Scuba Steve

I use Prestone Extended Life because that's what the writeup on Clark's Garage says. It comes yellow with a bit of a green tint in some light.

pete944

I'm using the Zerex G-05 mixed 50/50 with distilled water. No problems except that it's yellow and I can't see the level in my nicely yelllowed coolant tank. I change the coolant once a year, too.

hazlgreen

Not trying to hijack, but redirect. If I have Porsche green coolant in my car now, what can I add to it if it gets low? The dealer told me to use only Porsche coolant (bit surprise, eh?), or water until I am able to pickup some more of their coolant.

I find it hard to believe that there aren't commercially available coolants that can mix with the Porsche green.

Someone mentioned the VW coolant on another thread. Is that green/mixable? And is it a cheaper option than the Porsche stuff?

Maybe what I should be asking first is how expensive is the Porsche green coolant? It if itsn't that much more expensive than other coolants, I'll just pick some extra up...

badass951

If it gets low you probably have a problem of some sort. If it has been in there for awhile I would completely flush the system and then add a 50-50 mixture of distilled water and coolant. I am pretty sure the regular Prestone phosphate free coolant is fine in these cars, however the best additive in coolant to fight aluminium corrosion is sodium silicate. Also, mix the distilled water and coolant prior to pouring it into the system.

hazlgreen

I have a very slow leak, which some might view as a problem. The PO told me aobut it, but I'm not going to bother to fix it. He said it has slowly leaked since 1992. Filling it up every so often will take care of it.

I'm just looking for the correct alternative to Porsche coolant if there is one available to mix with what is already there.

Unless the Porsche coolant is not that expensive to begin with. Perhaps I need to call the dealer...

badass951

Good luck with ignoring a coolant leak. That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

hazlgreen

Thanks, but I'm still wondering which coolant to add.

I guess I'll just pick up some extra Porsche coolant.

Granite 944

Like it says in the TSB, most anti-freeze brands will mix, depending mainly on the quality of the brands. I don't know, it might be sorta a crap shoot here. If you have the Porsche brand jug on hand to look at, you might look at the list of whats used in it, and try to match that up the best you can by reading the labels of prospective choices. Or, like you said, just get some more Porsche coolant (i'm not familiar with this). Like I do, I just make sure it says phosphate free, and the base is of the ETHYLENE GLYCOL (not propylene glycol). If you do this, your probably just fine. As far as your long term leak goes, you might want to just make sure its not a leak thats making its way into the clutch disks, since that really wouldn't be good. Chances are, its just leaky hose connections.

hazlgreen

From what the PO owner told me, it is a hose connection. He just didn't want to pay the dealer rates to find the bad connection. I will eventually, but it is barely leaking. I've had it a month, and the level of coolant has barely changed. He just recommended watching it. There are no guarantees, but he has had the car since 1985... (but not anymore! it is mine! bwahahahahaha).

Thanks Granite

jjjr944

Porsche and VW coolant is the same, as is the PS hydraulic fluid and various other fluids/filters.
Get the blue/green stuff from VW and you will be fine--it's what I use, or just the basic yellow jug from Prestone mixed 50/50 and you'll be fine.