It was finally time to cross this long known fault with these cars off my list. My windshield fogged up one too many times this "Winter", I could detect the aroma of coolant when the heat was turned on and my coolant level would always drop after using the heater. It was also slowly diluting the antifreeze as I usually topped off with dist. water. I pulled back both the driver & pass side carpet and found a small amount of coolant between the carpet & the sound pads.
Fortunately, this is an easy fix. Total time is about an hour.
Shopping around on-line + coupon saved me $50 on the OEM manufacturer (Behr) and I chose the Volvo o-rings over unknown aftermarket.
More research revealed that IPD has an excellent video on this procedure. I wasn't able to pinch off the heater hoses due to the turbo plumbing, so I drained the radiator instead. It was time for new coolant anyway.
The core is located between the two seats as shown. I placed a plastic garbage bag under the heater box from the driver side to catch the coolant still in the core. After removing the two black screws on each side and a few others, the box swings aft to remove. It's easier to remove it from the pass. side as there's more room without the accelerator.
Once out it's obvious where the leaks were:
Much to my surprise, I learned that there is no coolant valve for the heater, so coolant flows through this all the time, even when the AC is on! The result is the core is constantly exposed to hot coolant. Note the red staining on old vs. new. This one was original, so it had been in place for 14 yrs. Time to retire it.
Volvo o-rings:
No Chinese here:
I cleaned up the ends of the heater pipes with syn. steel wool, liberally greased the new o-rings with silicone grease and slid them in place. A single screw holds the core to this block.
Installation is straightforward. The box aft of the heater box is the Dolby module for the surround sound.
I filled the system back up, started the car, let it warm up and pressure tested it to check for leaks before putting the trim & carpeting back in place. I noticed that the heater core pipes quickly become too hot to touch long before the engine temp gauge even moves. Interesting...I only discovered this after 14 yrs! Ha!
No leaks detected! Everything is tight. All the trim went back in place and I cleaned the interior windows of oily vapor for the last time. I did get a chance to test it out when we had a small cold front move in and drop the evening temps to the low 50°'s F. There was dew everywhere. Heater worked great, no misting/fog inside, and the new seal on the new core made a big difference in heat output.
Fortunately, this is an easy fix. Total time is about an hour.
Shopping around on-line + coupon saved me $50 on the OEM manufacturer (Behr) and I chose the Volvo o-rings over unknown aftermarket.
More research revealed that IPD has an excellent video on this procedure. I wasn't able to pinch off the heater hoses due to the turbo plumbing, so I drained the radiator instead. It was time for new coolant anyway.
The core is located between the two seats as shown. I placed a plastic garbage bag under the heater box from the driver side to catch the coolant still in the core. After removing the two black screws on each side and a few others, the box swings aft to remove. It's easier to remove it from the pass. side as there's more room without the accelerator.
Once out it's obvious where the leaks were:
Much to my surprise, I learned that there is no coolant valve for the heater, so coolant flows through this all the time, even when the AC is on! The result is the core is constantly exposed to hot coolant. Note the red staining on old vs. new. This one was original, so it had been in place for 14 yrs. Time to retire it.
Volvo o-rings:
No Chinese here:
I cleaned up the ends of the heater pipes with syn. steel wool, liberally greased the new o-rings with silicone grease and slid them in place. A single screw holds the core to this block.
Installation is straightforward. The box aft of the heater box is the Dolby module for the surround sound.
I filled the system back up, started the car, let it warm up and pressure tested it to check for leaks before putting the trim & carpeting back in place. I noticed that the heater core pipes quickly become too hot to touch long before the engine temp gauge even moves. Interesting...I only discovered this after 14 yrs! Ha!
No leaks detected! Everything is tight. All the trim went back in place and I cleaned the interior windows of oily vapor for the last time. I did get a chance to test it out when we had a small cold front move in and drop the evening temps to the low 50°'s F. There was dew everywhere. Heater worked great, no misting/fog inside, and the new seal on the new core made a big difference in heat output.
