I'm all for changing it out. A proper flush probably won't happen at a quicky-lube kind of place where you wait in your car.

At home, I just drain it out and add new fluid through the upper most coolant line (best chance of getting the air out, which can cause grief at times until it burps). However, I haven't done it yet on my car.

I did replace the coolant tank today, and once again, I am impressed at how ridiculous those engineers are at setting this crap up! Only Volvo engineers can over-complicate something like a plastic bottle with a few hose clamps on it...

 

79 I have always hesitated using a pit stop yrope repair shop. if i just drain it from the radiator i am leaving a lot of the 5-6 year old coolant in the motor. I dont want to play with the plugs on the block. i figure if zerex is volvo approved it should be compatible with the stuff still in there.

i read a few posts on other sites in this forum saying the pressure of the flush damages teh internals because stuff is left inside. i thought the additive they put in is in there to coagulate the stuff it loosens and get it out of the system. is it better to leave the scale in there or try to flush it out? how many of th?e radiators the poster said he had to replace were becuse it was flushed after too many miles

 

I own a BMW and when I bought it it had green coolant (BMW coolant is blue). The first thing I did when I got it was a cooling system overhaul and when I pulled the T stat housing off I found that my head was starting to corrode away. I'm not sure what type of coolant was in it but I won't run anything but BMW coolant now. I replace the coolant every 2-3 years and there is no more corrosion than the day I discovered the problem. My advice, based on my experience is to always use manufacturers coolant.

 

Tommm, if your car has been maintained per the owners manual since new, there shouldn't really be any problem with scale or other corrosion since you've already been doing the right thing all along (that tends to be from neglect more than anything else). If you don't know the service history (like mine), then you need to weigh your odds vs dollars spent a compared to what you realistically expect from your car.

Example: I'm at 111,400 miles on my 2003, and it APPEARS to have been taken care of, but I have no way of knowing for certain. Armed with that assumption, I can fully expect the radiator, thermostat, all coolant hoses, the water pump, and coolant will require replacing SOON, probably at the 120,000 mark when I do the timing belt (makes sense, while I'm in there, whether it needs it or not).

But I will only drain the coolant, I will not use pressure, as I don't want to destroy anything else as an after-affect. Draining will remove MOST of the old coolant. That pint or so left behind is hardly going to be a trouble. Upon the installation of the new approved fluid mixed with distilled water, there is no reason to think I will have any service issues again for another 120,000 miles (probably longer), and I'll have traded the car for a newer one by then anyway!

The only way I'd pressure clean the coolant passages on an engine is if it were on full tear-down, sitting on a bench, getting prepped for machine work or other conditioning, never as an assembly.

 

i think i am just going to drain from the lower radiator hose and refill with 100% distilled water, run it a few minutes then drain it again from the radiator hose, then refil with 5 quarts of zerex g50 and then add distilled water to top it off.

 

i think i am just going to drain from the lower radiator hose

you know there is a drain plug when you remove the bottom cover. its behind the oil drain plug on a rubber hose.

Also, here is something really neat that alot of people dont know.

If you use new green prestone for example and had the volvo old one in there that was reddish color. when you drain it out into a large pan, and leave it for a few minutes. it will start to separate. the green will be on top and red with the old dirty coolant will settle to the bottom. dirty coolant is denser, new coolant is cleaner.

I only know this by accident. i too did the flush with the lower hose method. went to a trusty mechanic friend to help me with my timing belt. he drains all my new coolant into a pan and before i even said i had new coolant to go back in. he let the coolant settle and skimmed off the clean stuff. he reused the "new" old coolant. learn something new everyday.

 

Just remember, Tommm, to refill the engine with premixed 50/50 coolant and distilled, and fill the engine from the highest point you can (to eliminate as many air pockets as possible. I've actually shoved a funnel into a heater hose and filled the 440 in my Charger this way until it ran out the top of the rad. ). You will still have some, so check your coolant level after every run of at least 1/2 an hour, and top off when cooled, as needed. You may have to do this 2 or 3 times.

 

I just wedge a hose in the bottom radiator hose take the thermostat out and turn the hose on, leave that going for a few minutes then get an air blower to(gently) force as much tap water out as possible.

As to which coolant to run I have no idea, I ran whatever glycol based stuff I picked up mixed with demineralised water and a bottle of water wetter to bring the conductivity back up to straight water spec.
Seems to be working so far.

 

You sure it wasn't ATF?

Wow that is really cool though, I never would have thought they would seperate like that, good to know.

 

Yep there are a few different kinds of coolant on the market now. I learned this from my Subarus. On my 2005, it used the green colored coolant which is only good for 30k miles. On my girlfriend's 2008, it has a new blue colored coolant that is supposed to be good for 100k miles, but I don't trust that and I'm going to change it soon at 60k. Subaru specifically states that you should never mix coolants, and if you do the service interval defaults to 30k miles. If I were wanting to switch go the new blue coolant, I would have to do a complete drain, flush, flush again, and then refill with the blue coolant.

 

I mentioned colors of coolant to my engineer cousin recently. turns out the color no longer means the type. there used to be prestone green, bmw blue etc. now the same type of coolant can be different colors, and different types can be the same color. i read and read this weekend and it seems the zerez g-05 is volvo and bmw approved and supposedly almost identical to the factory fill. something about a difference between g48 and g50 specs, and g50 is not internationally approved (so ford is shifting to another) but another is.

 

I did the job and am not pleased with myself. They predicted 6-8 inches of snow tonight and I wanted to get the job done today so I did it half arsed. I should have pulled the bottom cover and gotten to the second drain plug.

There are six bolts holding in the metal undertray/rock guard. you see four, and the other two are abuve the to drilled holes. Just take the six bolts out and pull the metal tray down and forward and the petcock is right next to the lower radiator hose. I drained about 4qts from the radiator, then I jacked up each side and got about 2qts more. While it was draining i changed the spark plugs.

I then added about 6qts of distilled water (89 cents a gallon) and got the motor to operating temp. Note to self - next time screw the cap on the overflow tank tight. I left it open a bit and it overflowed.

I then had lunch to let the car cool down for about half an hour. during lunch I had an epiphany - I had my wife back the car up onto the ramps I have in the garage. I then again drained from the petcock. This is where I made my mistake. I should rolled the car off the ramps and again used the jack on either side. Turns out I only got 4qts out this way. I dont think the $9 green 15qt drain pan i got from O'reilly has volume markers so I didnt know how much i drained.

It put in 4qts of pure zerex G-50 and it was full. That's when i realized there were still 4-5 quarts still in the system instead of 2-3 quarts still in there. Of the 4.5 quarts in there about 2 quarts are the factory 50/50 and 2.5 quarts are new distilled water. So I should have about 5 quarts (of a 9.6 qt system) of anti freeze which is about 53% antifreeze so I should be OK.

The low coolant came on once after about 3 miles of driving. We are using her car again tonight, and tomorrow morning so I can burp it again if needed.

Bottom line - remove the plastic under tray and lower the skid plate, and drain from both places. I hope this helps the next person.

 

 

A gallon of coolant from Volvo runs about $25. Why would anyone want to put the wrong coolant in the car and potentially damage the engine and save a whopping $10 on the Prestone? I don't get it.

volvo coolant- 9434699

When I did the coolant change I jacked up the front of the car, opened up the radiator drain valve and drained most of the coolant into a 5-gallon bucket.

I then ran a garden hose to the expansion tank and filled up the system. I turned on the engine and with the heater set to max ran the engine and continued to flush/drain the coolant from the car until it ran clear. I then mixed up the 50/50 coolant/distilled water in another container and started to add that to the engine. When the coolant draining from the car changed color I then closed the drain valve and let the engine run for awhile. Pour the remaining mixture into the gallon jug that the new coolant was supplied in. I took the car for a 10-15 minute drive around the neighborhood and topped off the coolant level when the engine "burped" the air out. It worked just fine for me. I took the used coolant to Advanced Auto for disposal.

 

A gallon of coolant from Volvo runs about $25. Why would anyone want to put the wrong coolant in the car and potentially damage the engine and save a whopping $10 on the Prestone? I don't get it.
Because I forgot to order it when I ordered the other parts from Tasca, and didn't feel like spending $20 to ship a $20 item that is identical to the Zerex. Do you honestly believe Volvo has a Swedish Chef on payroll concocting their anti freeze?

volvo coolant- 9434699

When I did the coolant change I jacked up the front of the car, opened up the radiator drain valve and drained most of the coolant into a 5-gallon bucket.

I then ran a garden hose to the expansion tank and filled up the system. I turned on the engine and with the heater set to max ran the engine and continued to flush/drain the coolant from the car until it ran clear. I then mixed up the 50/50 coolant/distilled water in another container and started to add that to the engine. When the coolant draining from the car changed color I then closed the drain valve and let the engine run for awhile. Pour the remaining mixture into the gallon jug that the new coolant was supplied in. I took the car for a 10-15 minute drive around the neighborhood and topped off the coolant level when the engine "burped" the air out. It worked just fine for me. I took the used coolant to Advanced Auto for disposal.

Why did you jack the car up in the front when gravity would have gotten more out if you left it flat? There is plenty of room under the XC90 to get to the petcock without jacking up the front.

Advance by me takes only motor oil.

 

It is your XC90 and it is a free-market society so buy parts from wherever you want and use whatever coolant you want. It matters not to me. Just bear in mind that we're discussing a $35 parts purchase on a car that cost $45,000 new.

I jacked up the front of the car so as to fit a 5-gallon bucket underneath the petcock. When I used the hose to push water into the cooling system it cleared the system out irrespective of gravity. If you don't flush it out with water or use a vacuum system I am not sure how to get the coolant out of the heater core. In the long run that small amount probably doesn't matter as the majority of the coolant will be new.

You can find local recycling facilities by going to earth911.com. I found a JiffyLube nearby that accepts brake fluid using the site.

 

It is your XC90 and it is a free-market society so buy parts from wherever you want and use whatever coolant you want. It matters not to me. Just bear in mind that we're discussing a $35 parts purchase on a car that cost $45,000 new.and with 98k on it is worth less than $10k.

I jacked up the front of the car so as to fit a 5-gallon bucket underneath the petcock. When I used the hose to push water into the cooling system it cleared the system out irrespective of gravity. If you don't flush it out with water or use a vacuum system I am not sure how to get the coolant out of the heater core. In the long run that small amount probably doesn't matter as the majority of the coolant will be new.

You can find local recycling facilities by going to earth911.com. I found a JiffyLube nearby that accepts brake fluid using the site.

it isn't worth debating the minutia, but your method was fine when blocks were cast iron. with all the aluminum, I wouldn't want the minerals in tap water floating around. seems like we both did it half assed. I used non Volvo coolant with distilled water and you have the chemicals in tap water mixed with your Volvo coolant.

thanks for the link. I have a jar of super blue brake fluid and the old coolant that I have to dispose.

 

you definitely should use distilled water in the cooling system. the rad will build up scale and crap from the minerals.

 

Agreed. Unless an emergency always use distilled water in your cooling system.

If you have to use the hose water, make sure you get that junk out as soon as reasonably possible.

 

OK, I have a 2005 XC90 2.5T AWD and I can't for the life of me see that there is a petcock on the radiator? I have not dropped the metal plate/cover to get a better look but from underneath the car I could not see any petcock near the lower radiator hose or on the opposite side? I am planning a tstat replacement and coolant flush soon. For this I was planning to pull lower rad hose (if I cannot find petcock) to drain coolant, fill with distilled water and maybe some rad cleaner/flush additive, run it for a while, drain again and then refill with 50/50 Volvo coolant and distilled. If I can locate the engine block drain I will also drain that if I can so this will leave only what is in the lines and heater core behind. Sound like a good plan? tks

 

On 2.5t on back side you have the lowest valve to open and release liquid.

Also you can remove hose on cooler but here is very nice valve for this purpose.

Changed few months ago. You need to flush out dirt and just like this you cant.

Remove also hose on lover part of cooler and put from top demineralised water to
go through system. Dont worry for dead spot bubbles ect will engine soon and presure
release them. Some people use home water for flushing on very old cars...anyway
will not harm so much if engine is cold but flush again with dem water.

Put garden hose in open water and flush dirt. See my after 4 years. You will not believe
what dirt rust will come out. But need some pressure to move it. As termostat is closed
open also hose form top cooler and put in water pipe and enjoy

Note; water from home cant hurt system if is cold engine. If you flush it after very good with DEM water
you will clean all dont worry about some paranoia that water from home can destroy ect deposit bla bla
Yes if is lot of water heated and stay long time inside will create after many months deposits calcareous ect.
But for flushing system will not harm dont worry. Its nice also to open all heating that water going also through
car heating AC radiator this you can flush also very nice simple removing left hose and attach another one out of car and
flush it...Here can be also nice deposits of rust dirt ect...

 

I think the 2.5s have an oil cooler on the back of the oil pan you could also pull a hose on. Otherwise yeah, the easiest option I've found is to just yank the lower radiator hose.

 

I bought a jug from Volvo and had a 1/2 jug of distilled water so filled it with the anti-freeze. I siphoned out the surge tank and put in about a liter of the mix, to be repeated every month or so or until I figure out how to drain and get more fluid in without touching any hoses. I wonder how many years they will go before failure?

 

OK, I did the coolant, Tstat/TCM module replacement and went off without a hitch, Thanks for all of the topic. I did easily locate the engine drain once I dropped the splash pan and drained that in addition to pulling the lower rad hose. The coolant (think original with 170+K on it) was super clean so I did nothing but swap in with new Volvo 50/50 coolant mix. I ran it, burped it a few times and ended up putting back in exactly what I took out. All good....thanks again!

 

Unless you're certain it's the original coolant, check in on it in a thousand miles or so and make sure it isn't coagulating or anything. If incompatible coolants are mixed (they can be incompatible despite being the same color) it can coagulate and cause cooling problems. It's not terribly likely to happen or anything, but it's an easy thing to check.