Coolant Replacement
 

I'm going to replace the coolant on my 2005 D5 to ensure the anti-corrosion properties are maintained. I have got the genuine Volvo concentrated coolant to replace it with and was instructed by dealer that it would require 4 litres but when I checked handbook and Haynes manual both say that capacity is 12.5 litres for diesels so that should require 6.25 litres. Just thought that dealer would and should know correct amount or am I wrong?

i'm not sure, but perhaps you got an anti-corrosion CONCETRATE, and you have to mix it with water.

Sneak

Yep, normally mixture rate is 50/50 on cars, but as far as I know, the coolant is just a check and top up if necessary item on the service schedule.

You may be looking at the difference between manual and auto models.I know the handbook says 12 for the diesels but I think it's a typo. I changed out ours and got a bit more than 6 litres out. So four litres of the concentrate would be enough for 8 litres of mix.

Data on coolant package states 50/50 mix with water and handbook just states 12.5lts for coolant cpacity with no mention of whether manual or auto.

I think the 6.5/12.5 thing in the handbook should be manual/auto not petrol/diesel in which case 4l mixed with 4l water is plenty. Not all of the coolant comes out anyway - some have reported less than 6. I used 3 1/2 of the bottles of concentrate for our diesel.

Firstly if your coolant is a nice blue colour no action is needed .. that is a sign that the anti-corrosion inhibitors are still working fine.
Secondly you cannot drain out all the coolant from the block.
As a general approximate rule you use one litre of coolant less than the number of cylinders you have .

Hi Brendan, the 12.5lts is specificaly for diesel engines with a smaller capacity of 8.0lts for non turbo and 9.0lts for turbo petrols engines being stated. Was planning to flush system with water to rid it of all old coolant and replace with volume of concentrate equal to half capacity of system to maximise protection.

My coolant was pristine when I took it out. It probably was a job not really needed.
If you drain you will find a volume of approx 6+ litres comes out. This can be replaced by 3+ litres of concentrate mixed with water 50:50. There is probably some kind of plastic drain screw in the radiator at the lower hose. I would advise strongly against using it as many have broken the stupid thing. Open off the hose clip and pop the hose and watch all the clean blue coolant into a bucket.
PS the Volvo coolant is serious stuff - not like other coolants at all :)

If it's any help, my 2001 V70 T5 takes 2 litres of coolant and 2 litres of water, so 4 litres in total. I always use genuine Volvo coolant and flush the system out with plain water before resealing the system and refilling it.