Coolant - Some Observations

[Kaptajnen]

If you live in the PNW, you can buy your coolant from the Pacific Power Group in Auburn. Their phone number is 1 (253) 854-0505.
They carry the Volvo Yellow Coolant. It costs $40. per gallon and they ship it everywhere for $40.
In the case of the 2018 Volvo D4-300, You will need some 3.5 gallons, so the tab is $240.-.

On the D4-300, the spigot is on the port side at the bottom of the engine towards the front, and it empties by gravity. Nikos from Passas Small Engines, who is our local mechanic on Bainbridge Island, did this job which required him to work upside down in very cramped quarters for about an hour.

The reason I am posting this is that neither the Volvo Manual or the R31-S has any info on this subject.

 

[dbsea]

I believe the D4 and D6 share an operators manual:

https://myboatcare.com/wp-content/uploa ... 4-copy.pdf

On page 75 of the manual they detail the process. Unclear on if it varies between the two engines…

 

[S. Todd]

I recently purchased the coolant here in the midwest and concur with the cost of $40 per gallon. 3.5 gallons gets you a total cost of only $160 with a half gallon left over.

 

[Kaptajnen]

Dave,

we only found one drain nipple on our engine.

 

[dbsea]

Dave,

we only found one drain nipple on our engine.

That is frustrating! I am about to do mine on my D6, so i'll keep an eye out.

On the coolant, I buy the ready-mix VCS 5 Liter from marinepartssource.com:

https://marinepartssource.com/ready-mix ... a-22567314

It's 35.99 for 5 liters, so I needed 4 jugs for my boat (D6), and they have free shipping with no tax. My total cost for 20L (5.28 gallons) was $143.96.

 

[BB marine]

There is Two drain locations. One is the block drain the other is the exchanger drain. You may get by with draining just the lower of the two which is the block drain. To help from staying on your head for a while it is best to get a clear flexible vinyl hose. long enough to be able to move one end to an area of the bilge that you can drain the fluid into a container. The drain petcock has a nipple. Place the 3/8" hose over the nipple then open the petcock allow the fluid to drain to the container. Once all the fluid is drained. It is recommended to flush the system with clean distilled water. Repeat the draining process again.

I will not dispute that working on the engines in the Cutwaters or Rangers is easy. It is not!!! I have seen a lot better but I have also seen a lot worse. Ranger and Cutwater engine work is rarely done by Flat rate. It is time and material billing.