960 3 litre water leak.

Big water leak, nothing obvious external (hoses etc.). New Volvo cylinder head on but still leaking. Head gasket seems OK. Steam coming from exhaust and up oil dipstick ! Otherwise running very well. Diagnosis: probable internal crack in block but welcome any bright ideas please as I want to keep the car - sentimental value. Thanks.

Clearly coolant is getting into both the combustion process (steam from exhaust) and the crankcase (steam through dipstick tube). Was this escape of coolant happening before the new cylinder head was fitted? If it was happening before the new head was fitted - and fitting the new head hasn't made any difference - then it must be a cracked block. If, however, it wasn't like this before the new head was fitted then it could conceivably - just - be that the new head is faulty. Also, you say that the head gasket 'seems ok' - are you sure? New gaskets have been known to be faulty, or fail - have you run a compression test? With the potential expense involved it's important to rule out all the possiblities. Must admit, though, all this might be clutching at straws and it does sound like a cracked cylinder wall, in which case I agree with what Des says about sourcing an engine from a breakers. Good luck with it . . . Stan.

Thanks Stan and Des for your very swift responses, much appreciated. We thought at first it was a cyl.head problem only (as there was mis-firing on one pot) and the new c.h. did reduce the leak, but not a lot. Now suspect it may have been both cracked block & head. You could be right about the gasket but not sure I want the cost of taking off the head again as it's becoming a bit of a money pit. Have tried a few different sealing solutions, held it for about 100 miles on low revs but broke down quickly after that. Will check out the replacement engine idea; if you know of any specialist breakers not far from Oxford I'd be grateful. Thanks again.

Hi, Best places would be Braydons, CP Motors or maybe (a stretch) Salvo. There are other Volvo breakers in London as well (There's one near Herne Hill).. Luck in your quest.. Some people might say this was an ideal opportunity to shove a T6 under the bonnet!!! Bit of work mind!! Des. . . ;)