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Jim,
In order for your factory warranty to be voided by switching coolant, a
couple things must be proved:
1) That an unauthorized party (you) performed the procedure.
2) That due to that unathorized service, something that failed was a direct
result of the coolant replacement not being done properly.
Legal Recommendation: Have a factory authorized repair service do the
procedure. Keep all documentation for your records.
Reality: Do the job yourself, you'll save a lot of money in labor costs.
Get the G12 from an Audi dealership (usually cheaper, believe it or not) or
VW dealership. Inspect the container to ensure that it's the correct fluid.
Go to a drug store, or grocery store and pick up a dozen gallons of
distilled water. Now's a good time to install a low temp thermostat and fan
switch, while you're draining the coolant system. General rule of
thumb-premix coolant and water to a 50:50 solution. Search the archives for
the complete switch procedure (Todd from AWE just posted it about a month
ago). FYI, this is what Chris from ND has to share on the topic:
Last tip for the cooling system-VR6s run HOT. Change your coolant
and install a low temp fanswitch(remove the battery to make it
easy). The thermostat is also a good idea-but I only recommend it
if you have over 60k and you replace all three pcs of the plastic
thermostat housing. These things leak like crazy! replace all the
seals and don't use goop on any of it except at the mount to the
head( I prefer aviation sealer - the brown stuff in the little
can) Anyway, the fanswitch cycles the fan sooner and longer and
end result is that your gauge which normal reads about 230 can
drop as much as 10-15 degrees. It seems that all the car's gauges
read a little different.
O.K., now my opinion about this G11 to G12 changeover. In order
to understand this better, I'll tell you what I know about
coolant. Buy only high quality antifreeze-cheap brands can be
straight ethylene glycol minus important corrosion inhibitors and
lubricants. ALWAYS mix 50/50 with water(preferably distilled) or
follow ratio recommend for your climate. Never top off coolant
tank with straight coolant-preferrably small amount of distilled
water or your 50/50 mixture. Use common sense, large amount
missing means that if you refill, you are going to throw off the
glycol to water ratio, and it is very important. Antifreeze
should never exceed 65%. Exceeding 85% will cause the silicates
to drop out of suspension and goo up to clog the radiator and
reduce heat transfer. VW recommends the water and compressed air
treatment to upgrade to G12 because up to a third of the coolant
is still trapped in the heater core and the engine after you pull
a hose or the drain cock. This flush ensures that you are
removing all accumulated rust, scale,silicate buildup and old
coolant as best as possible. By the way, the blue and red coolant
will foam up and turn brown in your expansion tank if you mix
them or don't get all the G11 out. The degree of corrosion that
takes place in your VW depends upon the type of minerals and
alloys in the engine and radiator, and the acidity or alkalinity
of the coolant. So long as your coolant remains alkaline,
corrosion will be held to a minimum. Conversely, acidic coolant
hastens the corrosion process that occurs between the cast iron
and the aluminum present in the engine and radiator. The
corrosion inhibiting chemicals that are added to you coolant is
what keeps the alkalinity on the high side of the Ph scale.
That's why adding aftermarket wetters and boosters is not smart
because you are altering the already unknown alkalinity of your
coolant(no matter how new, it varies depending on mix ratio,
mineral content, additive content) More important, this
alkalinity ratio doesn't have to be bigger to be better-it just
needs staying power. This is measured as alkalinity reserve(how
long your coolant can resist corrosion) The enemies of your
coolant are heat, dissolved oxygen and minerals which react with
the metal surfaces in your engine depleting the capacity of the
coolant to resist becoming acidic. Therefore, changing the
coolant annually or at least bi-annually guarantees that you
never exceed the coolants ability to resist corrosion. European
car makers like VW specify coolant additives lacking in
phosphates and including borates and low silicates because their
water is harder and it reacts with phosphates to create calcium
and magnesium deposits. The Japanese disagree and specify high in
phosphates and low in borates and silicates because they fear
lack of maintenance will cause borate corrosion. This is the
reason you see the little "phosphate free coolant " only from vw
under the expansion tank cap-or it will void mf's warranty. It
seems that in my opinion, the original G11 coolant must have been
a poor acidic retardant-either from the reaction to the water
installed from the factory and/or an additive package that was
insufficient to go more than a couple of years on North American
water. Mixing the two coolants causes problems because you get
saturation of the silicates and gelling inside the engine, thus
the specific ritual flush with water and compressed air. I firmly
believe that no matter what proportion VW used for an additives
package with the G12 coolant, it too should be flushed out and
refilled every year or two. Considering that it isn't that much
work and it beats playing with litmus paper and rebuilding your
cylinder head. By the way, the corrosion we usually see on VR6s
is surface etching that rubs away to leave pits-almost always
around any flange that attaches to the head, or on the water jack
inlets comprising the head gasket. They're usually good to go
because they are far enough away from critical sealing areas, but
we do replace heads when they are questionable. I really doubt
that the new metal gasket is the reason for the G12. There is
actually no bare metal on the gasket and all the passages have
sealer from the factory around them. I think the reason was
simply that G11 didn't provide long enough reserve capacity and
coupled with poor maintenance, they were getting too many
warranty problems.
And now you know, the rest is up to you. I don't think the
warranty issue should stop you from doing it yourself. When in
doubt, call VWofA, but don't surrender the important info (VIN#,
etc). Be vague, if they want specifics, your inquries will be
recorded in the computer system. Beware.
Jason
'93 SLC
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(Kevin Collins)
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Thu Nov 20 17:36 CST 1997
, now: stevet@toast