Coolant Type

[davidlp]

Supposedly these cars require G12 coolant, which I haven't seen locally. Are the coolants that supposedly work "any car, any color" okay to use? I was surprised that my coolant light came on the other day, 48k, and it was a little low. Gambled that it was a loss over time and took the 5.5hr drive home without incident. My previous two 2015 GSWs, 50k & 74k, never needed topping off, so was slightly concerned.

 

[Mongler98]

g13 is compatible.
Pentosen / pentfrost ++ is available at most local box stores.
IMO if you flush the system you can use any coolant you want. as long as its a modern one with no silicates ect...
many people hate this but i find it extremely convenient to use the same coolant on all my motorcycles and cars. and cheaper too.

 

[adjat84th]

G13 is what came in the car from the factory. I don't think the dealer is too pricey for it, Southern VW in Chesapeake has some of the better prices online that I've seen, and you can choose local pickup. Also, if you just need to top off the bottle a little, distilled water is fine and likely not going to drastically change the percentage. 60water/40coolant is plenty for this area.
It's not uncommon to need to top these off after some time, even though there may not be a leak. Top off more than once, then I'd start looking around for leaks.

 

[davidlp]

G13 is what came in the car from the factory. I don't think the dealer is too pricey for it, Southern VW in Chesapeake has some of the better prices online that I've seen, and you can choose local pickup. Also, if you just need to top off the bottle a little, distilled water is fine and likely not going to drastically change the percentage. 60water/40coolant is plenty for this area.
It's not uncommon to need to top these off after some time, even though there may not be a leak. Top off more than once, then I'd start looking around for leaks.

Hah, that's where I got my first GSW from. Normally dealers are the last place I'd think to check for supplies like that. I'll check them out. I'd used them back when the first GSW had the free oil changes for 100k, but their service department was sloooow., and I'd be there at least 2.5 hrs for a scheduled change and tire rotation. Now I do both myself.

 

[adjat84th]

They lost a bit of credit when trying to sell me a coolant flush on a previous '13 GTI that was in for a water pump under warranty. I just looked at the service advisor for a second before asking how much coolant was going to come out when they removed the water pump. Not to mention the car had 35k miles on it and was far too early to consider that as a preventative maintenance item.
Still good to check parts online there, as they can be very competitive with our trusted vendors here. I'd rather support our vendors at the end of the day.

 

[DivineChaos]

They lost a bit of credit when trying to sell me a coolant flush on a previous '13 GTI that was in for a water pump under warranty. I just looked at the service advisor for a second before asking how much coolant was going to come out when they removed the water pump. Not to mention the car had 35k miles on it and was far too early to consider that as a preventative maintenance item.
Still good to check parts online there, as they can be very competitive with our trusted vendors here. I'd rather support our vendors at the end of the day.

Love when they do that. I have a 5l jug of g13 concentrate for my next coolant flush. Was $41usd. Febi brand.

 

[Nuje]

VW here only gets in the 50/50 solution - no more concentrate unless you buy a 1L bottle (at 80% of the price of the 4L mix).
Last time I bought the G13 at the dealer, it was $22.50(CAD) for 4L. Aftermarket brands (Pentosin concentrate or CanadianTire premixed) were slightly more than that, so no good reason for me to go with the reasonable facsimiles.

 

[adjat84th]

From the ErWin Manual: G13 and 8.0L (8.5qt) system capacity
Coolant Mixture Ratio
• Coolant additive (40%) and distilled water (60%) for freeze protection down to -25 °C (-13 °F)
• Coolant additive (50%) and distilled water (50%) for freeze protection down to -36 °C (-32.8 °F)
"When stronger freeze protection is needed due to the climate, the freeze protection may be increased. But only down to -48 °C (-54 °F), otherwise the effectiveness of the coolant decreases."
I would imagine that's a 60coolant/40water mix, but it's not listed specifically.

Plain distilled water has better cooling properties in an engine, but we need freeze and corrosion protection so the 40/60 mix is where I'll stay.

 

[DivineChaos]

VW here only gets in the 50/50 solution - no more concentrate unless you buy a 1L bottle (at 80% of the price of the 4L mix).
Last time I bought the G13 at the dealer, it was $22.50(CAD) for 4L. Aftermarket brands (Pentosin concentrate or CanadianTire premixed) were slightly more than that, so no good reason for me to go with the reasonable facsimiles.

Why does no one look around? I've bought 2 5L jugs of g13 concentrate. For under 60 usd each. Febi brand.

 

[Nuje]

We do. And we also do math.
5L concentrate = 10L of 50/50 mix
10L for $60USD = $78CAD/10L = $7.80/L
Therefore, 4L of the Febi stuff mixed 50/50 would cost me ~$30 (vs. the $22.50 I paid for OEM 50/50 mix. )

 

[DivineChaos]

We do. And we also do math.
5L concentrate = 10L of 50/50 mix
10L for $60USD = $78CAD/10L = $7.80/L
Therefore, 4L of the Febi stuff mixed 50/50 would cost me ~$30 (vs. the $22.50 I paid for OEM 50/50 mix. )

Guess I didn't do the math. For here what I got is cheap. A 4L premix here is 30 plus tax. I was always warry on the 50/50. We don't often get colder than that. But if I'm ever in a pinch I can add water and still be safe.

 

[benshaw]

the latest is Evo-g12,,iirc