My mother has a V40-2.0 phase III, dated approx 2003. The engine cooling fluid is at the min indication line and it hasn't been changed for ten years. My mother hardly ever drives. Whenever I contact Volvo they imediately complain that the car is "not in service" with them. But I think pooring in some fluid isn't too hard if they could just tell me which fluid to buy from them. It is strangely not mentioned in the manual. Volvo dealer says I can use any fluid from any brand. On the internet I read one can ruin the engine if you mix the wrong color coolant fluid.

My questions; Which brand/type coolant fluid do you use in your phase III -V40? And, how can you see what the colour is of the fluid that is already in the system?

Thankyou very much for your effort and time!

 

Green or blue should work. The one to avoid is orange (ie GM Dexcool). Any indy shop familiar with Euro cars should be able to help here if you are not comfortable doing the work yourself. Given the coolant is way old, you should do a deionized water flush ( like 3 gallons from Walmart for about a dollar each) - ie drain, fill with the water, run a bit then drain again and fill with fresh 50/50 blue or green coolant. Other things to do - 1) replace the thermostat and overflow reservoir cap 2) inspect the upper radiator hose - its a common failure point which can cause a slow leak and consider replacing proactively 3) when you refill, these cars often need to be "burped" - either by compressing releasing the fat hoses or opening the vent plug (Haynes shows a bolt plug on the housing to the lower hose). Haynes also says some engines have a drain plug in the block - not sure if that applies to the 1.9Ts.

 

Thank you very much for your answer. I only want to add 1 liter extra coolant. I expected to need transparent or yellow coolant as the blue is for very old cars from before 1995. This is what an informative website regarding this subject states. This website says transparent/yellow coolant is suitable to mix with most commercial fluids from all car models. Underneath link is that website, maybe you can use a translator web service as it is in Dutch; website

What a lousy brand Volvo is.... trying to make lots of money with checking turn-indicator lights, fluid levels and pooring the original fluid in... Whenever I go to the Volvo dealer they immediately start complaining that the car is not "in service" with them. Next time a toyota...

 

Not sure of your complaint about Volvos or your dealer. When you go to the dealer its quite common for them to to a safety check and advise you what they found. Your call whether to address their findings. This is about vehicle safety and reliability not about pulling money from your wallet. Fact is, our Toyota dealer does the same.
Regarding the complexity in finding the right coolant, nothing here to over think. Did you look to see what color is already in the car? "Green" is the old school aluminum friendly coolant (standard for a 1995 850T say...). Your 1.9T takes Volvo part number 31439821, which is a phosphate free coolant and listed as "blue". Both green and blue are phosphate free which is what you want for an engine with aluminum bits. Easy enough to find in any auto parts store or you can google to confir. To top off your car, pour into the overflow reservoir until it goes to the middle betweent the full and add line. then warm the car up and see if the level changes. If you are down a liter - I suspect you may have bigger issues than getting the right color of coolant.

 

Yes, probably it's my dealer who I'm complaining about. I contacted other dealers and one workshop replied and gave the type of the coolant I need. Indeed it is blue coolant. I found a website who offers it and there's a V40 1996-2004 mentioned for this product, pls see; https://www.vstore.nl/koelvloeistof-gebruiksklaar/

Unfortunately this is my best option because my own dealer did not offer this possibility (they only want to service my car...). I don't know if I need a liter, but I need the minimum ammount as the level is low at the min. line. The expansion tank is not very transparent (grey) and as far as I can see the coolant is light yellow or transparent, but not blue nor green. How to determine the colour? Before I bought this car Volvo topped up the system above the max. line on the expansion tank. Hopefully they topped up with the same original coolant. Better determine the collour first.

FYI: Here in Holland there's a compulsory annual safety inspection of every car usualy performed by the dealer. A yearly bonus for every dealer...

 

yes the coolant overflow reservoir is translucent with a low and high fill mark on the side. I believe your model has a black cap. The level of the coolant will change as the engine warms up so take care not to overfill - just stay between the marks. that's the purpose of the reservoir - as the coolant warms and expands the excess leaves the engine through the small hose adjoined to the upper radiator hose and takes space in the reservoir. when the engine cools, it sucks back in. So with this action, eventually what's in the reservoir should reflect what's in the rest of the system. The other way to determine color would be to open the drain valve and catch a small amount into a container

so the first question I'd ask is 1) is your car consuming coolant? You'd need to monitor the level for a week or two of normal driving. If it drops, have your mechanic check the upper radiator hose (typically leaks at the nipple where the small hose runs off to the overflow reservoir - a very common issue for this model), check the sides of the radiator and lower hose looking for any discoloration. Any signs of dripping? Any odd smell in the cabin when the heat first comes on (a small leak in the heater core will give off a slightly sweet odor). Any odd smell to the exhaust (again, if coolant is finding its way into the combustion chamber or exhaust can make the exhaust smell different). 2) if the mechanic has found the coolant is not blue or green, you may want to have a radiator drain/fill done to get fresh and correct coolant in the car. I'd trust any shop to be able to do this for you - not just the dealer. Its quite possible a prior service put in the wrong coolant - or your coolant is so old the "yellow" is actually more brown from rust mixing with the coolant which is all the more of a reason for a drain/fresh water flush/fill.

 

In general, I have taken to using Zerex coolants, by Valvoline. I’ve used the G-05, which is sort of their generic phosphate-free coolant, but I think the G-48 is more specifically correct for Volvos etc. It’s just fairly easy to find and is good stuff. No need to find the fancy-pants OEM stuff from Germany, unless you can get it cheaper. Anyway, they seem to have about a dozen different kinds, in all the standard formulations & colors.

 

totally agree! its about understanding the correct formulation for your model. The color coding does help but there's some wiggle room since some specs over lap. I've seen where S40s from 2000 to 2011 use NF-G11 - which is blue (and that's what's in my S40...).