My '94 945T is losing coolant badly. I could smell it strongly coming home and steam started wafting through the vents. I can see it puddled on the right hand frame rail but can't tell where it's coming from. I replaced the reservoir lately and the hoses look ok. I thought i could see it dripping from somewhere near the AC receiver/dryer but can't think of anywhere up there that coolant flows into...any ideas?

Thanks

Could be a couple places, my first guess would be the coolant bypass line.
That is the metal tube that slides into the back of the water pump, if you trace it you'll see that it runs along the side of the engine under the exhaust manifold then curves behind the head where it meets a rubber hose that continues on to the heater control valve. It's possible that that line has deteriorated and is leaking somewhere in the metal tube(the tab welded to it that mounts to the block comes to mind) but more likely at the connection to the rubber heater hose.
The second place to check would be the coolant lines that go to the oil cooler on the oil filter mount. They tend to get oil and road grime on them and soften to point of failure. Inspect these and replace them if they aren't in good condition even if they are not leaking, if one of these fails while your going down the highway you can do damage in a hurry.

Sounds like a heater core for sure...steam out of the vents, drainage from the evaporator drain. Yep, that's a heater core.

Uh oh...how bad is that?

The advice about changing the HCV and hoses is also good, one of those hoses is what I was referring to earlier, but just for good measure I'd change both of them.

ahhh...how many miles on your brick? has the heater valve and hoses been changed? can you observe the leak while the car is running? did you try pressuring the system and looking for the leak?

If it's the core...that's not something I have had to change yet. If you have the original heater valve and heater hoses on the car they are ready to disintegrate. Change them no matter what. If you have any original hoses or an original radiator, it is time for them to come out.
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I'm stuck on Volvo and Volvo's stuck on me....

Hi,

The car has 146k...I've replaced one heater hose, the thermostat, coolant tank and cap but not the valve...

I think you will get a consensus here that the valve and hoses need to be changed. The radiator too. If the former fail you will have a catastrophic failure of the cooling system, and engine damage could be far along before you even see any steam. I would bet that when you change the hoses they crumble in your hands. I never had mine fail while driving, but they were 'toast' when I got around to changing them. When the radiator fails you might be able to pull over and call for help. The radiator is really, really easy to change.
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I'm stuck on Volvo and Volvo's stuck on me....

Having replaced both the heater core and the radiator in the last year on my 92 940T I offer the following. A corosion condition affecting one will affect the other. My radiator was venting coolant at the plastic to metal interface only when hot. As the leak got worse, I found coolant puddled below the charcoal cannistor thing on the driver's side. Changing the heater core was a time-consuming but learning experience. The FAQ section is excellent.

Brian Mee
92 945T
91 240
90 240 DL