[s-cars] Gelling coolant

[Tom Green]

I'll jump in to say, no, it hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet,  
Jim.
I had considered it, but never mentioned it since Gisli wrote that the
coolant was still mostly pink.  If it were oil globules or milky coolant
I felt he would have recognized that and said "I've been robbed".
It appears to be the classic mixing of incompatible coolants.

I was joking about the Icelandic hot water but had to mention it since
I had these visions of the deposits in the mineral pools and smells
that stay with you a long time.

Tom

On Apr 17, 2007, at 1:20 PM, Pasqualoni, James E wrote:

> Gisli,
>
> I am late to this thread, so please excuse me if this has already  
> been mentioned-are you sure there is no oil in the coolant, ie head  
> gasket leakage?
>
> Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:s-car-list- 
> bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Gísli Óttarsson
> Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 1:18 PM
> To: Tom Green
> Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Gelling coolant
>
> Tom:
>
> I nearly responded to your previous message about de-mineralized  
> water by commenting that that is what comes out of our cold-water  
> taps here in Iceland.  No such luck for the hot-water tap.  This is  
> so polluted by minerals and sulfur that you would think someone let  
> eggs rot in your bathroom.  Good for the teeth and the sperm-count,  
> I suppose, but I would not dream of letting it anywhere near my  
> Audi.  And no, the car only recently arrived on Icelandic shores so  
> it is a near certainty that this is not what's ailing the cooling  
> system.
>
> Gisli
>
> On 4/17/07, Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> I think your caution is don't shock the engine by removing the  
>> coolant
>> and/or giving it a big dose of cold water.  But, it doesn't require a
>> long cool-down period before draining since the temps are  
>> equalized by
>> running at idle.  I would be cautious about dumping a lot of cold
>> water from a hose with lots of pressure and flow into the reservoir.
>> Besides, you are likely to cause the thermostat to close and really
>> slow down the process.  Use some warm water to temper the water if  
>> you
>> are nervous about it.  Add slowly in any case, you won't use that  
>> much
>> per flush.  I would suggest using some of that Icelandic geo-thermal
>> water but I've seen the mineral content.  :-)   Hmmmm, could that be
>> what's in the coolant now?  :-)
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>>> Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:30:20 -0400
>>> From: Mark Pollan <mark.pollan at verizonbusiness.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Gelling coolant
>>> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
>>> Message-ID: <000a01c780f4$8b9100e0$910e9283 at mcilink.com>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>>>
>>> Best/required to let her cool down before you drain and refill no?
>>>
>>> Mark
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
>>> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of G?sli
>>> ?ttarsson
>>> Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 7:13 PM
>>> To: Tom Green
>>> Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
>>> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Gelling coolant
>>>
>>> This seems straightforward enough.  I'll probably have a go this
>>> week-end, if weather permits.
>>>
>>> Gisli
>>>
>>> On 4/16/07, Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I'll have to defer to Dave Dawson on the details, but, you have the
>>>> right idea, and the Finish should be fine. This is dishwasher
>>>> detergent, not the dishwashing detergent for hand-washing dishes.
>>>>   I suggest about a half cup or two times the normal dishwasher
>>>> amount.  Drain the coolant first and refill with water and add the
>>>> Finish.
>>>> You don't want to operate the car, just run the engine until it
>>>> gets up to temperature, then about 15 to 20 minutes at idle to let
>>>> the cleaners work in the system including the heater.  Then drain
>>>> and refill with water, bring to temperature, drain and repeat until
>>>> the coolant water is perfectly clear.  It may take several times to
>>>> remove all the old
>>>> coolant and the dishwasher detergent.   Even the low sudsing
>>>> dishwasher detergent
>>>> can foam some, so it is important to completely flush all traces
>>>> from the cooling system or a slight amount of foam can cause an air
>>>> block in the system and a localized over- heating can occur.  Who
>>>> knows if it is compatible with coolant?
>>>> I suspect those fleet maintenance guys have a power flushing
>>>> machine to expedite this process.
>>>> It is a good practice to use de-mineralized (soft) water for the
>>>> make-
>>>> up portion of the
>>>> coolant.
>>
>>
>>
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