951Tom

I also heard to make sure you do a good flushing with some type of cleaner and rinse with plenty of water if switching between the two. I don't know what my PO used but it was green. It's bad to mix green & orange...even a little bit.

Gord

John Peck,

At Crappy Tire use the Texaco DexCool (Orange) that is phosphate and silica free, which is what I'm using. Don’t forget to dilute with distilled water. The Prestone stuff they keep in stock is only compatible with aluminum engines.

You can also use AUTOBAHN (red/orange) at your local VW/Audi/Porsche dealer but they charge a premium. The AUTOBAHN (blue) is the only anti-freeze used for the newer Porsches.

I had to flush and bleed three or four times before all the old coolant was removed from the block. Be prepared to spend at least two hours. It’s not a difficult task; just have to wait until coolant is warm enough to remove without scalding.

Gord '88 944S

bs

i have been wondering about this for awhile but have been delinquent in posting it. i have thus far been unable to find anyone who can convince me once and for all which VW coolant is the correct one. I'll post what i know about both and maybe one of you can tell me which i should be using:

Blue
part number: ZVW 237 105
what i know: the "ingredients" list contains the entry "silicates". my mechanic puts this in porches. the guy at the VW dealer said that this is what was used in all VW and porsche up until a few years ago. now the newer cars take...

Pink
part number: ZVW 237 G12
ingredients list is shorter and doesn't list silicates. the guy at the dealer said that all he knows is that this stuff is highly incompatible with anything else and a very thorough flushing is needed before filling with it. He also said that for some reason it is not suitable for use in any VW more than 3 or so years old.

ok, so i ended up going with the blue stuff, even though it has silicates (yes i diluted with distilled water). I just didn't want to flush again, and i wasn't sure if maybe there was some new kind of gasket that could handle the pink stuff but older ones wouldn't. is anyone else using the pink VW coolant? have you had any leaks/problems?

lets settle this damn coolant debate once and for all.

Zermatt944

I bought "Sierra" anti-freeze at Pep Boys...phosphate free, and green. But supposedly better for the environment. Anyway, so just because its green doesn't mean it has phosphates.

I wanted the Prestone Extended Life (phosphate free) but had a hard time finding it.

My guess is you shouldn't use the VW red (pink) coolant as it is a permanent coolant. I have it in my 2000 Golf and they say you don't need to change it!

bs

that "sierra" stuff is not the same as normal antifreeze. i beleive normal stuff is ethelyne glycol based whereas that hippie stuff is propylene glycol.

i'm not sure what the signifigance of this is... i seem to remember someone saying that propylene glycol has a higher specific heat capacity, but i'm not sure about other characteristics. i also doubt it's "better for the environment". i think it's just not as toxic.

any one else use this stuff or have any technical reason why not?

Tom Pultz

[quote]Originally posted by bs:
<strong>that "sierra" stuff is not the same as normal antifreeze. i beleive normal stuff is ethelyne glycol based whereas that hippie stuff is propylene glycol.</strong><hr></blockquote>Exactly, and you can't mix the two types.

IceShark

I think the mixing is one of the problems the manufacturers are not telling us about and that causes problems. Also, air in the system is a huge problem withn Dex-Cool. And we all know about air in 944 cooling systems and the bitch it is to remove.

I had to have people **** into my rad system one time. I'm sure that wasn't good but what do you do out in the middle of a desert nowhere? Flushed it out good the next day. Green in withn distilled and everything has been OK. I think my plastic end tanks on the rad are about ready to let go, though. Slight leaking. So I will let the board know how a rad shop replaces those and how good it works.

Water944t

Hmm, I did a Google search for "urine-based" coolants, but I didnt find much information... <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

IceShark

Three of the folks that peed in were women. One of them actuallly put up a web board of the experience for awhile! <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

I don't know exactly how they did it with their biological equipment, I walked away and left them to their own devices.

dermass

if switching coolants, what should you flush/clean the system with???

mmmbeer

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I just bought a red/orange coolant from my local VW/Audi dealer, it is called G12. I called the manufacturer (Shell Norway), they said it is phosphate and silica free. Then I just need distilled water.

Eirik Kvello-Aune
<a href="http://www.diateam.no/porsche" target="_blank">www.diateam.no/porsche</a>

951Tom

I flushed with the Prestone cleaner. Two bottles. Filled and drained with water 3 times, ran the motor in between fillings, & bled air out. Turn heat on too. Worked for me.....

IceShark

I've used the Prestone cleaner also along with a backflush - garden hose at rear in the heater intake hose. Seemed to work fine and I have never had any cooling issues. Knock on wood.

bs

it seems that no one knows the answer to the pink vs blue debate... this can't be true!

so let me rephrase my question: how many of you use the pink (G12) VW coolant, and how many of you use the blue (105) coolant?

I am running blue right now and have noticed that my car seems to be running hotter than it used to. but maybe that just means i haven't bled her enough times. the blue VW coolant specifically says that it contains silicates. what is this going to do to my engine?

bs

someone must know the difference between the two kinds of VW coolants... i know there are a lot of VW owners on here.