V.W. Polo Coolant

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Thu 23 Sep 2004 22:46
V.W. Polo Coolant - SeanO
I would be very grateful if any of you VW Experts out there can help .
I need to replace the thermostat housing on daughters 97 Polo 1.4 . So I also need to drain down the coolant in order to do this job.
The cooling system is currently filled with G12 (red)fluid and the replacement fluid that I have is G12 Plus which is purple in colour. the replacement fluid is the genuine VW article by the way. I have been assured that its ok to mix this fluid with the red G12 stuff so if any red stuff remains in the system after drain down no harm should be done if I refill with the purple G12 plus fluid.
Can anyone confirm that this is actually true?
Apologies for the longish question but bearing in mind the dire warnings in the Haynes and the car handbook about the consequences of mixing coolant fluids I would like to be absolutely sure I have got it right before I start.
Many Thanks in advance,
SeanO
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Fri 24 Sep 2004 13:45
V.W. Polo Coolant - Dr Rubber
Sean,
IIRC, the new purple VW stuff mixes with the red (G12) and the blue (G11) coolant. It should say on the side of the bottle what it mixes with.
Joe
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Fri 24 Sep 2004 20:31
V.W. Polo Coolant - SeanO
Dr,
Thank you for your reply, unfortunately that information is missing from the VW fluid that I have bought (maybe only intended to be used by VW tech's?). Anyway once again thank you very much.
Sean
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Sat 25 Sep 2004 11:20
V.W. Polo Coolant - DL
Use the red antifreeze that GSF sells - cheap too.
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Sat 25 Sep 2004 18:01
V.W. Polo Coolant - Dr Rubber
I've double checked, and the new purple stuff will mix with the old red G12 (according to my handbook). If in doubt mix a bit of both together, if it changes colour (brown) its incompatible.
Joe
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Sat 25 Sep 2004 19:37
V.W. Polo Coolant - SeanO
Joe,
Thanks again. I will definitely try that. DL Thanks for the reply, I did buy this G12+ from my local GSF, they don't stock the red G12 any more and assured me that its ok to mix . Unusually for GSF they didn't strike me as being too sure about that so I thought that it would be prudent to seek a second opinion.
Sean
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