[s-cars] Gelling coolant

Tue Apr 17 14:06:44 EDT 2007

Collective sigh of relief...

Thanks Tom.  How's things Down Souf? 

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Green [mailto:trgreen at comcast.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 2:06 PM
To: Pasqualoni, James E
Cc: Gísli Óttarsson; s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Gelling coolant

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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