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Originally Posted by russwinchester
So for those who have followed my story of 760 woe here is the next chapter! Now I have a running B280E V6 after issues at every turn, that now sounds rather good (after a fair amount of plugging exhaust holes!) So now I have a runner, I’ve done an oil and concentrated EG coolant change as per advice, and also a brake fluid flush…(which has resulted in me having to change blocked flexi hoses that were rusted solid; yet another nightmare job).
I’d just started to get excited about it again after hating the sight of it!
Before I did the oil and coolant change, the car was running fine, no oil in coolant. Now I’ve changed the fluids (after reverse flushing the system) I’m getting oil in the expansion tank. No coolant loss, no white exhaust smoke. I’ve driven it around local private roads prior to MOT and it drives well. Does anyone have any ideas or is it most likely that I’m looking at a head gasket?
The car also isn’t charging, no more than 12v across the battery. Is this most likely a duff alternator or do these cars have any other quirks that I don’t know about? Looks like a tricky job too, the belt runs on the v6 look…er…challenging 😭
Once again advice welcome before I decide what to do with it! 👍
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Asking what sounds like a stupid question Russ, are you sure there is oil in the expansion tank?
The reason i ask is because when a car has been laid up for a time, like yours has, it can produce a brown or grey scummy residue in the expansion tank or radiator (if a traditional cooling system) similar to the summy residue you get on tea or coffee in hard water areas. Even following a good reverse flush this can happen becuase not all of the sediment that causes it is got rid of first time round with a flush, simply because of the amount of build up.
The gearbox fluid should be a nice cherry red colour, if it's brown and smells burned, it needs changing but hang fire on that until you've got an MoT and/or bottomed this apparent oil in the coolant problem. It's near impossible for ATF to find its way into the cooling system because the cooling system is pressurised at a minimum of 16.5psi which overcomes the pressure of the ATF in the cooler which is negligible because it just flows (no pressure, just flow) through the heat exchanger and if fitted, the auxiliary ATF cooler.
I'm about to change the rad on mine (due to a leak) to a manual 940 rad and fit an external ATF cooler. Hoping to do a "words and pics" write up on my thread, when i do i'll post a link to it here if that would be helpful, just waiting for a few small items i need to do all the bits on it.
The only other possibility of oil/water interchange (unless the HG has failed but given what you say, it sounds doubtful) is the engine oil cooler. There the engine oil pressure is higher than the coolant pressure so it's a possibility.
That's the engine oil cooler, the seals are still available from Volvo (two square profile "O" rings, daresay round ones would also work at a push) but the seals will only leak oil, not coolant.
If there is an oil-coolant leak, it will be in the body of the cooler itself which is essentially a water to oil heat exchanger.
The bad news is they're NLA from Volvo, i was lucky and found one NOS in Sweden (the pervious owner of mine had removed it because it was leaking ATF!
It was actually PAS fluid which although is the same stuff, it was the wrong diagnosis - a long story to do with a bodge on the spaceship bushes and wheel alignment) but haven't actually fitted it yet.
Planning that at the same time as the rad.
As for your alternator, does the charge warning light come on when you first turn the key to position 2? If so, does it go out when you start the engine?
If the light comes on at position 2 but doesn't go out once started, you may have a deeper problem. If it doesn't come on and none of the other warning lights that are linked to it come on either, it could be a simpler problem. Start the car, let it warm up for a few minutes then rev it sharply to about 4500-5000rpm and let go of the loud pedal and then check the charging voltage. It should be 14.4-14.0V, 14.4V on a cold regulator and 14.0V on a warm one. It may well be that the slip rings have become dirty/gummy from lack of use and this is preventing the rotor completing the warning light circuit - revving it that high causes two things, first is residual magnetism in the rotor makes the alternator start charging and it's then self-exciting, second is the sudden increase in speed helps to clean the slip rings.
The other warning lights that should come on with the charge warning light are the ABS, low washer fluid, bulb failure and a couple of others, can't think of them just now.
If the warning light doesn't come on and trying that test above doesn't fix it, get a jump lead and clip one end onto the alternator casing (but make sure it isn't likely to become tangled with the drive belts nearby) and the other to battery -ve or a similar convenient earth point. Now turn the key to position 2, if the charge warning lamp lights, start the engine and see what it does and also check the charging voltage. If this gets things working but it stops working when you disconnect the jump lead, suspect the earth strap from the alternator case to the engine - it's mounted in rubber bushes which insulate the alternator casing from the engine!
As for the belts being "challenging", i've seen worse and in fact own worse!
The belts are under there somewhere!
Alternator belt, PAS belt, AC belt and hidden under the covers that go to both banks is the timing belt that also drives the water pump!
Being a transverse engine, there's not much space between that end of the engine and the inner wing/chassis!
For added "fun factor", to change the PAS belt, you have to remove the engine mount that's hidden behind the coolant tank!
At least on the B280E there's plenty of space in front of the belts, especially with the fan removed!
That said, Volvo have fitted a complicated adjuster system to most belts, when it works properly, it works very well but neglect and lack of lubrication can render it impossible to move. Before attempting to adjust any belts, i'd suggest finding the adjusters and squirting with penetrating lube - i use a 50/50 mix of acetone/synthetic ATF (usually Carlube ATF-U but lately NAPA MV) as i usually have some of it around somewhere.
Much better than mineral (such as Dexron II-D) ATF as the molecules in synthetic ATF are smaller but the main reason i use those is they are Honda Z1 ATF compatible (unlike Dexron) and also meet JWS 3309 which is what Toyota/Lexus specify in the A340 autobox which is just an AW 71 with a different extension housing. As Toyota own Aisin-Warner (who make the AW71) and their minimum reccomendation is JWS3309, i prefer using it in my Volvo box as well as my Rover which needs a Z1 compatible fluid - Dexron melts the adhesive in the clutch packs in it.
While i remember, little tip for checking the colour of the ATF in your car, use some plain white tissue/toilet/kitchen paper and let the fluid drip off the end of the dipstick onto it. This reveals the true colour. I also have some tips for changing the ATF which i'll pass on once the current problems are sorted. For now, all i'll say is DON'T do a flushing change!