STOP THE SURVEY: Prestone Orange...

[TooManyAudis at aol.com]

OK, so I have been admonished by the grand poobah of all things audifans  
that my survey is a highly subversive activity, the result of which will clog up  
the audifans bandwith generator forever.
 
There have already been several posts (4 Posts) reporting on the use of the  
Prestone Orange.  So far, millions of miles logged (at least a third of  those 
million miles have been by me) and not one respondent with a Prestone  Orange 
Coolant-related failure in their Audi.  
 
Further, I spoke to someone at Prestone.  Their coolant is  dexcool-approved, 
not the original dexcool antifreeze that GM started using in  the 90's.  It 
is free of phosphates and silicates (as, apparently, is the  new "universal" 
extended life coolant).
 
To his knowledge, Prestone is not involve in any of the ongoing litigation  
regarding factory-filled Dexcool Antifreeze.  Prestone only became an  OEM 
supplier for a small number of cars in 2001, and are not aware of any  problems 
with their coolant and GM cars.  Most every complaint that had  been posted was 
for late 90's vehicles.
 
The Prestone customer service rep I spoke to put the orange extended life  
coolant in his SAAB, and drove it over 250,000 miles with no coolant-related  
problems.  He assured me that this product has been tested as safe on all  
materials currently in use in cooling systems, include those used by Audi.  
 
The original green formula may be of concern to Audi Owners, as it indeed  
contained phosphates.  But, I suspect that the new universal extended life  
coolant (more of a yellow-green and reportedly phosphate-free) will do just fine  
in our cars.  There is a possibility that this is the coolant used in the  
original poster's car, so this whole shibang could have been for naught.
 
An interesting note is that much of the concern with the GM DexCool coolant  
has to do with contamination of the coolant.  GM adds a stop-leak to its  
vehicles, in addition to the coolant at the factory.  It is entirely  possible 
that blocked passageways, deteriorated gaskets and overheating are what  causes 
the factory dexcool to fail.  Who really knows.
 
I have no desire to turn this into a torsen-like debate.  However, I  want to 
be exposed to real life experience with what is apparently a  controversial 
product -- mainly because I would like to know if I (and many  other Audi 
owners) have a defective product circulating in my car.
 
The unofficial survey has been concluded.  Please post individual  results at 
your own peril.
 
That is all.
 
Tom Werner
Charleston, SC
 
91 200q20v with beautiful orange coolant
88 80q currently in need of windshield washer fluid.