# Replacing the coolant



## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Hi all

Managed to do the coolant temp sensor with the help of u guys, wak (link) and a neighbour!

However he pointed out that the coolant itself needs changing when he saw the colour (muddy brown colour)

So I can see you need g12 reading around but I still have some questions

1. Can I confirm it is pretty much unscrew the tap (there is one on the radiator - u get to it under the car right?) let the coolant pour out, refit tap and then pour in new coolant

2. The amount needs to be 4.5 litres, with a mix of between 40-50% coolant concentrate:water

3. Coolant is g12 - however I have seen prices range from 6.99 to £12 for 1.5L does brand matter if so which one is the best?

4. Some say g12 or g12+ or g12++ what does this mean?

As u can see I have never done this before and any advice would be appreciated!

2001 tt 180 Quattro

PH


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## Typhhon (Oct 28, 2006)

G11 Blue
G12 Pink/Red
G12+ and G12++ Purple

These are anti-phosphate, anti-amine, anti-phosphorous fluids and not like the common cheapo ethylene glycol halfords type stuff.

This is typically what happens if you use cheapo anti freeze....










Takes out the bearing..










The + refers to more/better inhibitors.

I understand VAG now ship G13 with is 'environmentally friendly'.

Should be mixed with distilled water especially in hard water area's.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi PH, 5 litres of coolant is required. 2.5 litres of G12+ from Audi dealer & 2.5 litres of distilled water if you live in a hard water area. Once coolant drained, its a good idea to refill with fresh water to flush system before refilling with coolant mixture.
Hoggy.


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## AfterHouR (Feb 8, 2012)

I got some G13 from dealers last week and was only about £9 from memory for £2.5l


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

When you drain the old coolant you need to make sure you get it all out , Just using the drain tap will not do this .

If you look at the how too on here for replacing the thermostat , something you should probably also do whilst draining the system if it has not been changed for a while you will see that it shows how to assist draining from the oil cooler hose . Flushing through may help but as the thermostat will be closed when cold it will be a restriction in the flow.


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks for this guys very helpful.

However, £9 at the dealers for 2.5L? Just rang mine and they want over £10 for 1.5L is this is a rip or can it be found better elsewhere?

Cheers guys

PH


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

I think your dealer price is about right . Its not cheap coolant but very good at doing what is should do .

I think the £9 for 2.5 litres would be a 1990 price or it was priced incorrectly . Lucky for some to get at that price .


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Yes agreed just had a look around and it all seems to be about £10 for the 1.5 - off to the dealership. Cheers John


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## dbbloke (Jan 30, 2012)

I got the G13 stuff last week. picked up 2 1.5L bottles for just under 20 quid.

To this I added de-ionised water to mix 50/50. About 3 quid for 5L

Comparitively, bought a 5L bottle of decent coolant at good trade price for a healey 3000, It also cost 20 quid and not enough left for another job. So I figured, get the genuine Audi stuff or spend the same and get decent but not Audi (always a concern) and have a bit more but you cant use anyhow. So it's going to cost 20 quid whatever.










When you unscrew the tap on the plastic bit conected to th bottom of the radiator on the right hand side, make sure you unscrew the tap then pull out. When I say out I mean the round threaded thing and pull it away from the radiator, otherwise it doesn't open really!

Thermostat is really not so hard assuming you have some decent tools. quarter inch halfords pro socket + 10mm is pretty much all you need. Bottom nut is fine . Also just be a bit careful when taking off the metal cover that the dip-stick sit in, but once done once really easy. Thermostat was 20 quid from Audi, worth doing at the same time as you have the G13 handy and scratched hands. Make sure you also order the o-ring for the thermostat as well.


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Btw will bottled water or spring water do if you dont have distilled water? Or must it be distilled? I know you can make it but it's a pain

Cheers

PH


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

@dbbloke just seen ur message - appreciate what you (and john) are saying and thanks for the advice. I think changing a thermostat is beyond me though, will have to spend more time reading up on it but I'm not sure I can do that type of thing.

Thanks again for the advice and will give it a go if I feel brave enough on the day!

PH


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, 5 litres of deionised/distilled water only £3.99 or £1.79 a litre from Halfords.
Hoggy.


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## dbbloke (Jan 30, 2012)

Did it yesterday, I know what you mean about brave. It's a worry but its not so hard. I'm not at all an expert at mechanics, but really, it's pretty easy. I would give it a go for sure. 
*Assuming you have decent quality tools*

Sort of used this. It's easy really. Draining the coolant was the PITA job for me.
viewtopic.php?t=56316


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Cheers guys for all this.

I have to say - I changed the temp sensor and it hasn't fixed the low temp reading on my dash (which I know isn't faulty - c49 etc)

Rereading johns 'how to' I see that the thermostat could be cause and needs replacing. So I guess I am going to have to change it along with the coolant (gulp!)

Thermostats - is it best bought from an audi dealer or are online ones ok?

Cheers again

PH


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

Audi Dealer only for the Thermostat , copy ones are prone to fail in the closed position and cause overheating . You will only want to do the job once . Don't forget the sealing ring and Dipstick tube that you will possibly break when removing .

Total parts cost approx. £30 .

John


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

What would I be looking at if I went to audi or a specialist out of curiosity to replace the thermostat?


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

Really not to sure but would guess at £120 Specialist , 170 Audi Dealer. Plus Coolant Cost .


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks John that's all helpful much appreciated

PH


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## stewbieTT (Jun 23, 2012)

I had a few jobs done recently at my local Indy - the thermostat replacement came to just over £100 including parts.


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## t'mill (Jul 31, 2012)

I priced up a thermostat from Cardiff Audi and it was £37 just for the stat. Factor in the O ring and placcy housing and you're well over 40 quid.


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

No Problem .

If you follow the how too on here you could do it yourself if you would like the challenge . As you are replacing all the coolant it makes it a little easier as not a problem when you remove the old thermostat and release the coolant that the drain tap will not do . Just need a large tray under the car to catch it or mop up afterwards and wash down where the coolant runs through to the drain tray .

A set of stubby spanners helped me get that bottom bolt released and a good small torch to point at it . You can just see the bolt from above if you look through the port gap in the inlet manifold but a torch is a must have.

Good Luck if you give it a go.

John


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Mmm I am getting quotes around the £300 mark to drain and replace coolant and fit a new thermo. If I supply the parts labour is around £90 for the hour. It's at least a 2 hour job and any garage could make it 3 easily with a bit of feet dragging. Ouch was not expecting that!

I forgot my car has got a 3 month warranty from the dealer - I am inside the warranty time and thermostat is covered and I checked with the warranty company too!

Only problem is - the warranty company says my dealer never paid for the warranty when I bought the car off him 7 weeks ago.

Any good piece of legislation I should me mention to the dealer or some authority to scare the bejesus out of him? What a cheeky bugger, bet he thought he could skimp on it.

PH


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## cookbot (Apr 19, 2011)

PurpleHouse said:


> Mmm I am getting quotes around the £300 mark to drain and replace coolant and fit a new thermo. If I supply the parts labour is around £90 for the hour. It's at least a 2 hour job and any garage could make it 3 easily with a bit of feet dragging. Ouch was not expecting that!
> 
> I forgot my car has got a 3 month warranty from the dealer - I am inside the warranty time and thermostat is covered and I checked with the warranty company too!
> 
> ...


2-3 hours for a thermostat?? it can be done in about 40 min (having done 2 now) There's not really much that can go wrong with a job like this. Just spend the money on decent tools, one of the Halfords 150 piece kits would do and have a go. There's always plenty of advice available here anyway.


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Well 1 guy said his 'computer' says 1.9 hours. And that was a garage recommended on here!

The car is technically under a warranty and thermos are covered so this dealer better sort it tomorrow or else. It was a condition of the sale that he would pay for a 3 month warranty and he gave me my side of the paper work but clearly tried to skimp by not sending off his part. Will have to hound him tomorrow. Even so I still need to find a garage to do it but so far all of them want £90+ p/h and I will need to pay the diff at £60 so maybe it will be cheaper just to do it myself if it is that easy.

PH


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

Purplehouse , You are correct in giving it a go yourself but please do not start the job 40 minutes before you need the car running again as you will be catching the bus or getting a Taxi to your required destination .

Another point is some garages will look at the job and use a method avoiding any hassle like tight access , they may remove more components to gain better access but this of course costs money .

Good Luck.

John


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## stewbieTT (Jun 23, 2012)

£90+ p/h sounds more like main dealer prices!
My local Indie VAG specialist is £50 + VAT an hour if I remember correctly, most non-specialists are a bit less than this from my experience.
I had themostat, full Haldex service and brake fluid change for about £250 including all OEM parts.


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

That is a very good price stewbie, for a specialist VAG. Where was it?

John - I may well man up and give it a shot, but if I do I know I will need a day I think, and follow your how to carefully.

Cheers

PH


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## dbbloke (Jan 30, 2012)

Drain coolant
Jack car up at front - 15 mins and requires 2 or 1 at a push trolley jacks and preferably but I risked it axle stands.
Undo tray - 5 mins with decent ratchet.
Turn radiator plug and drain and undo coolant cap - 3 mins
flush a load of water through for good measure - 10 mins

15+5+3+10
33 mins

engine
take off cover 1 min
takeoff front cover and metal bit, take off dippstick guide 5 mins
undo top thermostat bolt - 2 min
undo bottom thermostat bolt - 5 min
take out o-ring and thermostat - 3 min
go and mix some coolant/water - 5 mins
get new thermostat and o-ring and coat in g13 coolant
put in thermostat and o-ring - 3 mins
tighten bottom bolt 10 mins (more fiddly than undoing)
tighten top bolt 5 mins
fill coolant tank - 5 mins
start car and repressurise / get air out 10 mins

+5+2+5+3+5+3+3+10+5+5+10
56 mins

Yeah, its a 1hr 29 min job if you do it really well, corners can be cut and do it in close to an hour.
Put up a post about 150pc toolkits in the off topic section, really you just need a 10mm socket and a 5 hex(i think)
BUT all you need is the halfords pro 36 piece 1/4 which is also half price 20 quid even has the universal joint which makes it easy to put the bottom bolt back in the thermostat

parts
g13 - 20
water - 3
thermostat+ring - 25
socket set - 20

70 quid parts and 2hrs labour tops.

also a decent jack is gonna help get the under tray off which is completely easy, hurry, looks like the tools offer ends tonight?


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

I just googled the set u mentioned its still on offer thanx for the tip off!


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## poor1 (Dec 28, 2011)

Bear in mind its a long slow job refilling the system because of airlocks
.


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## cookbot (Apr 19, 2011)

dbbloke said:


> Drain coolant
> Jack car up at front - 15 mins and requires 2 or 1 at a push trolley jacks and preferably but I risked it axle stands.
> Undo tray - 5 mins with decent ratchet.
> Turn radiator plug and drain and undo coolant cap - 3 mins
> ...


3 mins to remove the thermo and the O ring even though the bolts are already out? Maybe if you let Stevie Wonder do it or you have hoofs :lol:

Not having a dig, just slightly exaggerated times, ha.


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

Purplehouse ,

If you decide to give it a go yourself do not worry about the time taken to do the job , people with experience can probably do it in 40 mins but if it takes you 5 hours you will feel proud that you have succeeded and saved yourself some pennies .

Good Luck .


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Just an update for those interested - bottled it. plus i just didnt have the time with my kiddies running around everywhere.

my dealer did the coolant drain and replaced the thermostat free of charge as he seemed to want me to avoid using the warranty he 'sold' me. Mind you, I gave him the thermo and coolant as I didn't want any cheapo stuff. And I hope he didn't swap it for cheap stuff but what can u do!

Anyway car back today and temp up to 90 no probs! Don't know if it is just me but the car even seems to be driving better. Could just be placebo but she feels much happier now!

Thanks for all that input anyway guys. When it cools down I will check the colour of the coolant. Should be pink right? I said 50/50 coolant and water 2.5l each half.

Next up - have the car booked in at audi for a free inspection. Could well be a sell job but I'd be interested to hear what they say anyway.

Cheers again all

PH


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

Yes coolant should be pink . Glad your all sorted now .

Don't panic if you get a long list from AUDI for the inspection. They do tend to be pretty strict and want the car back to as new.

If not changed before would imagine Anti Roll bars , Brake Discs will be on the list as a minimum . Will be interesting to hear the actual results .

John


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks for the heads up on that John. Well she brakes just fine, no squeaking or having to depress the pedal the floor etc and responds well cornering. Turbo seems to work fine. However I noticed in the log book most of it's services have been ticked as 'longlife service'. Does that basically mean a longlife oil change? I can't think what else would be longlife. The penultimate service had longlife and oil change ticked over a year ago (16.8.11) There was a more recent longlife service ticked earlier this year (12.2.12) but no oil change appears to have been done as that wasn't ticked (same specialist Stamp though) It's got me stumped with what exactly they did to the car if they just tick "longlife service" and nothing else. Any ideas John? Would b much appreciated!

PH


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi PH, Long life/AVS service regime means a max of 2 years or 18K miles between oil service, depending on number of cold starts, distance travelled between & time. Lots of cold starts & short journeys & "Service" would display & be required much sooner.
Resetting DIS manually resets it to fixed/annual service, VagCom required to reset it to variable/AVS service regime. 
Hoggy.


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## PurpleHouse (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks hoggy. I don't see any tick option or mention of haldex oil change. It says in the manual every 40,000 miles as 'additional work' so at 115,000 my car should have had at least 2. However not one of the of the services has any additional work ticked. Just the odd oil change and a new cam belt at 87,000 (ok that was the only one ticked). Could it have had no haldex oil change after all this time? Or even brake fluid? There is no way of knowing from the service book.

Car seems to drive fine but perhaps get a bf change, oil and haldex just in case? It's a stupid log book its so vague, nothing like the BMW one I had that one was much clearer.

Cheers

PH


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## John Stratton (Jun 20, 2010)

If in any doubt as to whether things have been done it would be best to have it done yourself . You will feel better about it .

I have to agree the service books are not always that clear , especially to a new owner .

Although your brakes etc feel fine AUDI may still list things , if your Discs are say 60% worn but still within tolerance they will be on the list as an advisory and hope you say yes to replacement as an example , although you car would still pass its MOT if the breaking performance is within limits set by VOSA and no serious corrosion is visible .

John


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