'95 850 intermittent coolant leak

Hi all,

My 1995 850GLT has developed an intermittent coolant leak that appears
to be coming from the connection point between the underside hose and
the expansion tank. I have disconnected the hose and inspected it (it
looks fine) and the expansion tank (also seemingly fine) and have
replaced the clamp with a new one tightened as much as I safely can
without damaging the expansion tank.

I find most of the coolant leaks out when I come to a stop and it will
dump about a cup of coolant out, sometimes more. I've also found that
if I release the pressure by opening the cap once I've parked it
significantly reduces coolant loss.

My question is this... could it be the thermostat? I had a problem
with my 240 leaking around the water pump gasket when the car was shut
off and replacing the thermostat solved this but I don't know if the
850 is similarly vulnerable or if I should be looking elsewhere. The
radiator is less than 1 year old and the temperature guage never
climbs beyond the 3 o'clock position.

Oh, one other thing, it seems to have started about 2 weeks ago when I
found that the top of the expansion tank filler cap had sheared right
off, exposing the valves beneath. Once I replaced the cap (from the
dealer) it started leaking out at the clamp.

There seems to be a significant pressure build-up.

Thanks in advance for any ideas, I hope to start looking at it this
evening.

Cheeps,
blurp

blurp <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> My 1995 850GLT has developed an intermittent coolant leak that appears
> to be coming from the connection point between the underside hose and
> the expansion tank.

> ... if I release the pressure by opening the cap once I've parked it
> significantly reduces coolant loss.
>

....

>
> Oh, one other thing, it seems to have started about 2 weeks ago when I
> found that the top of the expansion tank filler cap had sheared right
> off, exposing the valves beneath. Once I replaced the cap (from the
> dealer) it started leaking out at the clamp.
>
> There seems to be a significant pressure build-up.


Everything's pointing to the cap, innit? Is it possible that the new cap
is defecto?

cheers,

Henry

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:19:40 +0300, (E-Mail Removed) (Henry) wrote:

>blurp <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> My 1995 850GLT has developed an intermittent coolant leak that appears
>> to be coming from the connection point between the underside hose and
>> the expansion tank.
>
>> ... if I release the pressure by opening the cap once I've parked it
>> significantly reduces coolant loss.
>>
>
>...
>
>>
>> Oh, one other thing, it seems to have started about 2 weeks ago when I
>> found that the top of the expansion tank filler cap had sheared right
>> off, exposing the valves beneath. Once I replaced the cap (from the
>> dealer) it started leaking out at the clamp.
>>
>> There seems to be a significant pressure build-up.
>
>
>Everything's pointing to the cap, innit? Is it possible that the new cap
>is defecto?
>
>cheers,
>
>Henry
It's possible... how would I test that?

I have exactly the same problem with my '95 850 estate. Any ideas? Did you get it sorted? I'd be grateful for any pointers.

(The temperature gauge remaining at 3 O'clock is particularly galling. My car overheated and stalled in a busy high street; although I was aware that the coolant level had dipped and was watching my temp gauge I had no indication that it was overheating until it was too late.)