Advice with a few bits!

[Dan H]

Hi, I've been having a few issues with my v70 lately. I seem to be loosing a lot of water over the past few days on my car, I've had to top it up twice in 70 miles (to and from work) It doesnt seem to be leaking onto the floor, I was having issues with the heater matrix pipes leaking on the passenger side foot well, Those pipes popped off the other week and chucked coolant everywhere. My car is a 2.5T Pre ME7

But with the water leaking lately and it not leaking onto the floor Its made me wonder if the head gasket has gone or the Piston Liners have cracked. Just after a little bit of advice as what it could be. I've got a t5 Engine I'm getting this week but wont have time to put it in until the end of the month.


I've also been getting a lot of oil on top of my rocker cover over the last month or two as well, and its alot of oil, I pressure washed it all off and cleaned it all up and it appeared to be coming from the Camshaft seals or around that area.

And lastly could anyone recommend a way of getting these scratches out? I was thinking of sanding them down using 2000grit and using some cutting compound and buffing the paintwork back up.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0365.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0365.jpg.html)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0364.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0364.jpg.html)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0360.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0360.jpg.html)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0363.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0363.jpg.html)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0359.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0359.jpg.html)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0362.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0362.jpg.html)

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0367.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0367.jpg.html)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/dannyh2k42k5/IMG_0368.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/dannyh2k42k5/media/IMG_0368.jpg.html)

Any help would be much appreciated!

[merc85]

I reckon the oil on top of the engine is coming from the Oill filler cap seal bud, You will be able to get half that scratch out with G3 compound, the other looks a little deeper.

As for the water loss when you say not leaking on the floor are you talking about the floor of the car or the ground? Looks nice and clean btw ;)

[Dan H]

I reckon the oil on top of the engine is coming from the Oill filler cap seal bud, You will be able to get half that scratch out with G3 compound, the other looks a little deeper.

As for the water loss when you say not leaking on the floor are you talking about the floor of the car or the ground? Looks nice and clean btw ;)

Will give the scratch a go at the weekend then, hopefully it'll look a little less obvious

There is no water on the ground to say its leaking lol.
Cheers, Its not bad considering it had only been snow foamed and its on 202k ;) Gets cleaned weekly!

[merc85]

is it manual or auto? just thinking the Radiator coulda cracked internally? Head Gasket possible thats using quite abit really? is it difficlut to start 1st thing?

[Dan H]

Its manual, the radiator was changed a few month ago, Hoping its not that!
It starts fine but misfires like hell for a few minutes until it starts warming up, It does use quite a bit of water, like a 1.5L of water in 24hrs or so

[stribo]

If it's misfiring on start up, it does sound like it could be a headgasket failure, it's unlikely to be liners ( though not impossible), as it's a fairly unstressed engine. The first thing to do would be to get a sniff test done.

[merc85]

Have you checked the Oil level, thats really alot of water bud, if the levels high that would explain it, also could be a crack in the block, when the engine is hot it could leak from there then close up when the engines cold.

Missfire when cold and 1st starting does sound like Head Gasket bud, Water laying on top of the pistons 1st thing. :( get a sniff test done on the header tank

[Dan H]

oh the joys! Just what I'm needing, Will try and get a sniff test done at the weekend, Hopefully it will last me untill the end of the month, cant be chewed with taking time off work to change the engine!
Oil level goes down a little ever now and then but usually topped up straight away, I've just not really checked it since i've had all the oil on the top of the rocker cover! looks like i'll be carrying round a couple of bottles of water with me and a little bit of oil

Cheers for the help/advice guys

[LeeT5]

The scratches, I personally would leave to an expert. I'm not an expert on paint. If you run the car round to a local paint shop and bung the guy a score, I'm sure he will whip them out for you in a couple of minutes.
During the recent storms, I had a bloody bin blown against the car. It put minor scuffs and scratches on the door ( no dents). A quick visit to my local body shop (the guys that rebuilt the back of my car after the accident) used 2000 grit and and polishing machine. The scratch was totally gone in 2 minutes! Cost me a drink and 5 minutes of my time.

As Merc85 says for the oil on the head. About £1.50p from Volvo.

A sniffer test and/or cooling system pressure test will be able to diagnose the cause.

Regards your coolant loss...as already said. That's way too much mate! My advice to you would be to not drive the car unless you remedy it. If the crack/leak gets worse whilst your driving it, you could hydro lock the engine and then you'll be buggered.
Have you ever tried Kseal? I recommend it mate. It's completely harmless to your engine. It will be definitely worth draining your coolant from the Radiator when the engines cold. Then refill with 50/50 mix of coolant and water, but chuck in a small bottle of Kseal first, before you fill the system. From what you've described, it does sound like your head gasket is leaking. Kseal will find the leak and quickly plug it. Works in about 10-15 minutes once the engine is warmed up.
I had a Rover 400 last year at the side of the road that had overheated because the HG failed. The water (on a static pressure test) was spraying out the front of the engine, near the timing belt cover between the head and the block. I thought the Kseal wouldn't seal it but after about 15 minutes, the cooling system functioned normally and the leak stopped. I then followed the lady 10 miles home. She was amazed as I was! The leak was very serious.
One more piece of advice....Don't drive your car just on water alone. You'll damage the water pump. Antifreeze is also a lubricant for the pump as well as having the ability to raise the boiling point of water by about 8*C, therefore, further preventing your cooling system from overheating due to gas formation when the water boils in the head. Once the water boils and turns to steam it's game over! It's not just to prevent your engine freezing in the winter.

[Dan H]

The scratches, I personally would leave to an expert. I'm not an expert on paint. If you run the car round to a local paint shop and bung the guy a score, I'm sure he will whip them out for you in a couple of minutes.
During the recent storms, I had a bloody bin blown against the car. It put minor scuffs and scratches on the door ( no dents). A quick visit to my local body shop (the guys that rebuilt the back of my car after the accident) used 2000 grit and and polishing machine. The scratch was totally gone in 2 minutes! Cost me a drink and 5 minutes of my time.

As Merc85 says for the oil on the head. About £1.50p from Volvo.

A sniffer test and/or cooling system pressure test will be able to diagnose the cause.

Regards your coolant loss...as already said. That's way too much mate! My advice to you would be to not drive the car unless you remedy it. If the crack/leak gets worse whilst your driving it, you could hydro lock the engine and then you'll be buggered.
Have you ever tried Kseal? I recommend it mate. It's completely harmless to your engine. It will be definitely worth draining your coolant from the Radiator when the engines cold. Then refill with 50/50 mix of coolant and water, but chuck in a small bottle of Kseal first, before you fill the system. From what you've described, it does sound like your head gasket is leaking. Kseal will find the leak and quickly plug it. Works in about 10-15 minutes once the engine is warmed up.
I had a Rover 400 last year at the side of the road that had overheated because the HG failed. The water (on a static pressure test) was spraying out the front of the engine, near the timing belt cover between the head and the block. I thought the Kseal wouldn't seal it but after about 15 minutes, the cooling system functioned normally and the leak stopped. I then followed the lady 10 miles home. She was amazed as I was! The leak was very serious.
One more piece of advice....Don't drive your car just on water alone. You'll damage the water pump. Antifreeze is also a lubricant for the pump as well as having the ability to raise the boiling point of water by about 8*C, therefore, further preventing your cooling system from overheating due to gas formation when the water boils in the head. Once the water boils and turns to steam it's game over! It's not just to prevent your engine freezing in the winter.

I've got a few of the scratches out myself before over the past year I've had it, I can usually get it out quite good, It will be getting painted next year but just don't want it looking like ££££ for the time being.

Think I'll ring volvo tomorrow and order a seal then.

The engine blowing/locking isn't an issue, if it goes it goes, I will just use a work van untill i get the engine changed, I've used k-seal a few times on a few things, I put a tub of it in a few month ago on my old radiator as that was leaking, Flushed it all out but haven't even thought about putting any more in just yet, Might get some more at the weekend and see if it helps any more then.