[Vwdiesel] Fw: Cooling system flushing

[James Hansen]

Coolant has come a long way, the newer shell stuff is rated for life in
heavy trucks or construction equipment.  You can buy an anti-corrosion
additive booster if testing shows it is necessary.
Off the top of my head, I don't recall when I last changed coolant in
anything.  Oh, the 89 Jetta maybe 10 years ago when I was determined to make
the heater put out heat- did the citric acid flush, de-bar's leaked the
core, jumped through half a dozen hoops... etc...

But change coolant, hmm.   If I had to change coolant in every piece of
machinery just once, it would generate around two hundred gallons of waste
coolant.   Not too smart, but good for the guy selling it.  Why not test the
coolant to see if it's used up?  I routinely test mine every year in the
newer stuff, every few in the older stuff. Cylinder corrosion in some
engines is a real issue, and a leak there is not fun, but I would consider a
2 year change to be bad advice.
-james

-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of Tad
Sent: November-16-10 3:19 PM
To: Arkady Mirvis
Cc: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Fw: Cooling system flushing

Cite?

Of course the ever-helpful VW website has stopped providing maintenance
schedule information, but as I recall the last time I looked, coolant change
was not mentioned at all (other than the "lifetime" reference).

A web search mostly finds recommendations to change the coolant from sites
that want to sell you new coolant.

Also, how would one change the coolant without first flushing the old
coolant?  Or do you mean just drain-and-fill, which would leave much of the
old coolant in place?

On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 11:45 PM, Arkady Mirvis
<arkadymirvis at gmail.com>wrote:

> Accoirding to manufacturer's instructions coolant must be changed every 2
> years. During this period the engine metal is protected by the coolant
> additives. Regular coolant change will prevent corrosion and when drained
> will take with it impurities. Flushing never will be needed.
> My german mentor Andreas Hagedorn Maximilian Gerold ( inspector at MB )
who
> does engines rebuild and is an excellent tuner, did show me aluminum
engine
> heads with no corrosion visible in engines over 10 years old. All to good
> maintenance.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tad" <tadc at europa.com>
> To: "Rudy" <petersenrudy at hotmail.com>
> Cc: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 10:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Cooling system flushing
>
>
> > I've never heard of using anything but plain water for the job.
> > Considering
> > that the "stuff" you want to flush is likely corrosion products of
> > iron/aluminum, I wouldn't expect a grease cutter to do much good... but
I
> > guess a detergent would help to suspend the particles so the water can
> > flush
> > them out, but I'd be concerned about the residue interacting with the
new
> > coolant... but  then what do I know?
> >
> > On that subject (and sorry if this is a thread hijack), but I often
> wonder
> > about the "lifetime" coolant (G12) in my 01 TDI.  Just how long is a
> > "lifetime" anyway?  I know that some portion of the coolant (and
> therefore
> > additives) have been renewed when for example my T-belt was changed, but
> > my
> > car has never had it's coolant fully flushed/exchanged in it's lifetime.
> > I've heard some people recommend 100k, but I doubt that's based on any
> > real-world evidence.
> >
> > I just did a bit of googling on the subject and found one guy saying
that
> > the main concern is buildup of acid in the coolant, and all you need to
> do
> > is test the PH and adjust (with BG Cooling System Conditioner according
> to
> > him).
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 1:43 PM, Rudy <petersenrudy at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Anyone have any Tricks or ideas on what is the best detergent for the
> >> job?
> >> Think it would be ok to use a heavy duty, mix with water, Grease
cutter?
> >>
> >> Rudy
> >>
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