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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / November 20071977 Volvo 244 Overheating!!!
Ok I have a 1977 Volvo 244. Its been overheating for a long time and we got a used water pump and put it in and that didnt seem to help so we took the thermostat out and that seemed to help it would overheat a littl but no where near as bad as it did when the thermostat was in. we tried flushing the radiator and putting in a newer but still used thermostat and it overheated worse so we took the thermostat out and now it doesnt over heat very much still a little especially when its over a certain tempature outside. Im afriad that once it start getting colder outside not having a thermostat in it will hurt my car or something I dont know. But any suggestions on why it would be overheating and what I can do about it would be appriciated very much. HELP!!!! I love my car and if i cant figure out whats wrong with and if i cant fix it for a reasonable price I will have to get rid of it. Please save my poor volvo! > Ok I have a 1977 Volvo 244. Its been overheating for a long time and > we got a used water pump and put it in and that didnt seem to help so [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > if i cant fix it for a reasonable price I will have to get rid of it. > Please save my poor volvo! Does it overheat when the car is driving at a decent rate of speed? If not, the fan clutch is probably bad, this will manifest itself worse sitting in traffic. Don't bother with used thermostats and water pumps unless you already have known good stuff laying around, brand new ones can be ordered from FCP Groton for a reasonable price and will normally last longer. > <hustlergirl45...@yahoo.com> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > already have known good stuff laying around, brand new ones can be ordered > from FCP Groton for a reasonable price and will normally last longer. Its overheats when Im driving at normal speeds and uphills even worse...havent even attempted to take it on the freeway or anything...But when Im stopped at a stop light just sitting it cools down. >> Does it overheat when the car is driving at a decent rate of speed? If >> not, [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > anything...But when Im stopped at a stop light just sitting it cools > down. That's a little more unusual, I'd check the ignition and camshaft timing, also pull one of the spark plugs and look to see if it has evidence of a lean mixture, that can cause overheating. Another thing to check is to see if the coolant expansion tank is cracked or the cap is not holding pressure. Radiator is also suspect, see if you can feel it for cool spots, if the car doesn't have AC, you can pop the grill out and feel it from that side so the fan isn't in the way. >>> Does it overheat when the car is driving at a decent rate of speed? If >>> not, [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > car doesn't have AC, you can pop the grill out and feel it from that side > so the fan isn't in the way. Also see if you can get someone to do a leakdown test, a blown head gasket will also cause overheating, you can often smell exhaust in the coolant reservoir in that case. > >>> Does it overheat when the car is driving at a decent rate of speed? If > >>> not, [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > - Show quoted text - can we do a leakdown test at home? if i remember right someone looked at my car and said they thought my head gasket was leaking....if i replace the head gasket do i have to get the kit or just the head gasket its self? sorry for all the questions but your the only one thats been able to tell me somewhat of what could be wrong with my car. thank you by the way. > can we do a leakdown test at home? if i remember right someone looked > at my car and said they thought my head gasket was leaking....if i > replace the head gasket do i have to get the kit or just the head > gasket its self? sorry for all the questions but your the only one > thats been able to tell me somewhat of what could be wrong with my > car. thank you by the way. If the water pump shaft feels tight and it isn't leaking, then the pump is ok for now so just leave that alone. If someone said the head gasket may be leaky, look at that first, it's easy to check, and you have to take all the other stuff apart to get to it anyway. You can do a leakdown test at home if you have an air compressor and a fitting to fit in the spark plug holes to pressurize the cylinders one at a time with the coolant cap removed, then listen for air hissing in the intake, exhaust, oil filler cap, and bubbling out the coolant, if the gasket is leaky, this will tell you as well as it evaluates the condition of the valves. > > can we do a leakdown test at home? if i remember right someone looked > > at my car and said they thought my head gasket was leaking....if i [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > is leaky, this will tell you as well as it evaluates the condition of the > valves. I wanted to add this and see if it would make a difference on anything. Today was rainy and chilly outside and I had to go pick up my little sister from school it took about an hour...an hour of driving and my car just barely warmed up...it didnt even get to "normal" tempature. I dont know if that would help put into perspective more of what is wrong with it but I just thought I would add that to see if that helps figure out the problem any more. > I wanted to add this and see if it would make a difference on > anything. Today was rainy and chilly outside and I had to go pick up [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > perspective more of what is wrong with it but I just thought I would > add that to see if that helps figure out the problem any more. Try this, get it all nice and warm to where it's running a bit too hot, then pop the hood and watch the radiator fan. Shut off the engine and go look at the fan, it should stop spinning when the engine does, if it keeps spinning freely then the fan clutch is bad. On some of these, you can pop the spring off the end and flip it around to force it engaged for testing. It's also possible the radiator is bad, but either way a leakdown test is worthwhile because it's cheap and tells you a lot about the overall condition of the engine. > > > can we do a leakdown test at home? if i remember right someone looked > > > at my car and said they thought my head gasket was leaking....if i [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > perspective more of what is wrong with it but I just thought I would > add that to see if that helps figure out the problem any more. If I have followed this correctly you do not now have a thermostat installed. Get a new one and put it in in the correct direction. If you have it put in backwards it will not function correctly. -- *H. Allen Smith* WACO - We are all here, because we are not all there. > can we do a leakdown test at home? if i remember right someone looked > at my car and said they thought my head gasket was leaking....if i > replace the head gasket do i have to get the kit or just the head > gasket its self? sorry for all the questions but your the only one > thats been able to tell me somewhat of what could be wrong with my > car. thank you by the way. Oops, I forgot to say, get the whole top end gasket set, the rest of the gaskets and seals are only a bit more than just the head gasket and they should generally all be replaced. > >> Does it overheat when the car is driving at a decent rate of speed? If > >> not, [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > doesn't have AC, you can pop the grill out and feel it from that side so the > fan isn't in the way. It doesnt have ac...and as for checking the ignition and camshaft timing...it has a hard time stating too I dont know if that has anything to do with it overheating or not but yea. And I forgot to add if the heater is on when the thermostat isnt in it doesnt overheat at all if the thermostat is in and the heater is on it still over heats but not as bad... So at first my best bet would be to replace the thermostat, water pump and fan clutch and see if that helps? as far as i can tell those are the three least expensive things to replace. Oh also a few people have asked me if it could be due to collant leakage but I dont think it could be because after we replaced the water pumpwith the used one because the old on was leaking really bad we put coolant in it and every time I would check to see if it needed more it hadnt went down at all and if it didnt it would barley go down...almost like its not circulating or something I dont know.. probably does not solve all of the symptoms you describe, but a very cheap cleanup to try: 1. disconnect your radiator hoses and empty the cooling system (most will advise you don't try to preserve and reuse your coolant fluid, but replace with new instead). 2. remove your radiator and take it to your local do-it-yourself car wash. 3. lean the radiator against a wall, with the front of the radiator against the wall, and the back (with the hose pipes) facing you. 4. insert a quarter in the high-pressure washer, and blow all the bugs and road debris out of the radiator fins with the wash gun. 5. put it all back together and refill with coolant. this technique did not solve all of my 91 240 overheating, but made a significant difference. > Ok I have a 1977 Volvo 244. Its been overheating for a long time and > we got a used water pump and put it in and that didnt seem to help so [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > if i cant fix it for a reasonable price I will have to get rid of it. > Please save my poor volvo! Pat, you're correct about cleaning out all the accumulated debris on the radiator but with a 240, I would more likely suspect the inside of the radiator. Given the history noted below, I am inclined to suspect that a radiator rebuild or NEW replacement plus putting in a NEW t'stat will probably fix the problem. I once had a leaking head gasket on a 240 and the symptoms were not as reflected in the original report. That's my opinion, offered absolutely cost-free and surely worth every penny spent. Chuck Fiedler Nothing but Volvo since 1974 >probably does not solve all of the symptoms you describe, but a very cheap >cleanup to try: [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >> if i cant fix it for a reasonable price I will have to get rid of it. >> Please save my poor volvo! > Ok I have a 1977 Volvo 244. Its been overheating for a long time and > we got a used water pump and put it in and that didnt seem to help so [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > if i cant fix it for a reasonable price I will have to get rid of it. > Please save my poor volvo! >> Ok I have a 1977 Volvo 244. Its been overheating for a long time and >> we got a used water pump and put it in and that didnt seem to help so [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> if i cant fix it for a reasonable price I will have to get rid of it. >> Please save my poor volvo! Sounds a whole lot like it's time for a new radiator. And yes, running without a thermostat is *not* good for the car nor the environment nor your gas mileage. >>> Ok I have a 1977 Volvo 244. Its been overheating for a long time and >>> we got a used water pump and put it in and that didnt seem to help so >>> we took the thermostat out and that seemed to help it would overheat a >>> littl but no where near as bad as it did when the thermostat was in. [ ... ] >Sounds a whole lot like it's time for a new radiator. And yes, running >without a thermostat is *not* good for the car nor the environment nor >your gas mileage. Another thing to look at is the radiator hoses, in particular the one to the water pump inlet. They soften with age and can collapse under load (when the pump is running faster), which would fit with the symptom of not overheating at idle (pump running slow, so hose doesn't collapse). Hoses are cheap--$10 each at IPD: http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-200/Heating-&-Cooling/RadiatorHeater-Hoses-&-Clamps/ p-69-261-1288/ New thermostats are about the same: http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-200/Heating-&-Cooling/Thermostats-&-Seals/p-69-261-1261/ You can try having someone watch the hoses while you rev the engine; the collapse will probably be visible. The lower one is probably the culprit. But if you're going to replace one, do both. IPD is a good source; they sell quality parts, a cut above the local chain stores. Gary  SignatureGary Heston gheston@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ Yoko Onos' former driver tried to extort $2M from her, threating to "release embarassing recordings...". What, he has a copy of her album? >> Ok I have a 1977 Volvo 244. Its been overheating for a long time and >> we got a used water pump and put it in and that didnt seem to help so [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> if i cant fix it for a reasonable price I will have to get rid of it. >> Please save my poor volvo! Do NOT panic. You have contacted a rich lode of useful information and experience. Between us we'll figure out what's going on. The following advice is free but based on an experience that goes back before your 240 was built. First, do not buy used parts like radiators, water pumps and thermostats for a *30-year-old* car! Your time to install the part is (probably) no different and the part is some four to six times more expensive for new but so is the chance of success. DO NOT buy these kinds of parts from a dealer! There are many after-market parts sources and they are MUCH cheaper than the dealers. Also, you should not run without a thermostat, especially when it's cold but even in the summer. That 'stat is there to make the car run efficiently and not burn *bunches* on unnecessary gas. Chuck Fiedler Nothing but Volvo since 1974 |
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