I'm the new owner of a 95 850 GLT Wagon NA. The car has about 70k on it and seems to be in the midst of having the thermostat fail, gets warmer than 3 oclock, cools down gets warmer.... So, being the ex-submariner, I'm going to flush the system, replace the upper and lower hoses, and eventually refill with "volvo approved" antifreeze. Can I use any commercial antifreeze that's safe for aluminum engines? any thing else I should replace? Heater hoses? I'm looking to replace anything that has a life span of less than 10 years, and flush the thing once and be done with it for years. Thanks, Chuck.

I had the same question about the coolant, and ended up buying a gallong from a local Volvo dealer. It was around $14 vs $9-$10 for a compatible non-Volvo coolant. I figured it is OK to overpay $5 for an item that I expect to keep for at least a couple of years.
Also, when I drained a 35K-old coolant at 100K it was surprizingly clean. And its density was correct. It was probably good for another 30K
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'95 Volvo 850 GLT, 100K, All Stock

I have Jack Ashcraft's coolant filter kit on my car. Jack mostly designs and sells Saab 95 and 96 stuff, but also makes a coolant filter kit for the SAAB 900. This is easily adaptable to Volvos. Trucks also have coolant filters. The filter itself is available at Napa's. Jack has the hoses and fittings.

I learned of the kit on the Classic 900 bulletin board at http://www.saabnet.com

I don't work for Jack. He doesn't have a website as far as I know.

I use Havoline Dexcool in my '95 850T and it works fine. I even added some Redline "Water Wetter" for grins. If you do replace the thermostat remember to get the higher quality one with the little bleeder port in it. I use a OEM 180 degree T-stat from a local Euro parts supplier. Some of the cheaper ones (Stant?) don't have the bleeder port and it gets to be a pain in the ass to get the system bled correctly. Actually your fluctuating temp could be signs of air in the system. But I guess to be safe you can flush the whole system if you want to. I like the 180 thermostat for hot weather environments and remember the radiator also has to cool the tranny and engine oils. As previously mentioned I would only use distilled or Ionized water to refill the system or you'll end up with scaling and radiator blockage from the mineral deposits in the common gardenhose water. Good luck ..... Mike ....... Miami, FL

I flushed my OEM coolant (V70 1998) and replaced it with Prestone Dexcool (50/50 mix with deionized water). No problems so far, no horror story. The only difference between regular (green) Prestone and Dexcool or Volvo coolants is that the latter ones are phosphate free. But all of them are aluminum compatible and can be used in your Volvo.
Check http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/index.htm?id=162262 for excellent info on coolants.
I don't know about life span of cooling system hoses but I would not keep coolant for more than 2 to 3 years. The danger is not with corrosion as Dexcool is supposed to last 5 years but with depletion or degradation of lubricants that water pump needs. Usually the horror story of leaking pump begins right after long overdue coolant change.
Good luck.

You might also consider using distilled water for the mix to cut down on scaling later.

Like many of the compulsives here, I use the wildly-overpriced Official Volvo anti-freeze. Search the brickboard archives, there have been a number of horror stories about Dexcool.

-Punxsutawney Phil

I'm one of the four people in the US that actually uses the VOLVO branded coolant (HaHa) Hoses are a bit involved to replace (lower rad.), and those heater hoses cost over $40 apiece, and are tough to get at.

Parts that went into my '93 850GLT in Jan. of 2000,

Radiator Hose (1335433-7; $22.05)
Radiator Hose (6842428-2; $36.37)
Heater Hose (3528273-0; $40.72)
Heater Hose (3528275-5; $39.40)
Anti-Freeze (9434699-6; $14.36)
Thermostat Kit (271644-5; $14.36)
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RussB in Ct '96 855T - '91 944T

I just acquired an S70 with approx same mileage. Congrats. I flushed & replaced coolant with Dexcool (the orange stuff. It is not compatible with the green coolants, but it has been reported,(including on this BB I believe)to be superior for aluminum.