VW Polo coolant...what to do?

DrFroggies

Hi Folks,

I recently noticed that the engine temprature guage on my car (98 Polo Saloon) was rising a little (to about the mid-way mark pretty quickly) and a after a little investigation it seems to be almost out of engine coolant...now having had a look at the haynes manual it seems to say that these cars have a special coolant that will never need refilling and if refilling is necessarry to make sure the app vw coolant is used.

Does anyone else out there driving a similiar car know if this is really necessary or if i go into a motor factors and ask for coolant (giving my car details) can i trust the stuff they give me.

It also says something about cleaning out the coolant and tubes attached before topping up...which is a little more complicated (and at the moment i just don't have enough time to start tinkering around with it) so i was thinking of dropping her into advanced pitt stop or somewhere and asking them to do it...has anyone else done this and was it expensive or cheap?

Apologies if this post is a little long winded i'm half asleep at the moment and its causing me to ramble...Sorry!:o

Thanks for any replies!
DrF ;-)

coylemj

Take a look at the last few posts in this thread which deals with a VAG car & coolant and if I was you I'd either do it myself or take it to a main dealer, not a tyre shop.....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056057802

mathepac

Your car needs VW G12++ coolant which you can get from a VW garage / VW specialist. The system needs to be drained and flushed of old coolant before the new stuff goes in; this is essential

Until the leak is fixed top up to the correct level with water; getting the leak fixed needs to be the priority, obviously, then new coolant.

mathepac

mathepac wrote: »

Until the leak is fixed top up to the correct level with water; getting the leak fixed needs to be the priority, obviously, then new coolant.

+1, in the morning the engine and coolant will be nice and cold, so pour in water to get the level in the reservoir up to the max mark. I presume you mean the reservoir is nearly empty rather than the entire coolant system. Anyway when the level is up to max or close to it squeeze the coolant hoses to rid them of any air, top up again if required, put cap back on. Bring a litre or two of water with you to work (presume it's not too far) and keep an eye on the gauge, should be ok unless you have a bad leak. Book it into a VW garage tomorrow morning or perhaps someone at work or a friend can recommend a decent mechanic to you

DrFroggies

Thanks guys! So its safe enough to pour water over the remaining coolant in the reservoir (as a stop gap) then?

Went into my usual mechanic (he's not a VW dealer/garage) but he's been around along time and has worked on the car before but i'll pick up the VWG12++ coolant and drop it in with the car when i'm leaving it in.

Incidently i haven't noticed any leaks or marks under the car when she's parked up which i mentioned to a guy in advanced pit stop (i'm not getting them to deal with it...just happened to be passing them earlier today and stopped in before heading to my usual mechanic) anyway the guy in advanced pitt stop said it could be the timing belt?

Saying that my usual mechanic said it might not be the belt (interestingly i noticed the difference in cost between my usual mechanic and Advanced P.T was almost €100...A.P.T are PRICEY!!!)

Anyway cheers for the advice all.:)

Rising temp gauge and low coolant has f all to do with the timing belt, unless the water pump is belt driven and the pump is after failing. Still, that wouldn't be the belt it would be the pump. And if it was the pump the engine would boil up quite quickly.

DrFroggies

Cheers for that RoverJames...i'm hoping the belt is fine myself as cash is v tight at the mo!