Urgent Coolant Question

[Shutterbug]

The 'Coolant Low Stop Safely' warning keeps coming up but its intermittent.

But anyway, hubby bought some Anti Freeze concentrated coolant for me to put in. Firstly, is this right? Secondly, it says to drain and flush the current coolant and it is not advised to mix fluids, does this really need doing, and if so, how do I go about doing it?

I don't really want to drive the car until its done and need to get to an appointment today!

[bobdabuilda]

Originally Posted by Shutterbug

The 'Coolant Low Stop Safely' warning keeps coming up but its intermittent.

But anyway, hubby bought some Anti Freeze concentrated coolant for me to put in. Firstly, is this right? Secondly, it says to drain and flush the current coolant and it is not advised to mix fluids, does this really need doing, and if so, how do I go about doing it?

I don't really want to drive the car until its done and need to get to an appointment today!

Unless you have non volvo recommended coolant already in there ie the same as the stuff your hub bought then DON'T USE IT! Get the original volvo coolant and never mix the two. You could just add some distilled (or even tap if you are desperate) water to what's there, to tide you over for the time being .

[fungus]

Good advice!

[Jim314]

You do not have an emergency situation! This message means the coolant level is low but assuredly not so low that the cooling is affected at the present time.

You should be able to locate the coolant reservoir, and you can look through the side of it and see the level. Probably it is below minimum but you probably still have coolant showing in the reservoir. Is this correct?

What year and model is this vehicle? If it is low I would add a little water to the reservoir to get the level above minimum so the warning message goes away.

If your husband has gotten the correct product for a Volvo, then you could add antifreeze, but be careful you don't mistakenly put antifreeze in the windscreen washer fluid reservoir.

What is the label on the antifreeze your husband bought? Based on my my reading, Volvo uses the type compatible with Zerex G-05. Zerex and the other antifreeze manufacturers offer 4 or 5 different types and you should't mix them. It's much better to just add water (deionized or distilled) than to add the wrong antifreeze.

[Shutterbug]

He's bought one that says its ok for all, but after going on the website of the coolant company, they state they have 'manufacturer specific' ones, so I've sent him off to Halfords for one of these.

But, as we only got the car a couple of weeks ago, I don't know what's in there already. Perhaps we should just drain it tomorrow - how do you go about doing this?

[Jim314]

Originally Posted by Shutterbug

He's bought one that says its ok for all, but after going on the website of the coolant company, they state they have 'manufacturer specific' ones, so I've sent him off to Halfords for one of these.

But, as we only got the car a couple of weeks ago, I don't know what's in there already. Perhaps we should just drain it tomorrow - how do you go about doing this?

Don't drain the coolant until you have the procedure and can perform it correctly. It is really best to have this done by a competent professional.

Antifreeze containing ethylene glycol is very toxic to people, pets, and wildlife. It should not get into the surface drainage nor be put into the sanitary sewer. This is why I don't do coolant drain and refill myself anymore. Professionals are required to collect and recycle used coolant or send it to hazardous waste disposal.

What year is this vehicle? Modern coolants are formulated to meet a warrantee of 5 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first. Ethylene glycol (the compound which protects against freezing) lasts much longer than that, but the anticorrosion chemicals degrade and become ineffective after 5 or 6 years. Loss of effectiveness can lead to corrosion of the heater matrix, the ATF cooler (if it has an automatic transmission), or the engine oil cooler. The heater matrix is not cheap, but if you let the ATF cooler corrode through then engine coolant will mix with the ATF and ruin the auto transmission in short order. Likewise if the engine oil cooler corrodes through then coolant will get into the engine oil.

If your vehicle is over 5 years in service and you don't have service records showing that the coolant has been changed, then you should get it done professionally before the end of the 6th year of service. Whoever does it should use the Volvo labelled antifreeze or equivalent. It does not need any special flush unless the heater matrix is plugged. (Does the heater work properly?) Just drain, rinse with a little water not under pressure, then refill to give the proper approximately 50-50 antifreeze-water mixture.

Antifreeze is sold in auto factors both as the neat product so that you add it and an approx equal vol of water to the coolant system, and as a premixed product usually 50-50. In the latter case you do not add an equal vol of water.

If you do not have the money to get the coolant changed professionally, then you could consider just adding a bottle (usually ~ 12 fl oz) of cooling system anticorrosive product. You would jsut add this to the coolant reservoir. Some of these products claim they are compatible with all anti corrosion chemistries, but I personally don't do this in my Volvos. I get the coolant changed by the dealer before the end of the 6th year of service.

[KAMXC90]

I have same warning message, but is more like an electrical fault as it flashes on and off. Go over a bump and it will go or come on!
Had the indicator stack switch changed recently but don’t believe it is related or am I wrong.
So annoying!

[Harley Dave]

How much coolant have you got in the reservoir? i.e. is it on the low side?

BTW - congrats on a thread resurrection from 2011

Is this a record?

Cheers

Dave