Club 80-90 Forums

I'm new around here! In a post about an electronics thing today, I posed some questions which are really about coolant, not electrics. So this may be a more appropriate place to get help from you nice people...

Aspetc wrote:
Things I don;t yet know:

5. Whether it is a problem that loads of coolant fell out [when I changed the sender for the coolant temp gauge]. I topped up the top-up tank and I'm hoping it draws in what it needs - or am I cruising for an airlock and will need to bleed the system?

6. Whether it is okay that the coolant whcih fell out [in my face] (and which is in the main coolant tank) is an orange/pink colour even though the stuff that has always been put in is blue. To me this says: oxidation. Bad news?

please and thank you?

Sounds like a mix of red and blue which is bad, if so best flush it all out and refil with red 50%

if you just loose a little it will self bleed.

Thanks itchyfeet!

May I ask how bad is bad? As in, 'don't drive it three hours each way to Norfolk this weekend or it'll catch fire' bad, or as in 'it's not as good for the engine as if you only had pink or blue but not actively ruinous' bad, or somewhere in between?

Previous owner handed us half empty bottles of blue, and I've put lots of blue in myself (due to it falling out periodically, that's another story: I need a new header tank without a crack in it and figure out how to patch that in the short term). Any chance at all that some big internal rust issue could cause what I'm seeing without it being a mix? Looking in the tank with the cap off I can see lots of little particles in there reflecting light.

And I wasn't expecting you to say pink, because the JK website and previous owners seem to recommend blue. I'm guessing there are many words on this topic, I'll go google...

So much to learn, so many opportunities to fork it up!

...on closer examination of all my wet clothes that stuff is definitely PINK not rusty. So forget the nonsense about whether there's a way it could change colour by magic. My mind is focused on the 'how bad is bad' question...

(And the one about air locks... Thanks again in advance!)

Replace that header tank with a new one from brickwerks and a new cap aswell,dont try to patch it up. Drain the coolant, fit new header tank and cap then refill and bleed.

dunno how bad is bad to mix blue and red
I have read it can react and go sludgy but no experience personally.

Some owners and retailers recommend the blue coolant that VW used when the vans were new, VW G12, which is fine, but has now been superceded by pink/red/purple OAT coolant, VW G12+ and higher. It has a longer life than the blue coolant so only needs to be changed every 5 years. The bits you are seeing in the coolant sound to me as if someone has put something like Radweld or K-seal in to try to stop a leak.
As above mixing blue and red coolant can lead to sludge forming, I would replace the heater tank, flush the system and refill with your choice of blue or red coolant, checking to see it meets the above VW specifications.

Thanks everyone! Some 2 part epoxy on the header tank crack got us to Norfolk (for a stunning weekend) and back without any leakage, and I'm now taking some deep breaths before changing, flushing and refilling.

I use some chemical metal on my header to keep my van running whilst I waited for a new tank to turn up. It's a very simple change.

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Aspetc wrote:Thanks everyone! Some 2 part epoxy on the header tank crack got us to Norfolk (for a stunning weekend) and back without any leakage, and I'm now taking some deep breaths before changing, flushing and refilling.

I did exact same first time a couple of years ago (cracked header and having never done a full coolant change)...baxters guide on wiki made it one of the simplest things i have had to do

I don't mean to hijack this thread but it might help the OP too so I'll ask here.....
When replacing coolant, do you flush the old out with water and then flush the water out with new coolant?
or do you have to drain-flush-drain-fill-bleed?

Drain - flush like hell - drain - secure drain point - refill with coolant/auntyfreeze for 50% - bring up to capacity with water. Assuming using concentrate rather than ready mixed which will be difficult to get the correct concentration due to the water remaining in the system after the flush.
That's how I do it, don't suppose that I am any different to anyone in this.