Coolant warning

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Unreliable?
Did it break down?
Did it leave you stranded somewhere?

At the rate it's going, I fear it will.

When you need to bring coolant/distilled water everywhere you go in a car that's less than 1.5 years odd with less than 17500 km on the clock around with you everywhere you go, then labelling it unreliable isn't too far fetched.

All my previous **** boxes were Japanese cars, never had to do such thing nor have I ever needed to top up the coolant, but yes they also were super boring.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Assuming all stories are being conveyed truthfully (and there’s no point/evidence assuming otherwise) then I think it is a reliability issue- for those users.

Exactly!

If anyone thinks I'm full of it, I'll happily scan and post up all the paperwork from VW.

Also I wished they upgrade this forum, it makes uploading images such a pain in the backside.

[Hillbilly]

Yeah wish they would update and take away the huge advertising in your signature Just a waste of forum space

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Yeah wish they would update and take away the huge advertising in your signature Just a waste of forum space

Feel free to add me to your ignore list, that way you won't see my posts.

[Sudoku]

Now getting coolant warning for my 162TSI. I have done 12.5k till now. Service center at dealer says to top it up with water as it is still some time for first service. I have got demineralised water. Should i top it all the way up or just upto minimum? Anyone faced this recently?

[IsDon]

Now getting coolant warning for my 162TSI. I have done 12.5k till now. Service center at dealer says to top it up with water as it is still some time for first service. I have got demineralised water. Should i top it all the way up or just upto minimum? Anyone faced this recently?

Coolant is made up of a large percentage of water.

You can buy coolant concentrate from super cheap. The red one is for VAG cars. Mix in accordance with recommendations on the bottle if you’re anal or just add a bit to the reservoir and a proportional amount of tap water.

Or, you could just do as your dealer says and top it up with water. The amount you’re adding compared to the total volume of the cooling system is minuscule so it won’t change the concentration much at all.

Demineralised water is overkill. I probably wouldn’t put bore water in it as it can be very hard but tap water in oz is quite soft in most regions. It amazes me that people will put demineralised water in their radiator, or even more laughably in the windscreen washer reservoir, but make their kids drink from a tap. If it’s good enough for your kids to drink, it’s good enough for your radiator. These same people put Nitrogen in their tyres. One born every minute.

If the car’s cold, only fill up to half way between min and max initially. Check again when the engine’s warm and the level will increase towards max.

The level in the reservoir is designed to be read when the car’s warm and coolant expands with temperature. No point in overfilling as it will just overflow as the engine warms up and make a mess.

[Simonr23]

To everyone, be careful just buying ‘red’ coolant. Check the specs of the coolant on the company website and see if they have a ‘products for my car’ section. Many do.

Also, a lot of Aussie water isn’t soft- even where it is, distilled/demineralised is still the way to go.

For reference, Adelaide has super-hard water. Everything gets scale affected here in short order!

[IsDon]

To everyone, be careful just buying ‘red’ coolant. Check the specs of the coolant on the company website and see if they have a ‘products for my car’ section. Many do.

Also, a lot of Aussie water isn’t soft- even where it is, distilled/demineralised is still the way to go.

For reference, Adelaide has super-hard water. Everything gets scale affected here in short order!

Scale builds up when water boils.

Your coffee machine might need descaling every few months to remove buildups. That’s a machine that is boiled 3-4 times a day.

Automotive coolant systems don’t boil. If they do there’s something wrong and you’d be replacing coolant every day. Even though the coolant temperature may reach over 100 degrees, the system is pressurised and water only boils at 100 degrees at 1 atmosphere. The coolant also has anti freeze and anti boil properties to further stop this process. It also has anti rust properties.

No scale can build up without boiling. But go ahead. Buy demineralised water if you like. If you think the dealer uses it you’d be mistaken. I have this bridge you can buy. Looks a bit like a coat hanger.

I agree with checking the specs on the bottle though. The specs are in the handbook.

[Sudoku]

Thanks mate. Will probably just top up with water and let dealer take care in upcoming service.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

I would only top up with distilled water or use the appropriate pre mixed G13 coolant.

Avoid tap water, I had the same issue twice before my 1st service. Now the car is at 21k kms and it seems to have slowed down losing coolant, unless they replaced the expansion tank lid last time the car was in for service without telling me lol.