Just thought I'd mention to anyone curious that the $2.99 Prestone Radiator flush kit seems to work great and one of the included t-fittings fits the Volvo perfectly. I was cautious about it because I worried that it wouldn't work(or fit) on my car... I was wrong. Flushed the radiator myself(a first) this weekend with it. Got the grime out. Worked great everything fit fine and the coolant is clean again. BTW I am not a Prestone employee, stock holder,etc...
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1988 760Tic - 155,550 1966 M-B 230 sedan - 98,000 1982 Rx-7 - 201,000 Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. - Bill Watterson

I've used the Prestone flush kit for many years on many cars - it works well. When you drain old coolant, catch as much as possible and dispose of it correctly. Glycol does biodegrade in nature, but slowly, and meantime it's poisonous to small animals (or your kids if they think it's Kool Aid). Should be no problem flushing the system with garden hose water, even if it's "hard" (lotsa minerals). It's only in there a short time and doesn't heat up to the boiling point, so there should be no (or extremely minimal) deposits. After the final flush, drain, fill up with distilled, run the engine a minute (the heater is on FULL HOT all the time you are doing any flushing/rinsing), and then drain again. Fill one-half the specified capacity of your system with your preferred 100% anti-freeze and top up with distilled water.

After running the engine for about 10 minutes to get things up to full temp and check for leaks, I drain about 1qt into a container from the block drain tap, then pour this back into the coolant reservoir. This way all the coolant is thoroughly mixed in all parts of the system.
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Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-940Sedan B230FD)

Volvodad,
that sounds like a plan, taking one quart from the bottom and putting it on top.
I'm going to replace the upper radiator hose at the same time, but this won't be for a week or two yet.

SD

Thanks for the good tip... I'm planning a coolant flush & some new hoses this weekend, will seek out the kit. Wish we'd see more little 'reviews' like this!

- Brian '93 945T

What does the flush kit consist of?
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Paul NW Indiana '89 740 Turbo 105,000

3 t-fittings(only one will fit), splash deflector, 2 metal clamps(good kind), household water hose to t-fitting attachment, decent instructions, and a cap for the t-fitting.
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1988 760Tic - 155,550 1966 M-B 230 sedan - 98,000 1982 Rx-7 - 201,000 Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. - Bill Watterson

I was wondering about that. I've used the flush'n'fill on other cars, but figured it would be "too easy" for a Volvo. This is good to know bc I'm planning a flush'n'fill on Shirley, refilling with Dexcool and distilled H20 prior to our 2500-mile trek next month. One thing I'm worried about, though, is that our eastern New Mexico tap water is SO full of minerals it might do more harm than good to flush with it! Advice, anyone?

If you're really concerned about the quality of your water, then rather than power flushing via household water pressure, get a case of distilled water, then re-fill, drive, and drain the system several times. You'll basically be doing a water-pump-powered flush.

Jeff Pierce
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'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

I found some interesting info on Prestone's website about water, http://www.prestone.com/framer.cgi?page=http://www.prestone.com/products/19.htm
They claim European cars insist upon a phosaphate free (Volvo type C) coolant because of the high mineral content of European water and that North American water is fine with phospates.

Anyway, I figure using distilled water is a good choice and the DeX-Cool is also phosphate free. Can't hurt...
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Paul NW Indiana '89 740 Turbo 105,000

For flushing you're going to be fine. I've converted 2 vehicles to Dex cool, both were flushed with Prestone cleaner and run for a while with hose water. You have to make sure you get all your old coolant out if you're switching from green to orange coolant! I even drove the cars for a few minutes on tap water. One was done 50,000 miles ago and the other I sold.
I'm pretty sure no mechanic will flush your system with anything but tap water.
Ian

You should use the cleanest water possible. I don't know what effect minerals have but if the water has rust or other debris in it you shouldn't use it.
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1988 760Tic - 155,550 1966 M-B 230 sedan - 98,000 1982 Rx-7 - 201,000 Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. - Bill Watterson