Opinions please on the state of this Expansion tank.
 

Opinions please on the state of this Expansion tank.

I have seen a 2007 XC90 D5 Geartronic that I'm interested in and it has done 120k with a very good service history and only a couple of owners although it is about 150 miles away.

The guy seems very genuine although not mechanically minded at all and states that the car has run faultlessly during his 3 years of ownership and has been maintained regardless of cost at a respected Volvo independent.

On looking at a photo of the engine bay I noticed that the expansion tank seems to be stained inside at the top and for me that is worrying.

Obviously a lengthy test drive would show up any overheating issues but I'm wondering if there has been a previous overheating issue or cross contamination of oil and water from the oil cooler?

Your thoughts please?

looks fine to me. Mine (2007 D5 185 XC90) was similar and it never had any overheating issues or any oil mixing with coolant. I think its just staining over time. Also worth mentioning that mine had the coolant changed every two years according to the service history and it was still like that.

I'm not convinced Jamie, my 2005 XC70 D5 has 180K on the clock and the expansion tank is stain free above the coolant level.

I really don't think it is normal although it could well have had a transmission oil cooler leak which has since been sorted but the tank not cleaned.

I may give this one a miss, still undecided whether to view it or not bearing in mind the distance but the rest of the car is lovely.

I’d say, your mind has already been made up, of course he seems genuine, he has a potential sale.

I’d say leave it there and wait for another to come along.

If it doesn’t feel right in your head & heart then leave it there....

Not much help but I wouldn’t wish it to be a burden on anybody..

It's a ten year old car, for goodness sake! The bottle doesn't look that stained, I've yet to own a car that didn't have at least some staining, and most have had far more than that. Almost all have had orange soup for coolant.

In some ways, I'd be more worried if it was immaculately clean. What did they churn through the engine to clean it? I've heard of people putting dishwasher tablets in them. I've never tried it myself, but when I cleaned some aluminium in my dishwasher it came out different, non-shiny and dull, which means it must be having at least some corrosive effect. I suppose it's not the end of the world, I mean, nobody's going to be praising the shinyness of my engine's internal coolant passages, but if the corrosion sludge doesn't get removed then it must still be in there. Frankly, I'd rather have a stained bottle than that.

You don't say what you'll be paying for it, nor if you'll be obliged to buy before travelling to see it (i.e. ebay), so I would be unwilling to either advise or not advise buying it. Like all things, what is it worth to you?

No, it's a private sale Canis so no obligation to buy. Price wise it's correctly priced, not cheap not expensive and room for negotiation.

I realise that it's ten year old BUT my XC70 D5 which is older and has a lot more miles on is not like that. That tank has at some time been full to the top and residue has remained. Question is Why was it full to the top?

I'm ringing the Volvo Independent garage that has looked after it for most of it's life this morning ( at the suggestion of the owner ) to see whether it has had a failed transmission oil cooler or head gasket at some time and make a decision from there.

My 2009 MY V70 D5 coolant was all yellowy-brown after about 6 years of use. Changed it with Volvo stuff and it’s been lovely and green ever since.

Volvo state this does not requiring changing, but there’s plenty of posts on here where the coolant in the late noughties has not held up well. Do a search and you’ll find plenty of posts about the coolant being in poor condition on late noughties cars.

Thanks everyone, mystery solved!

I got in touch with the Volvo Independent that have serviced this car for the last 8 years.

They gave me chapter and verse what it has had done to it whilst in their care and lo and behold in 2012 the Oil cooler went and contaminated the coolant. This was before the current owner bought it.

New Oil Cooler, New coolant and New expansion tank but the manager at the garage said that it was always almost impossible to get the cooling system entirely clean when this happens hence why the new tank has residue in it.

If I do buy it I will do a coolant change and clean the tank.

Feel better about the car now .:thumbs_up: