Phil type 951

Ok my dad owns a a6 and when he was out of town my uncle barrowed the car and decided to add some coolant because the coolant light went on. the book says it is a sealed system and you should not add coolant because it could cause corrosion. it this going to be a problem? should he take it in and have fluid replaced.

Seattle Scott

I might have added deionized water instead of coolant.

Any, most A6 have red Pentosin coolant aka Audi/VW red. The older A6s have blue Pentosin coolant. What year is the A6?

If the wrong coolant was added I would strongly consider flushing and refilling the system. Is the car near 60,000 and ready for the water pump, timing belt, etc., etc. job? Coolant gets flushed with that job.

If the right coolant was added sounds OK as long as you didn't go over the 60/40 max ratio. 50/50 is nominal for the USA. 60 percent coolant is nominal for Canada.

Here is the coolant in a beater 1997 A6.

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/12414/coolant.jpg">

Phil type 951

I dont know execpt that I got a frantic call from my mom @ work and she told me what happended. I think the only coolent I had @ home was prestone blue, for use in a 64 morgan. this is obviously the wrong type so I guess I should tell my dad to get the system flushed. his car is a 2000 a6. about how much would a dealer charge for this, any idea? I should just go do it my self, but i have no time! oh yeah the ratio is another point i did not think of, but since I think it was the wrong kind it does not really mattter. thanks for the help!

Seattle Scott

It takes about three hours to do it right. Probably about 45 minutes to do it like a dealer.

A 2000 could use a flush, I do mine every 30,000 miles (that's about two years).

You need an 8?mm allen wrench, a long one to get to the engine drain plug, a 6? mm allen for one of the coolant vents and the heater hose vent, don't know if you have it.

It will take you a while to figure it out the first time.

The big deal here is if she lost enough coolant to trigger the sensor Mr. Water Pump may be leaking. How many miles on the car? To get to the water pump you need to take off the timing belt, serpentine belt, serpentine tensioner, timing belt tensioner so you might as well do the timing belt roller and thermostat.

Do it for Mom, she changed your diapers and put up with all your other crap. ;-)

phred

as was pointed out in a recent C&amp;D article, you need to use one certain kind of antifreeze. OAT, I believe. The Pep Boys stuff for most cars is wrong, small amounts are OK but make sure the system gets its every-two-years flush with the right juice.