I received my OE radiator today from Tasca. Unlike Travis's (1990Volvo240) experience, it was well packaged, with the radiator box padded inside a larger box (however, I had also ordered new hoses, so that may be why). The radiator is, of course, Valeo (Made in Spain), even though the top has "Volvo SWEDEN" stamped into the metal. Seems like false advertising to hide the "Made in Spain" sticker on the bottom and stamp "SWEDEN" on the top.

And sure enough, and unbeknownst to me at the time of ordering, it had an extra hole with nothing to plug it. I spent an extra $30-$50 for OE, expecting that I would not have any one-size-fits-all nonsense to deal with, and that's exactly what I got.

I checked with all the local parts stores, and they had nothing like what I needed (which doesn't make much sense, because they sell radiators with the same hole). NAPA had a 3/4" expansion plug that kinda worked. Has anyone else found a good solution besides ordering the plug?

I seriously considered going out and buying an electric fan and thermal switch, both to fill the hole and to get rid of the giant fan shroud which I hate so much. I may still do this one day, even though I like the fool-proof function of the engine driven fan.

Took the opportunity to remove and clean out my expansion tank. The brown slime on the inside was a combination of precipitated minerals and oil. Muriatic acid did a lot to loosen the gunk and eat away deposits, and a lye-based degreaser took care of the rest (don't mix the two). I also used a trick of mine for cleaning out old bottles: pour in a handful of small hex nuts or BBs and shake around with the cleaning solution. Best part is, that if you cannot remove all of the nuts or BBs, you can fish them out with a magnet. Looks like new, inside.

Just thought I'd report on my findings. I think I'd go with a Nissens if I had it to do again.

I'm with you scorron, when my 244 needs a radiator I'll go with Nissens also.

When I made my order I had also ordered both radiator hoses, reservoir to radiator hose, a new reservoir and some sway bar parts. They shipped two boxes-one with the small parts and they stuck a shipping label on the radiator box.

Glad everything turned out alright for you, well everything except for the plugs.

Hopefully your installation goes over well, it sounds like with the sort of luck you have had you need a break in the action.

Travis

I use a baby's bottle brush, available at Target, Wal*Mart or the grocery store to clean my overflow bottles. It also works well on hubcaps and mag rims too. I only use it for car relate stuff, so no danger of using it in the house.

I also only use distilled water when I refill my radiator. I mix a gallon of water to one gallon of 100% antifreeze. I don't use the 50/50 stuff, as the 100% stuff is usually much cheaper.

I also change out my antifreeze every two years and by using distilled water, I usually don't have much stuff to clean out of my overflow bottle.


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If it needs to be maintained, repaired or replaced on a 1990 240, I've probably done it. '90 240DL, 324,270 miles, will she make it to 400K ?? >>You haven't really worked on a car until you draw blood<< :-}

Thanks for the description of the effective cleaning chemicals.

I have used horticultural vinegar (2x-3x the acidic strength of kitchen stuff) to clean up scale and crud with only partial success, even with the shaken - not stirred - nuts 'n bolts technique.

The Nissens I got from FCP for the daughter's 940 some years back had no plug. IIRC, plug and rubber seal were quite cheap at the Dealer.
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Bob: son's XC70, dtr's '94-940, my 81GL, 83-DL, 89-745(V8) and 98-S90. Also 77-MGB and some old motorcycles.

I think even household vinegar would work, though slowly. It's the oily film left afterwards that was the tricky part.

I don't remember which cleaner brand I used, but I remember reading sodium hydroxide on the list of active chemicals. I toyed with the idea of mixing up some plain lye, but this was easier. I wish I had started with the degreaser; it is possible that it would have taken care of all of the slime by itself. But my tank is nearly spotless inside, now.

I also seem to recall a commercial radiator flush, years ago, which was partly sodium hydroxide. Maybe that's why I had a hunch that lye would work. The thing about sodium hydroxide though, is that it will also strip oxidation from aluminum and attack the metal. Could be a good thing, could be a bad thing, inside an aluminum head and radiator.

Go to a Volvo dealer and ask for the rubber gromet and plastic plug for the fan sensor hole. Replacement radiators from Volvo ALL have the hole for the sensor.