just did this last week local dealer wanted $20.00 per gallon, i did some research, and used prestone dex-cool, longer life, think it is supposed to be less chemical reaction with the metal inside engine block, more compatible with alloy s etc. etc.our dealers down here are very expensive,
good luck
frankd
south florida

You need only one gallojn since it comes in full-strenght and needs to be diluted.

Peak!! Largest manufacturer of antifreeze in the US. Also has that largest sales, over Prestone by far.....

Volvo buys lots of coolant, both for its requirements as a manufacturer, and for sale in it's parts departments.

So, when Volvo goes to a coolant vendor and says "we're going to need 500,000 gallons of coolant this year," needless to say, Volvo has some pull with this vendor. So Volvo has some of it's cooling system engineers sit down with some of the vendor's chemical engineers and they talk.

The Volvo engineers say," we use XXXX aluminum in our block, which we know it is suseptable to chlorine. Do you have any chlorine in your formulation?" So the vendor says, "Yes. We use it to protect against high-temperature precipitation of lead. But for this order, we can substitue argon, which is equally good at preventing the precipitation of lead. A bit more expensive, but will that work for you?"

And the Volvo engineers say. "Fine. We do not know of any incompatabilities with argon."

Then the chemical engineers say, "I see that you are using a polycarbonate water pump seal. We can add 1-2polyUnpronouncium to the coolant and that will prevent long-term embrittlment of the pump seal."

So the Volvo engineers say, "Yes. We've heard about 1-2polyUnpronouncium and we were going to ask you about that."

etc., etc., etc.




Now, here is the conversation that occurs when you go to pick up anti-freeze at your local K-Mart.

"What da ya want."

"I'm looking for some antifreeze for my 1996 Volvo 850."

"Here."





I'm not sure if I've gotten my point across . . .

I'd think you could use any that works with alloy engines. But, the
cooling system is not really a big problem area on our cars (couple
of minor problems). So, if you use Volvo coolant you are using
something that is working well in thousands of Volvo cars. I'd use
the Volvo coolant.

The possible problem areas are the radiator reservoir cap and thermostat.
The gray reservoir caps can leak a bit keeping the system from reaching
full pressure. There is a newer teal/green/blue colored cap (depends
on who you ask) that is an improved design.

The thermostats seem to need replacing about 70K miles. I have a 95 with
65K and the thermostat is OK. My 98 with 55K miles currently has a
failed thermostat (car runs cool). You might keep an eye on this.
Replacement instructions are at http://volvospeed.com/bay13.htm.

I use Volvo coolant in my 855. It cost about $14.00 from Dealer.

Ching-Ho Cheng
--
1995 855 NA, Bilstein Shocks, K&N Filter, E-Code Lens

I've asked this same question on a number of Volvo forums
recently and the consensus was that you should stick with
Volvo OEM coolant. They say it is specially formulated
for the metals in our engines. So I not going to argue
with the veterans. Volvo coolant costs about 15 bucks
a jug. I would get 2 jugs and do the 50/50 distilled water
mix. Also change every two years.

My 2

rd