Club 80-90 Forums

mikeymancs wrote:Yet another stupid question for you!

Can someone please clairfy something; the coolant which is held in the tank inside the engine bay, is this constantly being replenised, i.e. water pump takes it from this tank, into the engine to help assit to cool, then the now hot fluid goes to the raditator at front where air cools it, it then is returned to the tank in the engine and the whole thing starts again?

So basically there are circa 16litres of coolant fluid constantly circulating, it does't 'sit' still.???

Not quite.
when your engine is cold the water pump just circulates it around the engine.That's until it reaches 85 deg C (almost boiling). Then the thermostat starts to open and allows cool coolant into the engine.
this opening thermostat also resticts the ability of the coolant flowing around the engine and redirects it to the radiator.

As you use the engine and create more heat the thermostat opens more, or at idle less heat, this fluctuation of flow maintains a fairly even temperature for the engine to work at it's peak efficiency.

Some times in hot weather the airflow over the radiator isnot enough and this is rectified by a fan which comes on automatically in two stages as the radiator temperature rises.

Cheers for the reply! I understand better now!

hi guys-
this is great information re coolant colours and bleed locations. Im getting a little concerned about how long my stuff's been in there. the coolant that is in is also a GREEN colour...

from the wiki-
The older, blue-green, VW G11 coolant has VAG specification TL 774-C

i think its probably that one, since the last vw mechanic said something about it being the right stuff to top up after a new thermostat went in.

would i take it that a full flush out and replace with G12 would be a good idea? if so, should it be pink or blue? im a bit wary of this kind of job, sounds pretty fatal if messed up!
many thanks

kevtherev wrote:German Swedish and French car parts

google GSF

Brilliant, Thanks, I thought I knew most of the suppliers.

Which one is the G12? spec the GENERAL USE or the GENERAL USE*** (purple) one ??

A good thread this and motivates me to change the ccolant ASAP, I hav'nt a clue what's in there.