Coolant

Just taken our Polo in for a service (would do it myself, but wanted to keep the service history intact) and I ask about them changing the coolant. They mentioned that the coolant doesn't require changing as it should last the life time of the vehicle.
Shows how much I'm out of touch with new cars!!

Now, question is, can you use this type of coolant in the GTA?
Is this the type you use in your car JohnC as I have noticed from one of your previous posts, which had a photo, that your coolant tank had a nice clean green look about it. Whereas mine is a sludge-y sh$t colour.

Thoughts ?

Thoughts are that unless the correct coolant has been used since day one or you have just had a full rebuild ..all the nasty shire removed from the timing end and 4 new liner seats installed then it don't matter diddly .

Horse ,gate and bolted

I'll find some pics of the rot that is probable in all PRV .

Irony is that they couldn't get it right in the first place. The 'official' Renault coolant was said to be corrosive itself after a short time in the car and then the suggestion was to move to branded ethylene glycol type coolant. (Basically anything but Renault)

Then Renault crack it and get it right, but until very late in the day none of us are any the wiser

Then again in 1986 CFCs were cool and secondary smoking unheard of.

Paul, If you can hold on for a few days, I will be home and able to share some of my views with you. At the moment I am using a virtual key board with limited scope and no spellcheck.
However I am surprised at your VW dealers view...... watch this space.
John

To be honest I wasnt entirely sure the 'front of desk' chap was telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...

So, I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

Yes, when I first bought my car I treated it to a major service and they flushed the engine out and the rad. I recall them telling me that they had a hose back flushing it most of the day and still the sludge was coming out.

Shortly afterwards the rad developed a leak and I had that recored much to the delight of the garage who took an age to remove rad and refit; fixed price job.

Mine is now overdue for a coolant change and I just wondered if sticking some up-to-date fluid in her (steady) would be beneficial.

A good analogy would be how well have you looked after your teeth .....Is it worth starting to floss now ?? Probably but most of the damage will have been done

[mettersl]

My experience with VW coolant only goes to 13 years and 220k miles ....and it's true the coolant doesn't need changing, doesn't change colour and doesn't seem to deteriorate...but it's only suitable for modern engines.oolder VW group cars need a different coolant and you can't use the recent (purple) coolant in them, so expect it would be ruinous to a GTA.
It's also extremely expensive and only available from VW group dealers(but cheaper at Skoda than Audi).

Is this the type you use in your car JohnC as I have noticed from one of your previous posts, which had a photo, that your coolant tank had a nice clean green look about it. Whereas mine is a sludge-y sh$t colour.

Paul, I think this was the photo you were referring to.



It is fairly well known that I favour Renault`s Type D coolant due to the fact that I have used it for around 19 years now and even though I do not change it too often, it seems not to discolour over time suggesting that the inhibitors are doing their work.
Darren was right, Renault did have a big problem with their Type C, which was used in all the Alpines and was recommended in their manuals.
However, after I had had mine for around 4 years, the oil seal that is buried deep inside the gearbox went, so once I had put the engine and gearbox back I trotted off to Renault, manual in hand, to get the recommended type C, it was then that I was given the low down of what damage the type C could cause, but they assured me that they had cracked the problem with type D, which I then filled the system with. The old coolant that I had removed was like the browm murkey colour you suggest yours looks like.
Obviously before filling with the new coolant, I gave the system a good flushout but not a total one which really requires the rad to be removed and the old dirty reservoir was left in place.
However around 15 years later having decided to do the Macon trip, I decided to give the Alp a good going over which included changing the coolant. Not wanting to discolour the drive, I drained most of it via the rad bleed tube and was really surprised to see that the coolant was virtually the same colour as the original. Wanting to do the job properly, I removed the Rad to flush and once again there was little or no sludge just a slight discolouration of the water for a few seconds when the water hose was used.
Because the reservoir was still stained, and now knowing the coolant was not going to do the same again, I treated my self to a new one...... well worth doing if you change to the Type D, as you can see the level through the bottle without having to remove the cap.
I have to say, from that experence, I am convinced that Type D coolant is very effective.
I am not as pessimistic as Lee C, I believe that even now, after a really good flush of the system, you can halt any further deteration, clearly you cannot reverse it, but, in my opinion, you can stop it getting any worse.
Clearly a really good flush is the best, as is the removal of the rad, but this is a pain, but a really good job can be done without removing it.
What I would do is drain as much as possible through the rad bleed, then remove the two drain plugs on either side of the block (make sure you protect the altenator from getting a wetting.... a plastic bag over it or such likes) then remive the rad switch having jacked up the back of the car to get a forward slope on the coolant pipes running fore and aft. Now you should be able to do this through the wheel arches, remove the two hoses from each side of the rad..... once the clips are off, a twist of the hose around the rad pipe its self and they should release with a click. Bend each hose to the ground to let the coolant out of the pipes. If you want to do the job really properly,... remove the stat.... I think you have a new one coming... good chance to flush then. With a garden hose and some rag around to form a sort of seal, go in through the rad switch and keep going till the water runs clear from the two outlets. Now go to the reservoir and do the same, the water will come out through the two drain holes in the block till clear,.... now put the cap back on for the next step or you will drench the altenator.
With the rag around the hoses trigger gun, fire water up the two hoses removed from the rad till it runs clear from the drain holes. once that had happened, once again bend the two rad hoses downwards to remove all the water from the long chassis pipes.
At this point, go and towel your self down.
When replacing the two hoses to the rad, I always smear a bit of silicone grease on the pipe and inside the hose, it helps to refit, and will always be easy to remove in future. Once the drain bungs are refitted in the block and the stat is fitted..... with a small hole if jiggle valve is not present, you can then refill the cooling system and be very pleased with your days work..... and one other thing..... change the reservoir, it won`t help cooling, but it really makes a real difference to the appearance of the engine bay.
Excuse the spelling..... my spell check is not working at the moment.
Hope this is of interest.

Clik pic ..Remove the stat to flush thoroughly .Just undo pipes at the rad and do as shown ,a std hoselock fitting is a perfect fit to the pipe .Reverse flush as well .
Rad flush in situ as John says but if off turn it upside down or better still bin it and get a new ali one .
Most of the shite stays lodged up at the timing end and rots the block .Undisturbed it will probably stay OK .....The rest sits at the bottom of the rad and rots it out .