antifreeze

[TIGERRYES]

Just a quick question, my S40 diesel has an orange colour antifreeze/coolant. I wanted to be sure the antifreeze was still good and covered the required temperature for winter. I bought one of those meter thingys to measure strength of antifreeze. It seemed rather high. The meter says for ethylene glycol, do I have the right tester please?

[brutusmotorsport]

in 30 years doing my own vehicles ive never used a tester. ive always made sure that there was plenty fresh antifreeze in every year.

[TIGERRYES]

Well I just wanted to know what type of antifreeze Volvo use so I can find out if I have the right tester

[harveys]

Originally Posted by TIGERRYES

Well I just wanted to know what type of antifreeze Volvo use so I can find out if I have the right tester

Volvo Antifreeze is green if it helps.

[FredGraham]

Hi
With my limited knowledge, I've always been told never to mix the colours.
Fred

[TIGERRYES]

Originally Posted by harveys

Volvo Antifreeze is green if it helps.

Well it's not Volvo stuff then, this is orange. I just wanted to know if my tester was the right one. Thanks for your help everyone

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by TIGERRYES

Well it's not Volvo stuff then, this is orange. I just wanted to know if my tester was the right one. Thanks for your help everyone

SOme technical jibberish from another forum:

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OAT anti-freeze/OAT coolant
OAT stands for Organic Acid Technology.OAT anti-freeze contain ingredients such as 2-EHA, sebacate and other various organic acids. Unlike green anti-freeze, they generally do not contain silicates or phosphates. Usually, OAT-based coolants will be dyed a different colour to green anti-freeze. They must be changed once every five years or 150,000 miles.

HOAT anti-freeze/HOAT coolant
HOAT stands for Hybrid OAT. These antifreeze use organic acids but not 2-EHA and usually include silicates to provide protection for aluminium surfaces. HOAT anti-freezes are used by many European car manufacturers, although they are also used by American companies such as Chrysler and Ford. A HOAT coolant will need to be changed every five years or 150,000 miles.

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bottom line is, the only important stuff is if your AF is OAT or HOAT- wrong one can cause havoc on aluminium radiator and block, BUT it doesnt mean it has to be certain colour. Volvo AF is green/blueish, true, but I have seen yellow/red/pink AF's that were also to spec and just differ in colour.

even more bottom line - if you are unsure, just do a full flush and apply new one, it will do no harm to refresh it and atelast you will have 100% certianity whats there.

[IainG]

Hi
My V50 has had the pinky red antifreeze in from new. Assumed it was different to a "normal" Volvo as the engine is a Ford one. Again I assume it is OAT AF

Iain