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Dear Metallo,
You wrote:
So, I just returned from Volvo, here a few bullet points:
- There is no water in your oil, they pulled out the dipstick and it looks clear oil
- They pressurized the cooling system at 21 psi which is operating temperature, both top rad hose on the radiator and the lower rad hose on the water pump there is a pretty steady drip of fluid coming from there.
- In order for them to say yes/no there is no water leak internal to my engine system, they need to make sure those leaks are sealed up.
Suggestion:
- Check your hoses for cracks
- New Clamps
Its good that Volvo did pressure test on the system. You're right to focus on those leaking points first. Leaking hoses wouldn't do you any good (in short or long term) regardless good headgasket or not.
Don't bother looking for cracks if your hoses are Volvo original ones (they use good rubber for their hoses). Look for double layering instead. This meant the outer layer had separated from the inner layer. You have to dismantle the hoses to examine for this. Furthermore if the hoses are bloated more than the diameter of their anchoring points (eg. radiator inlet/outlet ports) then this also becomes suspect. Replace them if you find any of these defects. Can't repair the hoses.
No need to replace the clamps unless they're spring clamps (like those in Japanese car). If you're using screw clamps just tighten them a bit more.
I think to satisfactorily answer the question about any coolant leak into your cylinder, you might need an endoscope. Consider getting a USB endoscope camera from online sources (ebay etc). They're like $20-30 IIRC. This has to be connected to your PC laptop. The camera has its own light source. Then scope your cylinder first thing in the morning thru the spark plug holes (don't start engine).
Another way is to pull out fuse#1 (this disables the ECU and fuel pump at same time). Briefly crank the engine (yes it can crank without fuse#1 - I use this as anti-theft method with dummy fuse when parking long time at airport) then dismantle the plugs to check for wetness. Do this first thing in the morning.
I prefer the endoscope method as it better represent the cylinder condition as it is. Cranking the engine to look for plug wetness may depends on the amount of water there. It also depends on which Otto cycle the engine stopped. If it stopped on exhaust stroke any residual water will be blown out with not much to wet the plug. Might have to try a few times to catch it.
I had experienced such small headgasket leak long time ago (mileage about 600k km). Engine started with a bit of hiccups. Kept on adding coolant to expansion tank every 3-5 days. Continued using the car for daily commute to work for almost 3 months while saving for headgasket job. In that sense Volvo is truly a luxury car. Can't imagine the same if it was German cars.
Amarin.
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