Total mongo moment doing a coolant renewal

[Gold 'N' Brown]

I am such a spaz :parhmph:

Last night I set about renewing the coolant in the V70. So, drained off the old stuff, the set about disconnecting the radiator hoses as I wanted to flush the system. Bottom hose clip was rusted solid but got that off. Flushed the radiator through with a hose. Then took the thermostat out and flushed the engine through too. Put everything back together (all 3 jubillee clipes replaced with brand new ones), and mixed up my coolant. Got a 4 litre bottle of genuine Volvo coolant and mixed this 1:1 in a bucket. Only mixed 4 litres worth to begin with.

So, started to decant the coolant mix in the header tank, taking it slowly, squeezing the hoses as I go. Got ~3.5 litres in.

Can you spot what I've done wrong yet?

The system is supposed to hold 8.8 litres of coolant (according to Haynes). I've started with x amount of clean water in the engine from the flushing, and maybe a bit in the rad, which I've forgotten to drain off before refilling. That means my 1:1 solution mixed up in the bucket is no longer 1:1 when combined with the water already in the system. Goddamit :slap:

I've done some calculations (my head hurts now) to figure out what my effective ratio is now and what I need to do to correct it (unfortunately not as simple as just draining some off and chucking the rest of the neat coolant in). I think with what I have left over, I can get it just on the good side of a 1:2 ratio which is good enough for -20 degress and is the minumim mix for effective corrosion protection.

Should have been something so simple :rolleyes:

[M-R-P]

I had a similar problem but I just topped it up with neat. It's probably a bit strong but hey-ho :)

[Gold 'N' Brown]

but hey-ho

"Hey-ho" probably being quite apt here. It's just a case of me being anally retentive about this. Want to get as much done, and done properly (with good parts and the right way) before I put it back on the road. So it's no biggie at the end of the day if the ratio isn't perfect, so long as it's within a tolerance. I just don't want to be slap-dash about it, as there's probably been enough slap-dash treatment in it's life before I found it.

[Biff]

I always thought too much anti freeze damaged the system over time? It perishes hoses & can build up in places inside the engine cooling jackets? I'm not saying my ratio is spot on but its been playing on my mind since I flushed it out. I need to top up again when I have my oil cooler seal kit.

[Gold 'N' Brown]

I don't know what the specifics are behind it, but I should imagine that too rich a mixture would allow the coolant to attack parts of the system. Maybe it can eat in to hoses or something. I mean you wouldn't leave neat antifreeze on your skin if you accidentally spilled some on you, would you?

Likewise, too weak a mixture and you may leave the engine block/head prone to corrosion.

The range of tolerance is probably quite broad, so it doesn't need to be bang on, and as I said above, it's just me being anal about it. Once you start topping up the system further down the line, you inevitably throw the ratio off anyway.

Once I've corrected my mistake I expect to end up with a ratio of about 3 parts water to 2 parts coolant. So weaker than Volvo's recommeded 1:1, but strong enough to protect to at least -20 and should still inhibit corrosion.

[Biff]

I doubt the constant leaking oil from crappy made radiators hasn't helped my coolant system. Lol
Jamie from parts for volvo's told me about using the Daz method when they put clothes washing powder in the system & ran it up to temperature. I've done it once but my plan is to do it again before its back on the road. Last time I got shouted at for how long I rinsed the system out. My bad. :(