- 03/05/2014
- 1 Min Read
- By: Andrew Owendoff
How to Flush your Volvo 850 Radiator and Cooling System
Today’s how to will help the novice DIYers with one of the most overlooked maintenance items: flushing your Volvo’s cooling system. This is not a hard thing to do and should be done every two years. 
This is what you will need to get the job done:
• 8 bottles of distilled water
• 1 gallon of engine coolant
• A container to drain coolant into
• A set of hex keys so you can open and close the radiator petcock
1. Jack up the front of the car and place it on jack stands. Only jack it up high enough to fit a container under the radiator petcock. This will make sure as much of the old coolant and dirt will drain out of the car each time the petcock is opened.
2. Place a container under the radiator petcock and let as much coolant out of the car as possible. Be careful not to break the petcock because it is made of plastic. You will need a set of hex keys to open it.
3. Once the coolant stops flowing, close the petcock and fill the cooling system with as much distilled water as came out. Start the car and let it idle for about five minutes. Make sure the climate control knob is on the hottest setting.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until the only thing flowing out of the car is distilled water. Once you drain the car for the last time, there will be about 1 gallon of distilled water left in the engine. You will want to add straight coolant to the car only. This will make sure that you get a good 50/50 mix of coolant and water.
5. Take the car for a drive to give the coolant and water time to mix. Make sure the engine temperature stays steady with the thermometer in it's proper position. Once you get back, use a coolant tester to make sure the mixture is within range. Also, make sure the level is still between the min and max positions. Check the level everyday for the next week, after a week, the level should stay where it is suppose to be.
If you are looking to replace the entire radiator, This DIY video will walk you through the steps of installing a new radiator in a Volvo 850.
About The Author: Andrew Owendoff
Andrew has been working with us at FCP Euro on and off for many years. He brings to the team over a 10 years of automotive experience and has worked on many vehicles from Volvo, Mazda, and Ford. Beside doing normal maintenance, he his also an avid modder and has done everything from exhaust systems and stereos to tuning and turbo swaps. He can be reached at aowendoff@outlook.com
