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I need some advice please. I have a friend of mine here at work that has a ’99 Vdub Golf and he’s getting a low coolant warning light. The car has been dealer maintained and completely stock. He said he'd done some research on the web he found that he should ONLY use the Vdub coolant as adding any other coolant to the factory coolant will cause it to “goo” up and gel. He also states that the factory coolant is insanely priced and is looking for options.

First I’ve ever heard of this, but wanted to asked what are his options for adding coolant to the factory stuff. Thought or ideas?

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

No, he doesn't have to use the factory stuff, but he does need to use one of the "red" coolants, not the traditional "green" stuff that we're used to. If you mix in enough of the traditional green stuff with the factory coolant, it will gel and gum up the system. You can buy the red stuff an any auto parts store.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

He could just add a little water.

Which products are the "red" coolants? I know that both Prestone and Peak are "yellow" and tout they can mix w/ anything. Which brands and type does he need to look for? Thanks Tom!

And to Scott, yes he did add some water, but he's a stickler for factory stuff. He doesn't want to over dilute the antifreeze. Which I guess brings up the bigger question of why he's loosing water.

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

He's afraid of it boiling over or freezing? Unless he plans lots of trips out of this region, neither is a big concern.

Straight water cools better than antifreeze mixtures (better heat transfer, admittedly, with a lower boiling point), and it doesn't take a lot of antifreeze in the system to keep things from freezing on a record cold morning in NC. 2-1 and 3-1 water-antifreeze is good to 0 and 10 F respectively.

Scott

It sounded like you already had that question answered, no?

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

Scott is right...water is the better coolant, and I believe it's fine to mix with the "red" stuff. As for what brands...I dunno. I just played dumb and asked for red coolant when I had to buy some in the past.

Chances are that one of the plastic radiator end tanks is leaking slightly. I know that my Jetta has a very small coolant leak, and I'm betting it's an end tank. The car never cracks the 190 deg mark on the temp gauge, so that just tells me it stays w/in the range (probably up to about 210-215). So...until that needle moves, I'm just going to add a little water every few months.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

As mentioned whatever you do dont mix the with any other type of coolant, not even the "mix with anything' crap.

Factory mix is 50/50, so you could a whole lot of water and still be more than safe from the lowest temps we see around here and a frezzing issue. Water cools better than coolant anyway.

The factory stuff is called G12, you can get if from the dealer or several other local sources <cough><cough> a whole lot cheaper

So to recap, tell him to top it off with water and pay attention to the level if it keeps going down then take it somewhere to have a possible leak tracked down.

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91 Jetta GLI STS/DSP 111
85 Porsche 944 ASP 11
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