B200E Coolant Loss

Post by **jimc101** » 17 Nov 2005 04:28 pm

Hi All

Currently my 360 GLT is loosing coolant and I can not see where it is going to, I have no drips or puddles under the car and there is no mayo on the Oil cap.

Before I start pulling the engine apart does anyone have any suggestions as to where the coolant may be going.

thanks

James

Post by **RandomHero** » 17 Nov 2005 04:32 pm

You should first check all the hoses. When they're all fine you could check the water pump. It needs replacement around every 60.000 km.

Does the car still run and idle good?

Post by **jimc101** » 17 Nov 2005 04:37 pm

I have checked all the hoses and no leaks there, the car has done 43000 miles and I was thinking that it as probably going to be the water pump.

The car runs fine and will idle constantly, and never goes above the half way on the temp gauge

James

Post by **RandomHero** » 17 Nov 2005 11:08 pm

Well, i guess the water pump will be the problem. Replacing could be done in....2-3 hours? Then you don't have to rush things

Post by **foggyjames** » 18 Nov 2005 03:05 am

Doesn't answer where the water is going...

Does the car give off visible exhaust vapour at all, when warm? Kinda hard to give a good answer in this cold weather, but you could have a headgasket failure from water passage to bore (ie: no oil and water mix), so it's just 'burning' the water.

I don't really know, so don't take this tale of doom too seriously...just another possibility. Redblocks aren't famous for blowing HGs, so I think it's unlikely.

cheers

James

Website · Post by **antiekeradio** » 18 Nov 2005 09:48 am

"burning water" normally gives a thick plume of mist...

Post by **Wiktor** » 18 Nov 2005 09:58 am

I think James could be right.
It might be headgasket failure.
I work in volvo service and we've got similar problem...

Post by **jimc101** » 23 Nov 2005 07:19 pm

Hi All

Went for a drive over the weekend, before I went I filled the header tank to the max limit, after 300 miles the tank is down about 1cm, this is way less loss than I have been having when I am doing short journeys to work, will keep an eye on the level, as the last time I filled it approx 2 weeks ago the coolant was all gone from the header in a few days.

Thanks

James

Post by **bogbasic** » 23 Nov 2005 07:28 pm

It could be the plastic heater valve which is operated by a cable and mounted to a couple of rubber hoses. It sits up close to the bulkhead hidden behind the engine. I had a slow leak for several months and eventually traced it to this. Strangely it only leaked when the engine was cold. Bars leaks provided a temporary cure.

Post by **foggyjames** » 23 Nov 2005 07:31 pm

Curious...I don't have an answer for why that is off the top of my head.

cheers

James

Post by **shimon340** » 23 Nov 2005 08:13 pm

My jreg 1.4 also seems to be rather thirsty at the moment. Seems to need the expansion tank re-filled every two weeks. Its also difficult to start after being stood for a day or two. This is symtomatic of head gasket failure where, as foggy says, the water goes into the bore so there isnt any oil/water mix and the mayonaising of the oil with white sludge on the oil filler cap. This water in the bore makes starting difficult as the engine doesnt fire easily due to the water in one of the cylinders.

However, it has been running hot ever since I got it, the fan comes on all the time as the gauge is halfway pretty quick. Even in this cold weather the car runs hot.

Im hoping that the running hot is due to a duff thermostat - Im due to0 change it for a volvo new one ( £12 from dealer ) and I think the tough starting is due to a incorrect carb gasket I fitted - so fuel is evaporating from the float chamber through the home made gasket hence the difficult starting as it takes time to re-fill the float chamber.....

The car also needs a new clutch and propshaft.

Hopefully it will be healthy and back on the road soon!

I'll keep you posted about any developments

Shimon

Post by **foggyjames** » 23 Nov 2005 09:26 pm

shimon340 wrote:I think the tough starting is due to a incorrect carb gasket I fitted - so fuel is evaporating from the float chamber through the home made gasket hence the difficult starting as it takes time to re-fill the float chamber.....

I'd pretty much got to the point where I've been assuming that all carb cars did this, since both carb setups I've had on the 360 have done exactly the same thing. Is that not the case?

cheers

James

Post by **shimon340** » 23 Nov 2005 09:53 pm

yeah carb suffer from what is called "hot carb syndrome" Honest... thats what volvo manuals called it in the 1980s!!

Basically, if the carb is hot and you stop the car for a while then the fuel evaporates from the float chamber. It makes restarting longer as you need to re-fill the float chamber. This occurs in 340s normally after a long run on the motorway ands then you stop at a service station or on hot days whneever the car is switched off

The extra long cranking is similar to a fuel injected car when the fuel pressure valve in the fuel rail has broken so the rail doesnt maintain pressure when the car is switched off. You need to turn the engine over for longer to re-fill the fuel rail.....Ive heard this common on the S40/V40 but wouldnt the electric fuel pump solve this??? does fuel injection pre-pressurise the fuel rail??

However, with the J reg, it does an extra thing of once it stands for a day or so, it takes a lot of turning over before it starts. None of my other 340s have take this long to start after a few days standing. i think its due to the float chamber not being properly sealed..... so it empties extra quick!

Story about the J reg.............

This J car was in storage for over a year unused so it took time to get started again. Usually I use a spare fuel pump to pump fuel manually from the tank to the fuel pump. Now instead I use a small pump designed for pumping fuel from one car to the other ( sold in local car parts shop in manchester ) to suck fuel from the tank to start a car that hasnt started for a while. The fuel pump should really be able to cope with a little bit of air in the system but if the car stands long enough ( months!! ) then it cant pump out all the air from the fuel pipes.

However, this J reg seems really sensitive to standing for any length of time. I once ran it low on fuel and 2 days later it failed to start. It did the same thing even after I added fuel to the tank. In the end I had to suck fuel from the tank to the fuel pump ( ie refilling the fuel pipes from tank to pump under bonnet ) with a small pump. After this it fired.

The car has a catalyst also so Im wondering if volvo modified the fuel tank pipes on this later car to reduce the venting of petrol vapours?

Anyway, back to the carb.... I thought the lack of starting ( after 1 year in storage ) was caused by the float in the chamber sticking... so I took off the top of the carb allowing access to the float chamber. I thought maybe the fuel inlet needle was clogged or something. This is because even though there was fuel at the fuel pump nothing was coming out the pump to fill the carb.

I change the fuel pump and the car started. But, the idle was rough!!

In the end, I had to change the gasket in the carb - the one between the top of the float chamber and the top part of carb. i decided to make my own from cardboard and carefully copied the original. However, the idle has not improved and also there is always fuel by the gasket above the float chamber and the car smells of petrol - when you stand near bonnet after its been running....

I think carb gaskets are made from a waxy paper to prevent fuel evaporating through them like a capiliary. The card I used was just normal unwaxy card. I got anew gasket from volvo but the float chamber section isnt cut out.

thats annoying!

Im hoping to change this gasket to solve the petrol smell and the poor starting.... but what about the idling? if it fails to improve should I strip the carb and clean it? Ive not done this before but a friend has agreed to work with me ( he owns a volvo specialist garage but works on 240, 740 and 940 most ).........

Anyway..... sorry for the long post..... thats basically the history of my J reg 340!

Shimon

Website · Post by **antiekeradio** » 23 Nov 2005 10:06 pm

- float adjustment
- sealing of the float valve

if the valve does not close properly, air will be able to enter into the petrol hose more easily, this may cause the petrol pump to fall dry (especially if the oneway valves seal less than perfect)
also, when running, the float chamber could overflow, wich is a likely explanation of your other symptoms.

Greetings Wouter

Post by **petefarrell360** » 23 Nov 2005 10:09 pm

Interesting stuff Shimon. I'm new to the 340 and carbs really, I've always had the fuel injected 360! So the problem I have is a 340 Variomatic that has stood for quite a while, nothing should be worn out really, as it's done 10514 miles from new, it's more likely, perished, seized, or not working due to a lack of use. So, it wouldn't start, would turn over, seemed to be a lack of fuel, none getting to the carb, none coming from the pump. So had the pump off, seemed ok, manually sucked fuel up to the pump, and once there and primed, it pumped fuel very well, the car ran. Left it no more than two weeks, nothing, once again no fuel. So I was under the impression it may be the cracked/perished fuel lines, as I'm sure it was either Shimon or ChrisC that suggested replacing with fuel injection pipes to sort this, but reading this makes me wonder if it is that or not! When or if I get time soon I'll be investigating, maybe a replacment pump, after looking at the fuel lines will sort it.

Keep us posted on your work, with the gasket, (why was the cut out for the float chamber not there?) and the stripping the carb. I know Adam did his and changed the jets I believe.
Pete