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Recommended Coolant Strength


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Hi, 

 

The local skoda dealer did a visual health check (as part of the diagnostics for a Bolero touch screen issue) on my car and came back to me saying "coolant  strength on min spec -25'c advise coolant change". They explained it to me saying the skoda recommended strength is -35'c (or this is what I understood). They did say that while this is not a big issue (being in UK) it is not what the company recommends. 

 

What I am wondering is I bought this car from them about 4-5 months ago and they did claim to have done all the PDI checks etc before the delivery where every aspects of the car was apparently looked into.

 

Can someone please advise me if I am correct in assuming the PDI check was not correctly done and they used wrong coolant? If so, I am planning to go back to them asking for an explanation. Or does the strength of coolant change when being used (the car has done about 5500 miles during the mean time)? 

 

Thanks. 

 

(I couldn't search for similar topic as it seems the search function is still getting indexed)

Edited by alladin1616
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The coolant should be filled out of the factory so I think all they need to do at the PDI is check the level is ok.

As the car is new, if it is not the right concentration (and you havent added any water yourself) then it was either wrong from the factory or it was topped up by the garage with water instead of the right mix.

The concentration should not change during use unless part of the water system is leaking.

 

My guess is they are just after a quick buck trying to frighten you to change it with the cold snap across the UK.

I would ask them to explain how it could have changed & say you are happy for them to change it for free as a gesture to correct the mistake from the factory & PDI check.

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2 hours ago, Gabbo said:

The coolant should be filled out of the factory so I think all they need to do at the PDI is check the level is ok.

As the car is new, if it is not the right concentration (and you havent added any water yourself) then it was either wrong from the factory or it was topped up by the garage with water instead of the right mix.

The concentration should not change during use unless part of the water system is leaking.

 

My guess is they are just after a quick buck trying to frighten you to change it with the cold snap across the UK.

I would ask them to explain how it could have changed & say you are happy for them to change it for free as a gesture to correct the mistake from the factory & PDI check.

 

So coolant loss over time is a valid warranty concern/claim? Mine has dropped from the max line since topping up about a month or two ago

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If there was a 'Fill to this level'.  there would be a 'FILL' level on the bottle,

There is a 'MIN' & 'MAX' and between them is good, MIN and going lower is bad.

Best not fill to 'MAX' as many lose some and set their own level.

 

Dealerships fill to 'MAX' and you might get home and check and the coolant is between 'MIN' & 'MAX'  perfecto.

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The dealer has asked me to take the car back to them so they can "top it up" although I believe it needs draining out and filling with "proper" coolant. This time I need to make sure they top it up correctly. 

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32 minutes ago, ahenners said:

 

So coolant loss over time is a valid warranty concern/claim? Mine has dropped from the max line since topping up about a month or two ago

 

Coolant level is different as it will go up & down depending on temperature so as long as its within the min & max levels I guess the dealer wont do anything.

The OPs post was concerning the concentration of coolant (i.e. the level of temperature protection) which should not change as far as I know (unless water or extra coolant is added).

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11 minutes ago, alladin1616 said:

The dealer has asked me to take the car back to them so they can "top it up" although I believe it needs draining out and filling with "proper" coolant. This time I need to make sure they top it up correctly. 

 

You can ask them to show you the concentration after they've done it.

Perhaps these days there is an electronic tool for doing it but in the past I've used a kind of spectrometer.

Fill the bottom with coolant, shine a light through it & the refraction of the light onto a temperature gauge at the back gives you an indication of the protection level.

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There's a PR number in the full car data referring to the factory filled protection level.  For both of our family's UK registered cars this this number is 1C1:

 

Car data says something like this  "1C1 L FRO Antifreeze up to -25 degree celsius tolerance up to -30 degree C"

 

To me that suggests that -25°C is the standard for the UK market (or was when our cars were built)

Ask your dealer what this PR number is for your car, if it isn't on your data sticker. For -35°C protection it would be 1C2.

 

If they won't show you the full data with these 1C numbers, get it yourself via erWin Skoda (though that would cost you a few quid; about 8 at the last exchange rate I got).

If it says 1C1 on the car data I think you should report this 'tactic' to Skoda UK. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Wino
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5 hours ago, Wino said:

There's a PR number in the full car data referring to the factory filled protection level.  For both of our family's UK registered cars this this number is 1C1:

 

Car data says something like this  "1C1 L FRO Antifreeze up to -25 degree celsius tolerance up to -30 degree C"

 

To me that suggests that -25°C is the standard for the UK market (or was when our cars were built)

Ask your dealer what this PR number is for your car, if it isn't on your data sticker. For -35°C protection it would be 1C2.

 

If they won't show you the full data with these 1C numbers, get it yourself via erWin Skoda (though that would cost you a few quid; about 8 at the last exchange rate I got).

If it says 1C1 on the car data I think you should report this 'tactic' to Skoda UK. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting.  I have the full Vehicle Data printout for my 2015 Yeti and there is no option code for coolant strength in the 200+ Pr numbers listed.

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Oh, that is curious. The only other car I have full information for is a workmate's 2004 Octy and that's also 1C1.

Maybe some others with more recent cars like yours can confirm if they've stopped listing this?

Or maybe Yeti are just naturally acclimatised to the cold?

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