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Re: how much coolant
Posted: 31 Oct 2013, 22:50
by California Dreamin
I changed that bit before you posted having read it back and seeing it could possibly be misconstrued....
The point I was trying to make was, people put massive amounts of faith in what they read when the authors writing this stuff are no more qualified than me or you.
Martin
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 06:20
by itchyfeet
pionte wrote:
ItchyFeet, indeed if I had of seen it for sale at £3 a litre then perhaps I would of gone to 50% .Maybe you could provide a link that can be put in the wiki for future reference?
its on page 1
Euro car parts 5L red concentrate is g12 rated and Martin pointed out 1L bottles were cheaper

Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 08:20
by shepster
Like most on here people try to offer good advice based on either long term ownership of these vans or from a professional background, or usually a mixture of both, the bottom line Is It's your van do what you want.
Regarding this particular issue there are so many proven cases of rotten head studs about that for the sake of a few extra quid It's worth putting another litre or so of anti-freeze in, my humble opinion of course.
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 08:51
by ghost123uk
Well I never thought I had to re-think my view on which one to use. I have always used (and recommended) the Comma G12 long life red stuff, but I just weeded this out of that text from the Brickwerks page =
If you own a wasserboxer then you need quality antifreeze, you need phosphorous free antifreeze,
There are other manufacturers of antifreeze which are slightly cheaper, Comma being a reputable brand and offering a pink phosphorous type.
The bold and underlining are added by me to highlight what appears to be a contradiction

Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 09:08
by CJH
EuroCarParts give a fuller description of their Triple QX brand on
Amazon. It is listed as:
It contains Organic Acid Inhibitor technology and is free from nitrates, amines, phosphates, borates and silicates
Is phosphate free the same as phosphorous free?
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 14:31
by California Dreamin
ghost123uk wrote:Well I never thought I had to re-think my view on which one to use. I have always used (and recommended) the Comma G12 long life red stuff, but I just weeded this out of that text from the Brickwerks page =
If you own a wasserboxer then you need quality antifreeze, you need phosphorous free antifreeze,
There are other manufacturers of antifreeze which are slightly cheaper, Comma being a reputable brand and offering a pink phosphorous type.
The bold and underlining are added by me to highlight what appears to be a contradiction

Contradiction indeed but Simon is only human like the rest of us, and of course makes the occasional mistake like we all do.
That actually is a perfect example of what I was saying earlier on...just because it's in print on a website doesn't make it any more accurate, accepting perhaps, that you have more time to read through and correct things that you intend for public consumption. I'm sure if Simon reads this he will be on there correcting his tiny mistake lol.
Martin
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 14:55
by CJH
I read that slightly differently - not so much a contradiction, more a
caveat emptor. I read it to say "ideally you should buy a phosphorous-free coolant, but they're expensive, so if you want to spend a bit less then there's this cheaper coolant from Comma, but it's not phosphorous-free"
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 15:40
by ladybird
so is this stuff ok to use
up...G12+ specification.
Strangely, 5 X 1 litre bottles work out cheaper than 1 X 5 litre
9 X 1 litre bottles works out at £24.12 Free delivery
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... &0&cc5_866
Martin
1989 California 2.1MV
California Dreamin
Posts: 3509
Joined: 3rd, Apr 2007
Location: Nottingham
80-90 Mem No: 8386
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 15:49
by ads288
thanks everyone for this thread. Very useful for me as Im going to be buying some in the near future , all 8.5 L for a 50/50 in my wasserboxer.
I'd like to have made my first purchase from Simon Baxter, but
http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php/i ... urple.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is out of stock. So Im forced into looking for alternatives.
The triple GX on eurocar parts says "G
L12+ Standard" - does the L mean anything different?
I really want the 5 year protection offered (so I dont have to do it again for a while).
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 01 Nov 2013, 17:08
by ghost123uk
I have just spent 20 minutes on Google looking at which Comma coolant is Phosphorus free.
I got confused.
I
think the Comma Pink Xstream G30 Antifreeze & Coolant Concentrate is

Re: how much coolant
Posted: 02 Nov 2013, 11:10
by CJH
ads288 wrote:thanks everyone for this thread. Very useful for me as Im going to be buying some in the near future , all 8.5 L for a 50/50 in my wasserboxer.
I'd like to have made my first purchase from Simon Baxter, but
http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php/i ... urple.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is out of stock. So Im forced into looking for alternatives.
The triple GX on eurocar parts says "G
L12+ Standard" - does the L mean anything different?
I really want the 5 year protection offered (so I dont have to do it again for a while).
Good questions - I'm in the same boat. I was about to pop out and get the Triple QX GL12+ from EuroCarParts - I've even reserved it online - but having double checked the clarifications in the wiki I'm still not clear. I can't find any description of what the L in GL12+ means, but the description of the product says it's ethylene glycol based, with an Organic Acid Inhibitor, so I guess this is the Hybrid OAT type that Martin mentions in the wiki, and it does claim 5 year lifetime, so I'm fairly sure it should be OK in my WBX.
What I'm not so sure about is whether it can be mixed with what's in there already. All I know is that my existing coolant is red, which suggests it may be the 5 year OAT type, but if I replace it with the Triple QX (HOAT?) stuff would I be risking sludge by mixing remnants of the old red stuff with this ethylene glycol based HOAT?
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 02 Nov 2013, 12:21
by ghost123uk
And is it phosphorus free ?
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 02 Nov 2013, 13:27
by CJH
ghost123uk wrote:And is it phosphorus free ?
Hmm - I can't tell if you're having a dig at me for my naive question about the difference between phosphorous-free and phosphate-free
I've just been to EuroCarParts and picked up my reservation of 10 x 1L bottles of their red stuff. The label doesn't give the same information as their Amazon listing, so no mention of phosphates or phosphorous. It DOES help with one thing though - I think the GL12+ might be a typo, since it mentions G12+ on the label.
It also mentions VW TL-774F, which is mentioned in the wiki, so I'm reasonably confident that it's suitable.
I've decided to give my van a decent flush - maybe a couple of refills with plain water after draining it - so whether this stuff plays nice with what was in there before isn't an issue I think.
EuroCarParts' pricing strategy is a bit of a mystery. I paid £26.80 for 10 x 1L bottles. Firstly, as noted earlier, 2 x 5L bottles would have been £28.78. But while I was at the counter I asked about the pricing, and was told the online business is quite separate from the stores business, so I asked what 2x5L bottles would cost in store and was told £44!. That's crazy, given that they've got shelves full of the 50:50 ready mix at £8.99 for 5L, so you could buy 4x5L ready mix for £36 - that's £8 less than the equivalent amount of concentrate, and you won't even have to supply your own water!
One more thing to add to the confusion - on their shelves they've got purple G13 (£9.99 for 5L ready mix). No mention of VW TL-774F on the back, so I chickened out of buying that. Can't see it online on their own web site or their Amazon store though.
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 02 Nov 2013, 21:34
by ads288
thanks for the feedback with g12+ and the rogue L
got an email back from brickworks saying
will be doing a few bits n bobs on the van next wkend so will buy some sort of coolant / anti freeze shortyl
Re: how much coolant
Posted: 03 Nov 2013, 12:12
by California Dreamin
CJH wrote:ghost123uk wrote:And is it phosphorus free ?
Hmm - I can't tell if you're having a dig at me for my naive question about the difference between phosphorous-free and phosphate-free
I've just been to EuroCarParts and picked up my reservation of 10 x 1L bottles of their red stuff. The label doesn't give the same information as their Amazon listing, so no mention of phosphates or phosphorous. It DOES help with one thing though - I think the GL12+ might be a typo, since it mentions G12+ on the label.
It also mentions VW TL-774F, which is mentioned in the wiki, so I'm reasonably confident that it's suitable.
I've decided to give my van a decent flush - maybe a couple of refills with plain water after draining it - so whether this stuff plays nice with what was in there before isn't an issue I think.
EuroCarParts' pricing strategy is a bit of a mystery. I paid £26.80 for 10 x 1L bottles. Firstly, as noted earlier, 2 x 5L bottles would have been £28.78. But while I was at the counter I asked about the pricing, and was told the online business is quite separate from the stores business, so I asked what 2x5L bottles would cost in store and was told £44!. That's crazy, given that they've got shelves full of the 50:50 ready mix at £8.99 for 5L, so you could buy 4x5L ready mix for £36 - that's £8 less than the equivalent amount of concentrate, and you won't even have to supply your own water!
One more thing to add to the confusion - on their shelves they've got purple G13 (£9.99 for 5L ready mix). No mention of VW TL-774F on the back, so I chickened out of buying that. Can't see it online on their own web site or their Amazon store though.
I'm sure they just pluck the prices out the air sometimes....and that is why 'bargains' are to be had for the observant willing to do the research.
As a side note* I have just purchased 2 X 5litres of Quantum Platinum Engine oil for my Mercedes SLK. It carries the latest MB229.51 (Mercedes Spec) but I was able to buy (trade/cash) each 5L bottle for just £17.00.
The equivalent Mobil 1 or Shell Ultra/Total Quartz 9000/Shell Helix Plus S/FUCHS Silkolene Pro S is well over £40.00 for 5L, and some of those only meet the older 229.3 & 229.5 spec.
It definitely pays to shop around, do some research and know what you are looking for. As I keep on saying, whilst there might be small differences in formula's, there is no denying the specification...if it meets the spec then it is fit for purpose, so let the doubting Thomas's buy the expensive pink stuff at twice the price, it's there money if they choose to ignore the obvious.
Martin