xxx4life02

Hi all,
I have a 96 audi a6 with the 2.8 v6. When i took it in to have the timing belt and water pump done, the service manager suggested that i flush the coolant at the same time. He also said that i could just go with the regular green coolant. So thats how it sits today....engine runs and stays cool and has done so for the past year now....Will there be any negatives for doing this? Like i said this happened over a year ago, so am i ok with having done this? will it cause any unrepairable damage? BTW the car has about 192xxx miles on it.

egp320i

The shop is an idiot then. Green coolant has high silicates that can clog the system if not flushed every 2 years.
the original fill in your Audi was Pentosin G12 red.

G 12 (G 30 in europe) is OAT based. It is phosphate, silicate, borate, nitrate, amine and nitrite free.

1.New antifreeze, Part No: G 012 A8F A4:

- Color = Purple

- Replaces Part No: ZVW 237 G12 (Pink)

- Can be mixed with ZVW 237 G12 (Pink)

- DO NOT mix with ZVW 237 105 (green) or any aftermarket antifreeze

- DOES NOT replace Part No: ZVW 237 105 (green)

2.Antifreeze, Part No: ZVW 237 G12:

- Color = Pink

- Can be mixed with G 012 A8F A4 (purple)

- DO NOT mix with ZVW 237 105 (green) or any aftermarket antifreeze

- DOES NOT replace Part No ZVW 237 105 (green)

3. Regular antifreeze, Part No: ZVW 237 105:

- Color = Green

- DOES NOT replace and cannot be mixed with Part No: G 012 A8F A4 (purple)

- DOES NOT replace and cannot be mixed with Part No: ZVW 237 G12 (pink


Basically in order to put the correct coolant in your sytem you would need to a complete flush with a citrus cleaner as they can gel and make brown.

I would flush, run cleaner and do two rounds of water flush to make sure all traces of green were gone and then do it correctly.

Yes some people run dex-cool which is still not good for plastic parts but your safe bet is to use what Audi engineer's designated in the first place for the factory fill.

Go to the dealer and you can buy gallon's of factory coolant for a decent price [$23], 2 gallons will be enough to flush and have 1/2 gallon left over for topping off if needed if mixed 50/50.
At 50/50 the cooling system holds just shy of 3 gallons so mixed equally 1.5 gallons.

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xxx4life02

What about the other manufacturers? I have heard of Peaks global lifetime antifreeze or Zerex g-05? would it work to go with either of those?

xxx4life02

I heard both of these are silicate free and phosphate free???

egp320i

Peak does state it's phosphate and silicate free but unlike Pentosin it might have other additives they do not list.

the MSDS, note their forumla is a secret

Material CAS# % by Wt PEL (OSHA) TLV (ACGIH)
Ethylene Glycol 107-21-1 90 - 97 50 ppm 50 ppm
Diethylene Glycol 111-46-6 < 5 None None
Hydrated inorganic acid, proprietary < 5 10 mg/m3 1 mg/m3
organic acid salts
Water 7732-18-5 < 4 None None

Zerex g-05 is the same as MB's OEM coolant.
It's low silicate and phosphate free.

ETHYLENE GLYCOL 107-21-1 >=90-<=100%
DIETHYLENE GLYCOL 111-46-6 >=1.5-<5%
SODIUM BENZOATE 532-32-1 >=1.5-<5%
SODIUM TETRABORATE 1330-43-4 >=1.5-<5%

I would go with Zerex before Peak.

Both of these and Pentosin are good for 5/150.

The choice is yours, Zerex is around $15/G at walmart.

Whatever you go with just do a complete flush to get all traces of green from the system.

xxx4life02

Thank you very much for all your knowledge in this situation! I have been following these boards for a while! You are so helpful.

egp320i

I did my research recently on the subject seeing as so many flavors are out there now. Pentosin/OEM VW/Audi coolant has a new formula for 2008+ cars called G12++ which is almost exactly like dex-cool but lilac colored.

C4's red was OEM and if you can still find it your best bet to be as trouble free as possible. G12+ purple will work as well and since red has been [according to VAG] discontinued/ceded to G12+ it will work fine as well.

In a nutshell:
G11 blue <95
G12 red <96-08
G12+ purple <96-08 - replaces red
G12++ lilac <08

You should be able to get the one you need depending on model year.
Audi should have just kept the red, saves confusion.

They might be $23/gallon retail at the dealership but you will have a complete flush, 1/2G left over in case you get a small leak and need to top off for 50 bucks for 5 years.
10 bucks a year is not a large sum for piece of mind.

If you do any order for OEM dealer parts at Gvap you can toss a gallon or two on your order without paying anything extra for shipping, their price is around $16.50 which is reasonable. Shipping is 9.95 up to 100 or so.
In reality if your dealer is far away you would save about a few bucks with shipping and have it come to your door plus fuel to drive to the dealer.

When I am forced to buy some parts that are dealer only I round up a list so I can knock it all out at the same time if possible and tack on other items like coolant ahead of time.

genuinevwaudiparts.com

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