Zerex g-05 to top off the coolant

BKmetz

Administrator, Member #10
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2015 Passat, titanium beige, 6MT
Good video. Jump to the 10 minute mark if you're the impatient type.

Here is an explanation of G11, 12 and 13 coolants:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcTWzBZAdg
The take away from the video:

G11: Old school antifreeze/coolant. Contains silicates, borates, and nitrates.

G12: OAT antifreeze/coolant. No silicates, nitrate and borate free.

G12++: HOAT antifreeze/coolant. Contains some silicates. No nitrates or borates.

G13: HOAT antifreeze/coolant. Contains some silicates and glycerin made from renewable sources as a substitute to some of the ethylene glycol. No nitrates or borates.

:)
 
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251

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May 11, 2002
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NW IN
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2015 Passat TDI SEL
with all this heater core stuff, im not sold on G13 even though I just purchased 2 more gallons with my gift card :rolleyes:
Best long life coolant for aluminum engines I have found is Honda's Type II teal color- it seems to stay "like new" forever, I threw new rings in my 1988 CR250R this summer with decade old Honda coolant in it and it was still perfect with zero electrolysis in the rad or passageways. Not sure how it would hold up to a diesel but im half temped to try it out
Have you tried the Honda Type II coolant in your Passat yet? Wondering how it is working out for you since from your description it sounds like very good stuff for an aluminum engine.
 

jrm

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Jul 24, 2013
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Oregon
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2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
I have not, but my friends has it in his 11' Jetta and the EGR temps have sure taken there toll, its now a lime green vs the original teal. no heater core issues though :D I took a sample out of my civic that's been in that engine over 2 years and it was still bright teal
 

wilder11354

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Jul 27, 2014
Location
Montrose, Pa
TDI
2014 SE passat 6dsg
coolant, NAPA

The Pentosin G13 coolant is available thru NAPA , Your local store may have to order it in from warehouse. I work at a napa store, and ordered it in for my car, but it has been selling well. to others who have VW cars and garages,

Sorry about your luck, it has been a few months, how did you make out? Thanks for starting this thread!

I just has a small coolant hose start spewing and topped up with approx 750ml of distilled water. I need to add some more coolant and my local Napa almost sold me some Zerex G05 but my spidey senses started tingling and I politely refused. After reading this thread I am glad I did not buy it. One thing that would have had me facepalming later is that Zerex comes pre mixed, but I need concentrate in order to get my mix closer to 50/50 considering three blown hoses in the past two years and I vaugely remember dumping the last of my Pentosin in last time and not being sure if it was "enough".

I think I am going to have to actually go into my VW dealer and ask for some G13.
 

BKmetz

Administrator, Member #10
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Location
Illinois
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2015 Passat, titanium beige, 6MT
Some updates. I took this photo at a NAPA store a few weeks ago. This is the first time I saw all the Zerex products together. Not all NAPA stores stock all the varieties of Zerex coolant. A very brief description of each coolant starting from left to right.

Dex-Cool: Run away from anything that has Dex-Cool on the label. The first OAT (Organic Acid Technology) coolant This includes anything made by Prestone and Peak.

G40: VW G12++ and G13 compatible, HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid technology). The hybrid means some silicates were added. Don't get all hung up on G13, it's not that special. All G13 is VW specifies a little bit of glycol derived from glycerine instead of 100% petrochemical based. The amount of glycerine based glycol is around 10% of the total glycol content.

G48: The old VW G11 formula, the green/blue stuff. Non-OAT formula, contains borates, phosphates, and silicates.

G05: a HOAT coolant that is basically the same formula as G12++. OAT technology with a small amount of silicates added.

Asian Blue & Asian red are the exact same coolants except for the color. My one son own a Toyota, Asian Red. Another son owns a Hyundai, Asian blue. Asian specification coolants are PHOSPHATED OAT coolants. An OAT coolant that contains phosphates is technically a HOAT coolant. The take away here is that not all HOAT coolants are created the same. That's why I included the Asian coolants. They also contain silicates but so do Euro spec HOAT coolants. Euro spec coolants DO NOT contain phosphates.



Drive more and worry less.

:)
 
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BKmetz

Administrator, Member #10
Staff member
Joined
Sep 25, 1997
Location
Illinois
TDI
2015 Passat, titanium beige, 6MT
The Pentosin G13 coolant is available thru NAPA , Your local store may have to order it in from warehouse. I work at a napa store, and ordered it in for my car, but it has been selling well. to others who have VW cars and garages,
here's a link with a good description of Pentosin's coolants.
http://www.pentosin.net/f_antifreeze.asp

Pentosin/Pentofrost E is G13 coolant, light purple cap, HOAT coolant, contains silicates and some glycol derived from glycerine.

Pentosin/Pentofrost ++ is G12++ coolant, dark purple cap, contains silicates.

Pentosin/Pentofrost SF is G12 coolant, red cap, OAT coolant, no silicates

Pentosin/Pentofrost NF is G11 coolant, blue cap

Drive more and worry less.

:)
 
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