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Coolant Flush For My 850 Turbo


96DTM850

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From memory ...

there is a drain valve (also called petcock - silly name) under the radiator. You'll need an allen wrench to open the plastic valve. Unscrew the plastic cover protecting the valve so you have more room to work with. Open the valve and drain the coolant (and ensure it is properly disposed off - this has been discussed in another thread).

Run water off your garden hose into the reservoir to flush the coolant. Some people go extreme by using nothing but distilled water (they buy the 5 gallon jug at Walmart for cheap) for flushing. Anyway while flushing, run the engine and turn on your heater to high for a couple of minutes - this will further drain some coolant. When clear water is running out of the valve, you can stop flushing.

Now there are 2 ways to refill. Some folks premix coolant with water 50-50. What I do is pour the 2L of distilled water into the rad followed by entire 4L jug of Zerex coolant (ethyl glycol based same as Volvo coolant) and then top off with 2L of distilled water. The rad can hold approx. 8L of 50-50 coolant. Run the engine to get it mixed inside. Check the reservoir a few hours later as the coolant level can go down due to air bubbles. Just top off again with distilled water.

Regarding distilled water, some folks just buy the demineralized reverse osmosis drinking water sold in the 5 gal jug. I think this is just as good as the minerals in hard tap water is what gunks up the rad. Good luck.

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do a good search and read some. Most on this site also drain the engine by

opening the 13mm drain on the engine or the pipe near the back of the engine's left side as you face the engine. consider cleaning after the first rinse with vinegar. you have to get the engine hot in the middle of each cycle to ensure mixing of the fluids in the block. I felt the hose from the radiator to the radiator, and when it was hot, i ran the engine about 2 more minutes.

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consider cleaning after the first rinse with vinegar.

Yes, I was going to add the tip about adding about 1L of white vinegar (5% acetic acid) with the water in the flush. I read (at other forums) that some folks let the vinegar-water sit overnight to allow the vinegar to soften the mineral-based crud then drain the next day. Vinegar is said to be a good calcium remover and is gentler than those radiator coolant flush (in the auto section) that could cause leaks.

Lax01, sorry no pics but it should be fairly easy to spot if you go under the front bumper on the driver side.

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