Mk 2 golf 1.6 coolant questions 30000mil

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Wed 10 Sep 2003 19:43
Mk 2 golf 1.6 coolant questions 30000mil - iom_dave
89 golf 1.6 30000 miles
Ive been having gunk in coolant (as described before in these formus somewhere) had it flushed and they tested for head gasket failures by testing for gases. Still got gunk in coolant and today the cap fell off at some point going into to work, must of fallen off really late since keeping eye on temp gauge because of gunk in coolant. Anyway got new cap from vw garage and g12 coolant - is this the right stuff - before flushing the coolant was blueish, slightly blue after flush. Ive filled the tank back up (this evening) with water (took about 1 litre) and ran the engine, squeezed pipes, put in some more water and bit of coolant. Then drove home, stopped half way to check everything is ok, got home and noticed the fan isnt running but the temp gauge was at or over the half way mark (noticed going faster made the temp go down!). Im getting the bus tomorrow, dads back at the weekend, but im away for the next few weeks
Questions :-
1. is the g12 (pink coolant) alright to use given some blue coolant may already be in there?
2. is 350 quid from the vw garage good value to change head gasket?
3. is the fan knacked?
4. the car was serviced (about a month, 250 miles ago) when the coolant was changed - should the garage have spotted the fan?
5. is the car alright to leave as it, the vw garage guy seemed to think that the corrosion of the engine would take ages?
6. is had to use tesco spring water is that ok?
Thanks
Dave
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Wed 10 Sep 2003 19:45
Mk 2 golf 1.6 coolant questions 30000mil - iom_dave
one other thing vw garage seemed to think that failure between the oil and water was quite possible (head gasket) any views. The garage who serviced it was fiat but my dad likes them.
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Wed 10 Sep 2003 20:32
Mk 2 golf 1.6 coolant questions 30000mil - Kuang
On my old 85 Mk2 Golf and the few others from that era I've driven, the temperature gauge always sits at halfway up the scale under normal conditions - it may actually be that it didn't work properly before, and you managed to knock the right thing :) They generally will run cooler as you go faster because of increased airflow over the radiator.
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