going to the grocery store(nap time for my son) and then parked. When I came out of the store I could see that coolant leaked.

My ride home is 5 minutes long. I parked the car and checked for a leak but there was nothing.

Are there any typical maintenance items on the 850 that would cause a coolant leak if not done?

I was thinking maybe there was either too much/not enough coolant in the system and it caused it to pump into the resevoir tank. Maybe too much was pumped in and caused the overlow.

If the thermostat got stuck in the closed position, could it cause the resevoir overflow?

[NateB]

Spend 30-50 dollars and get a fluorescent dye leak test and black light to pin point the leak. Any good auto parts store sells this as a kit.

Otherwise- you are just asking us to guess what where your leak is..


Good luck !

[adimichele]

Will do.

But what could happen if the thermostat got stock in the closed position?

Edited by adimichele, 07 June 2005 - 12:32 PM.

[jda2000]

Common source of hidden leaks in turbos is the coolant connection to the turbo.

Behind the engine by the firewall, there are some aluminum pipes that connect to the turbo itself. There is a 4" piece of rubber hose that connects these metal pipes. This is a site for leaks, hard to pinpoint because the coolant drips into the super hot heat shield and evaporates leaving no trace.

I found this leak in my V70, by running my finger under the rubber connection with engine running and hot, and getting my finger wet. CAREFUL, is hot in that area

[adimichele]

I found the source of my leak. It is coming out of the top of the expansion tank.

The level in the expansion tank is fine when the vehicle is cold.

Do I have too much or not enough coolant?

Is the thermostat closing prematurely forcing the hot, gaseous coolant to push to the overflow tank?

Is the cap on my overflow tank supposed to leak air/coolant when there is too much in the tank?

Do I need to buy a new cap and seal for my overflow tank?

Any help is appreciated. I leave for my trip to Montreal on Thursday.

Oh yeah, I ran SeaFoam tonight.....that stuff is sweet!

[pwebb]

try a new cap. get a green one from FCP.

[adimichele]

Should I also change the thermostat? Would that help matters at all?

[kenhoeve]

yeah, cap is known to go bad. replace and you'll be fine.

as long as you go to 3o clock on the temp gauge, the thermostat is just fine. if anything, they usually fail in the open position and cause you to run cold. pretty cheap to replace and easy to do yourself though.