Driving 3 hours with a crack in the radiator?

The radiator in my 1994 940 has developed a crack in the plastic tank.
I'm currently out of town and need to drive about 3 hours to get home.
If I leave the radiator cap loose, and prevent excessive pressure from
building, can I limp the car home? I'll obviously bring LOTS of water
with me just in case. I've been driving the car around town with the
cap loose enough to relieve pressure, but tight enough to keep coolant
in. If anyone has any advice for me, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

If you have time to let it cure you might try some of the dubious
plastic radiator epoxy as a short term thing along with a loose pressure
cap. A better answer would be to put a new or good used radiator in
before the trip. You really don't want to overheat and cause more damage.

John

 

Thanks. I actually would rather try and drive home, because my buddy
works at a radiator shop and can fix it for cheap/free. I'm mostly
curious if keeping the cap loose and bringing lots of water would work,
and if there are any other measures I can take (short of replacing or
repairing the radiator) to help the car stay cool through the drive.

 

Try duct tape.

Can't hurt.

 

It only takes 10 minutes to replace a radiator, you the bulk of the cost
is in the part. You could pick up a new Nissens 3 row metal tank
radiator and install it yourself, all you need is a 10mm wrench and a
screwdriver, oh and if it's an automatic you need another wrench too to
do the cooling lines for the tranny. It's not a bad idea to replace the
hoses too while you're at it.

 

As long as it doesnt run short of water and overheat, it'll be fine.

Tim..

 

That's 10 minutes (maybe) if you've done the job before, and
are fast. For a first time job, average mechanic, figure the
better part of an hour, if the clamps come off ok.. But it's
still better than driving it spewing coolant.

 

"It only takes 10 minutes to replace a radiator"


more like 3 - 5 hrs on a 940......

 

What makes it so much harder on a 940 than a 740? One could just about
do a transmission swap in 5 hours so long as they have all the correct
tools.

 

If you can find a radiator where you are at I'd replace it.
OR use an epoxy product that sets overnight and try driving home.

Don't do like my wife and run it dry. Plus use a Nissen radiator, don't go
for a knockoff generic radiator. It simply isn't worth it. If it's an Auto
then plan on about 1 1/2 hours. Very easy to do even for a novice.

If you run it dry plan on machining the head, flushing the engine. (about
$800.00 in repairs) Believe me it's not worth it!

Pedroman

 

I believe many parts off of the front end need to
come off...cowling, fan, etc...Although, I have not
done one myself...So I should shut up @ this point..

....but, on my 1993 940t...it took a lot longer than 10min..
for a expierenced volvo mech to swap out the rad...that's for sure....

btw: i went on to have more cooling issues...evend. cooking
the head and having it replaced.....BE CAREFUL OVER
HEATING YOUR 940.....watch the temp guage and pull
over if it gets high...EVEN IF IT GOES BACK TO NORMAL....
as the guage will do this, once the water is gone from
around the sensor...it means yoyr guage is now giving
you air temp, no water temp any more..as the coolant is
gone from around the sensor....good luck...and keep us
all posted...three hrs is a pretty long trip...take it easy
and go slow...

 

One to be wary of is, the tempature gauge is compensated and does not
always reflect the exact temperature of the coolant. Done that way to
prevent complaints about small fluctuations.

 

Joe D...

They way my mechanic explained to me was this..."once the water
is no longer surrounding the sensor, the sensor will reflect the air
temp,
which is much lower than the coolant was"...so, that is why my temp
guage 1st spiked ... for 3 - 5 (as the coolant started heating up) min
of
driving, then seemed to return to normal...even though I was really way

low on coolant........The guage does not reflect motor temp, just
coolant
or coolant cavaity (if empty) temp.....And yea, I agree there is a
dampner
factor built into the guage or sensor , so the guage is a bit more
stable........My mechanic told me he has seen the 940t's get so hot
and overheated...all the plastic pieces in the engine compartment
were melted and totaled......and, if you l@@k at my 93 940t...there is
a
hell of a lot of plastic under the hood.....

 

I know this is late, but I haven't seen anyone suggest that you drive
with
your heater turned on. This really works and have used the technique
several
times while in those conditions.
jimmy
1990 740 GL wagon

 

You haven't seen it suggested because on a three hour drive
it would be of minimal help. Using the heater core as an
auxiliary radiator is really only effective when the radiator is
plugged or overloaded, not spewing coolant.

 

You missed the point: when the heater goes out you better fill up again
quick

 

i agree on this point...the other way i could tell my coolant was
getting way low, is the heater would no longer put out heat...good
point.....mine being a 1993 940t....

 

My 1995 940 non-turbo's radiator cracked and I was hoping to
replace it with a heavy duty full metal model like I did with
my beloved (and totaled) '87 740 turbo.

Does such an animal exist?
Is it worth it?

I don't trust some of the online sites that claim
one size fits all 940s when IPD's catalog says
that their heavy duty three row radiator for 940s
fits up to '93 only.
Plus I don't know a lot of these brands!

I live in the south East US. So it wouldn't hurt
to have the extra cooling capacity. But, at this
point I just need to get the car running properly!

Thanks for any help. The sooner the better.

don

 

In my experience the so called all metal heavy duty radiators are
shorter lived than some of the aluminum and plastic ones. I suppose
that an advantage of the metal type is that they are more easily
repaired. Since you got almost 12 years out of the factory radiator you
don't have a lot to be upset about IMO.

fcpgroton.com has several options for you and they are on the east
coast. You might want to call and discuss the different ones with them:

http://www.fcpgroton.com/volvo700900heating.htm