Checked fluids on my '96 965 this weekend and noticed the coolant had suddenly become brown and had an unusual smell. I flushed cooling system last October at 142K miles and refilled with VOLVO coolant and distilled water. Since then I've driven a total of 5K miles. Two months ago, I replaced the gaskets on the oil cooler, which required draining much of the cooling system again. The coolant, which I reused, looked very clean at that time. Other vital signs:

* No overheating & engine runs smoothly.
* The motor oil shows no signs of water contamination.
* The ATF, which has never been changed, looks like what people on the Board say their original fluid appears when they drain it. (I was just getting ready to change it when this issue appeared.)
* The radiator in this car is 7 years / 40K miles old.
* The coolant side of the oil cooler showed no obvious signs of damage - I worked on it to correct an oil leak.
* The car was very well maintained by PO - exclusively at Volvo dealers

I'm posting in AWD Forum because the all-alloy I-6 engine in this car is more similar to 5 cylinder engines in FWD & AWD cars than the "red blocks" in RWDs.

Any suggestions appreciated.
John (aka Analogdad)