Coolant

[murph7355]

I need to top up the coolant on my RS4 - I suspect I may have another rad to replace shortly!

The stuff in there is pink. The cap says G12.

I can get G30 from Halfords, but not specifically G12.

Does anyone know from experience if these can be mixed safely?

[Ian_C]

Get your arse down to GSF or Eurocarparts and put the correct stuff in. Opie Oils sell it too. If you are desperate boil some water in a saucepan and then put that in once its cooled down

[adsgreen]

If I were you I'd drain the lot and bin it.
You've mixed glycol and organic acid - it'll turn into a sludge.

[murph7355]

If I were you I'd drain the lot and bin it.
You've mixed glycol and organic acid - it'll turn into a sludge.

I haven't put anything in it yet! Just lost enough for the warning to pop up on the dash.

I just want enough to let me (a) see where the leak is and (b) get me to somewhere to sort whatever is leaking (I'm suspecting aux rad(s)).

(I may switch the rads myself, but don't fancy taking the bumper off!).

[Rick_RS4]

gsf or tps

its G13 now new version and a larger bottle, think it was 13 quid

[Covkiller]

What's wrong with going to Audi.

[adsgreen]

If I were you I'd drain the lot and bin it.
You've mixed glycol and organic acid - it'll turn into a sludge.

I haven't put anything in it yet! Just lost enough for the warning to pop up on the dash.

I just want enough to let me (a) see where the leak is and (b) get me to somewhere to sort whatever is leaking (I'm suspecting aux rad(s)).

(I may switch the rads myself, but don't fancy taking the bumper off!).

Phew!

Also I'd say not to put in water to oat based coolant.
(if you must, water from a tumble dryer is better)
Bumper easy to remove

[murph7355]

Would only top up with distilled water out of a bottle. I don't even drink the water out of our taps

[Ian_C]

Don't use bottled water - I was told than this is worse than tap water!!

As above, distill some tap water in a saucepan, and then put that in once its cooled down. Have a taste of it - tastes really weird distilled! Nothing like bottled. I mixed 50:50 G12 and distilled after a home G62 sensor change

[murph7355]

Don't use bottled water - I was told than this is worse than tap water!!...

Bottled distilled water.

Much as I love the RS4, I'm not sticking Evian in it, even if it was good for it!

[PetrolDave]

Don't use bottled water - I was told than this is worse than tap water!!

Branded bottled water, Evian etc., usually have much higher levels of dissolved salts - which is what give them their claimed "benefits".

Bottled distilled water is the thing to us if you have to, but topping up with G13 is the right thing to do to keep the concentration at the correct level (not only for ant-freeze properties but also for anti-corrosion properties in mixed metal systems like our engine).

[Covkiller]

[Surrey Sam]

One thing to bare in mind if using distilled water is to only use fresh stuff.

If you have an opened bottle left lying around the water solution will have no buffers to keep the PH neutral, so over time the water will interact with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the PH will start to drift down to create an acidic solution.