Coolant replacement B8 S4.

[rum4mo]

As per the thread title, I had been considering replacing the coolant in my February 2011 B8 S4 mileage is low, 26K!
Anyway, I have been testing the ph level at every service using coolant test strips and checking the freezing point using the same strips and a refractometer. It still seems to be okay so up until now I have left the G12 or maybe G12 plus in it.
At this years service, I noticed a few spots of evaporated coolant on the engine under cover - looking upwards leads me to believe that it is coming from the engine end of the coolant hose that connects to the radiator lower RHS - and I'm guessing that the reason for this slight leak is that this pipe would have been flexed when the lock carrier was pulled out to the service position when I replaced the supercharger and auxiliary belts last summer/autumn.

So, I've ordered in a couple of new O-rings and springs and replacing them will mean dumping the coolant out - so this seems like the best time to replace it.
I'm planning on buying maybe 15 litres of G12EVO premixed, as buying conc G13EVO is not possible in smaller than 60 litre containers.

So, my question is, what coolant are people using when they replace watch was loaded in at the factory?

One curious thing I noticed when I looked at a G12plus and a G13 1.5 litre of conc, the G13 conc container defines G13 as being a "filled for life" coolant additive, that comment is not on the G12plus conc container, which seems strange when it seems to be G13 that gave rise to the addition of Silicate pouches in coolant header tanks.

I've got a coolant vac kit and ordered in a couple of supercharger heat exchanger plugs as I read that sometimes they are tricky to remove and reuse.

 

[spartacus68]

Not directly an answer to your question rum4mo.

The switch to G13 is because it's a move from glycol to glycerin, helps VAG reduce CO2 emissions during manufacture, less harmful to the environment, etc.

Interesting link here: https://www.wolflubes.com/EN_EU/Blo...to-know-about-G13-antifreeze-and-coolant.aspx

If you're not already following Dave Sterl on YouTube, then check him out. He knows his stuff and has done a few videos on VAG cars, coolant repairs and the dreaded G13 with silica beads. My daily runner Polo TDI is G13, but I've removed the bag from the expansion tank already.

Would have thought the G12EVO would be just fine. I mean you're at 26k on a 10 year old car.

 

[rum4mo]

@spartacus68 , quote "I mean you're at 26k on a 10 year old car." - yes, maybe I should be sectioned!

For knocking around locally, I really don't like using my S4, the worry that naughty people might mark it and only getting 28MPG, when my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS is excellent for that sort of use and gets over 50MPG tank after tank.
We must get away more, long distance!

 

[Simon]

And I thought mine was low miles at 53k!

 

[rum4mo]

As per the thread title, I had been considering replacing the coolant in my February 2011 B8 S4 mileage is low, 26K!
Snip Snip
So, I've ordered in a couple of new O-rings and springs and replacing them will mean dumping the coolant out - so this seems like the best time to replace it.
I'm planning on buying maybe 15 litres of G12EVO premixed, as buying conc G13EVO is not possible in smaller than 60 litre containers.
Snip Snip.

I meant to write "G12EVO conc" not "G13EVO conc" ! My mistake!

 

[rum4mo]

Sorry if I've missed this question being asked in the past, but, does anyone know what the coolant system capacity is for a 2011 B8 S4 6MT?

 

[rum4mo]

Well the general web chatter on this subject seems to suggest that 8 litres is a close enough guess.
The current price for G12EVO premixed to 50% is £7.13 inc VAT from VW and VW Van Centres, so that knocked any online suppliers out of the game when delivery was taken into the equation, even better when I was given a sealed box of 12 for the price of 10, so plenty for errors spillage or the start of stocks for changing the coolant in the 2015 Polo 1.2 TSI 110PS.

 

[rum4mo]

Okay, so with the threat of colder weather returning, I've finally got round to replacing the coolant in my 2011 Audi S4.

The volume of G12 or G12+ that I collected from draining the radiator bottom hose, oil cooler section and the supercharger 2 lower pipes, all as per the official Audi workshop manual, came to 6.25litres.
I vac'd out the system and refilled with G12evo 50% premix and again 6.25litres got taken back in to the system.
I had fabricated a coolant level riser by buying an aftermarket pressure cap and cut a hole all the way down through to suit maybe 22mm waste piping, levered the pressure device out and stripped its elements out of it and retained the actual lower sealer outer body which I bonded to a 90mm length of 22mm waste pipe and then refitted to the pressure cap, after that I glued a 43mm>22mm adaptor to the short length of 22mm waste pipe and then glued a 150mm length of 43mm waste pipe to the other end of the adaptor. So that allowed for an extra 260mm roughly of extra coolant level height to assist in bleeding the system. Edit:- btw emptying out this riser so that the coolant level is back down to the MAX level in the reservoir is easy as the hole in the remains of the pressure device is bigger than the diameter of a typical bit of 15mm garden hose - which fitted over another small fluid "mover" I had in the garage!
I did replace the supercharger bleed/vent screws as a precaution, they came out very easily as they had never suffered any butchering by spanner monkeys.
The very slight leak at the top end of the large hose that runs from the engine front cover (RHS) down to the bottom of the radiator was caused by corrosion setting in on that alloy cover's hose stub, as that point is facing the front of the car, I'm guessing that road rock salt and salt spray accumulate inside the top of the plastic coupler, that these hoses are fitted with and retained in there, and the corrosion works its way down growing under the edge of the O-ring which might be almost okay, but I had moved the lock carrier out into the service position last year and so while replacing the front belts probably ended up moving that hose enough to break up some of the corrosion salts - and so it started leaking extremely slightly. Looking at the parts listing I seem to remember that that alloy front cover has been discontinued and is now replaced at failure with a plastic version, so one problem - ie corrosion, will disappear only to get replaced by the usual VW Group warping plastic causing leaks issue - progress.
I've noticed a similar area of corrosion starting on the top of the TB on my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI, again it get the full force of incoming road rock salt and salty spray, that leads to oil mist that exists in the charge pipe weeping out across the O-ring seal at that point, another VW Group mess up.
The only thing that I found tricky to master was refitting of the "quick fitting" or "easy fitting" hose end fitting, I'm not sure what the best approach to refitting them after replacing the O-rings!
Maybe one tip for anyone needing to bleed the heater after a coolant change is, get hold of a Laser Tools "Hose Clip Tool for Constant Tension Clips 3/8” D for modern cars Laser Tools 5781" this is a low profile small tool that can be placed on top of the heater hose clip and compress it using a 3/8"sqr drv. Lucky for me I had already bought that tool to remove the hose clips on the charge pipes on my wife's 2015 6C Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, a lot easier to use on these heater hose clips than any other pipe pliers or dedicated hose clip remover pliers I had tried to use initially!