G13 vs G12 coolant?
#1
11-22-2015, 07:12 PM
G13 vs G12 coolant?
2014 Audi A4 Quattro: My coolant level was juuuust under the MIN mark so I topped it off. This is the first time I've topped off since I got the car. It says right on the filler cap "G12" so I went to the store and asked for G12 coolant and I got this "Pentosin SF" stuff. Now I see in the manual it says use G13 coolant and "in an emergency, G12++ or G12+". which is it? The car is giving me conflicting advice, or are they basically the same thing? I only added like 300 ml (plus 300 ml water as per directions)
Did I just screw up the chemistry of my coolant ?
Did I just screw up the chemistry of my coolant ?
#2
11-23-2015, 08:51 AM
I wished they'd leave this stuff alone. I mean, how many iterations of coolant does Audi have now? I've got G12+ in my A8 and will be using G12+ in the old Audi 5000 when I get it back together since it came with the timing belt/waterpump combo set I got from Blauparts a while back. However, I've run nothing but the regular green coolant in my Porsches (928,944,944S) and have had NO issues other than popped hoses and leaking plastic radiator reservoirs over the past 20+ years which is normal.
When mixing up the G12 stuff (or any antifreeze) it's a good ides to just used distilled water. Regular water could have minerals in it that will react with the chemical makup and the fact that the coolant will contact several different types of metals in the cooling system.
Just plan on doing a good coolant flush every couple of years and you have nothing to worry about. Unless you have to add muddy water out of a ditch.. LOL. I've seen that happen too. While I was working in New Orleans for a couple of years back between 2004 and 2007, one of the fellows that worked with us had a little Ford Ranger. One day he was complaining that it kept getting hot on him when driving to work. He drove from Slidell to Elmwood everyday. I went out and eyeballed it for him. I noticed the coolant was brown. I'm like, Skip, why is this stuff looking like the river water? He said he had to pull over several times one day to put water in it while back and got some water out of the ditch and dumped it in. I think he may have scooped up half mud one one fill up... LOL
I'm like, no wonder the thing is running hot. We disconnected the heater hoses and top and bottom radiator hoses and since there was really no sign of antifreeze in the system I was curious to see what was in it. We let it run out in a bucket and drained off the water to see how much mud was in it. There was a good inch of mud settled to the bottom of the bucket only after sitting for a half hour.. LOL
We flushed the rest out on to the office parking lot rinsing everything out really well with a waterhose. After getting it flushed out, we filled it with just water. He drove it home that evening and back to work the next morning with no heating issues. He went and got some antifreeze and we drained the truck again. Just a tiny bit of brown came out that time. Refilled it with antifreeze 50/50 mix (like you really need it down there) and he was good to go.
When mixing up the G12 stuff (or any antifreeze) it's a good ides to just used distilled water. Regular water could have minerals in it that will react with the chemical makup and the fact that the coolant will contact several different types of metals in the cooling system.
Just plan on doing a good coolant flush every couple of years and you have nothing to worry about. Unless you have to add muddy water out of a ditch.. LOL. I've seen that happen too. While I was working in New Orleans for a couple of years back between 2004 and 2007, one of the fellows that worked with us had a little Ford Ranger. One day he was complaining that it kept getting hot on him when driving to work. He drove from Slidell to Elmwood everyday. I went out and eyeballed it for him. I noticed the coolant was brown. I'm like, Skip, why is this stuff looking like the river water? He said he had to pull over several times one day to put water in it while back and got some water out of the ditch and dumped it in. I think he may have scooped up half mud one one fill up... LOL
I'm like, no wonder the thing is running hot. We disconnected the heater hoses and top and bottom radiator hoses and since there was really no sign of antifreeze in the system I was curious to see what was in it. We let it run out in a bucket and drained off the water to see how much mud was in it. There was a good inch of mud settled to the bottom of the bucket only after sitting for a half hour.. LOL
We flushed the rest out on to the office parking lot rinsing everything out really well with a waterhose. After getting it flushed out, we filled it with just water. He drove it home that evening and back to work the next morning with no heating issues. He went and got some antifreeze and we drained the truck again. Just a tiny bit of brown came out that time. Refilled it with antifreeze 50/50 mix (like you really need it down there) and he was good to go.
Last edited by dave944; 11-23-2015 at 08:53 AM.
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