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96 Golf coolant drain/fill

My lightly used 96 Golf (46K miles) is slowly losing coolant. Although the system is claimed to be sealed without need for draining/refilling, I'm shooting for 20 years of service from this car (virtually no repairs of any kind needed thus far) so I think it is time to change the coolant and plug the leak. My dealer sold me a gallon of VW/Audi coolant Part No. G 012 A8FA4 for $16. I have a series of questions:

  1. There is no visible sign of leaking however I saw a NG suggestion saying that a probable point of leakage is a plastic flange at the driver's end of the cylinder head. Can anyone describe this more precisely so I know what to buy?

  1. The original coolant is green. I assume what I bought is what other NG articles call G12. How carefully must I drain and flush before I can safely refill with G12, i.e. is there any problem with a little residual green fluid mixing with G12?

  2. NG articles have mentioned G11. Why would I choose G11 or G12? Do I need to take any of the "VW only" suggestions seriously or can I just believe Prestone's claim that it is safe for all engines?

  1. I have a Bentley manual that shows a connector pipe attached to the bottom of the radiator housing with a retaining clip and O ring that is to be removed along with a lower hose to be removed. I didn't find these parts but I found a right angle rubber hose secured by two clamps. Do I remove this hose to drain the radiator?

Reply to
Raymond Cruz
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1- it's on the side of the head just above the transmission. 2-You can't mix G11 & G12 so unless you can get 100% out don't do the conversion. There's just too many places for the coolant to lay. Besides there's no advantage of switching to G12. 3-VW makes very good G11 coolant and I use it in all my non-VW vehicles! 4-Best way to do a coolant change is to remove the thermostat from just above the power steering pump once it's removed. That way you will drain the radiator and engine block. There's no good way to get the coolant out from the heater core. See #2

Reply to
Lost In Space

Other NG articles say G11 is blue but the original coolant in my 96 Golf is green just like Prestone. If I get G11 do I need to worry about it mixing with residual green stuff? Do you think what I see as green is really G11? Alternatively suppose I drain, fill with water, drive a day and repeat for a week (7 drain/refill cycles). Will that drain and dilute whatever was in there originally sufficiently so that I can refill with whatever I choose?

RC

Reply to
Raymond Cruz

G11 is not compatible with the Green or G12. I switched from G11 to G12 on my A3 by draining and flushing with water until it was clear. It took about

6 or 7 flushes. I then used G12 but soon realized that the G12 is more evasive than G11 or the Green. The radiator seam started leaking so I had to replace that. I also replaced the water pump and thermostat.
Reply to
Peter Parker

I believe G12A is available and is compatible with G11 and G12. RGds Alec

Reply to
Alec

I've heard that if you use normal Anti-Freeze it will oxadize the engine... i've seen many vw's where the engine look coroded on the outside and i've ask vw about it and they told me that's what happens when people don't use the VW Anti-Freeze.. any truth to this?

-Lee

Reply to
Lee

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