Best type of Antifreeze for Vovlo 240?
 

Hey Guys,

This is my first post on this forum, so please be kind! :D

I have a fleet of three Volvo 240GL's and one Volvo 244.

I live in a humid country with temperature running from 30 to 40 degrees c.
It has just reached the peak of the hot season now, and the volvo's are getting hotter then preferable. Slightly below the half mark on the temperature gauge. (Usually it goes up to a little over quarter at max)

I usually just use plain water for filling up the radiator's but i guess this wheather calls for something more now.

My question is what type of antifreeze would fit best for the volvo 240/244 radiator? And what ratio to mix with water?

Hiya,

Engine temperature will be a feature of a number of things, how well its running (for example; if the valve clearances are too tight or the fuel/air mixture to lean it can run hotter than normal), whether the thermostat is okay, whether the fan's doing its job or whether there's air in the cooling system. Each of these might have a bearing on where the needle shows up on the dial.

"Anti-freeze" does a number of things in addition to lowering the freezing point of the coolant. It acts as a corrosion inhibitor most specifically between the aluminium cylinder head and the engine block/head gasket and should always be added to coolant for this reason alone. It also has lubricating properties that help the water pump to function more smoothly.

If you've been running on tap water for some time your issues could be consequential blockages in your system. If I was coming at this situation for the first time I would change the water adding a cooling system cleaner to a fresh refill and run the engine to clean it.

After leaving the engine to cool a while I'd then remove the hoses and the thermostat then, setting the heater to max, blast a hose though the engine, the radiator, the water pump … in both directions, until it runs clear.

I'd then replace the thermostat (Volvo mostly sells 92C thermostats but you might be able to find cooler ones locally; there were official 82 and 87C ones I recall), refit the hoses and very slowly refill the system with 50/50 anti-freeze/water mix. The car takes about 10L (check your handbook) so 5L of anti-freeze should work.

Under these circumstances I'd get A/F from the Volvo dealer if I were you.

Blucol 50/50 mix

Use blue-coloured glycol based antifreeze. Don't mix it with any other colours, this can either corrode the aluminium parts of the engine or turn to sludge. Use a 30/70 to 50/50 mix of antifreeze/water (volvo recommends 50/50) Using de-ionised/distilled water rather than tap water is best, especially if you live in a hard water area.

By the way, the temperature gauge reading halfway is absolutely normal and where it should be sitting at normal operating temperature. If it's consistently reading colder than that your engine's not reaching normal operating temperature, increasing wear and fuel consumption.

There is no better coolant than that you get from your volvo dealer , you will need 3 or 4 litres ..
Also your thermostat wiill need replacing the engine is overcooling , it should ALWAYS be half way up the scale ...

These engines should not be run on pure water as the water ways in the head corrode up and end up needing welding.

Is it always hot where you are, and do you actually need the antifreeze properties of the mixture? You certain need an anti-corrosion additive, but perhaps in hot countries there is a more dedicated product?

In any case, 50/50 sounds unnecessarily strong - that would be more appropriate for Alaska or northern Norway. Remember that antifreeze does not have such good cooling properties as water, so it is a mistake to use too much.

Water has a high specific heat capacity, true, but that also means it hangs on to gained heat and is less efficient at dumping it in the radiator. Antifreeze cools off more rapidly as it travels through the finned core. You have to lose heat somewhere...

I must be wrong then. When I had a Triumph Stag, an engine renowned both for corroding and overheating, we were warned not to be tempted to use stronger than 50/50 because the impaired cooling effect would come into play, with no advantage in corrosion resistance.