4 minutes ago, durhamfisher said:

IMHO I would get skoda to do it so it doesn't affect your warranty. Nothing warranty companies like more than a bit of DIY wiggle room when it comes to a claim.

If this sounds appealing, I'd be tempted to get a quote from a distant Skoda dealer for the job. That way, if they say "We can't do that, you'll void your warranty!", you haven't pointed out to your local dealer (who's likely to do any warranty work), that you're intending to remove the silica bag and give them a little warranty wriggle-room.

If they say "No problem!" and give you a price, then talk to your usual dealer to get the job done, safe in the knowledge it won't affect the warranty.

23 minutes ago, EnterName said:

One Brisky member turkey-basted his coolant out prior to removing his expansion tank, and then returned it after the new tank was fitted, with a small top-up, if I remember correctly.

Less than ideal - why not use brand new G12evo ready-mixed instead?

 

32 minutes ago, EnterName said:

If this sounds appealing, I'd be tempted to get a quote from a distant Skoda dealer for the job. That way, if they say "We can't do that, you'll void your warranty!", you haven't pointed out to your local dealer (who's likely to do any warranty work), that you're intending to remove the silica bag and give them a little warranty wriggle-room.

If they say "No problem!" and give you a price, then talk to your usual dealer to get the job done, safe in the knowledge it won't affect the warranty.

 

The warranty side of things is a concern. I think the best bet for now is to leave it with the 'Mit Silikat' header and think it through a bit more. Cheers guys.

16 minutes ago, varaderoguy said:

Less than ideal - why not use brand new G12evo ready-mixed instead?

Maybe cost was an issue?

Maybe he figured that he would replace all the coolant with G12evo when it was due for replacement?

I dunno, I just took my bag out.

G12evo is not expensive....1 litre is less than £10.

19 hours ago, Ynox said:

 

 

The warranty side of things is a concern. I think the best bet for now is to leave it with the 'Mit Silikat' header and think it through a bit more. Cheers guys.

The attached post seems to vindicate your decision.

If Gaz is correct, removing the bag voids a VW warranty, and I suspect Skoda are no more generous than VW when wriggling out of the cost of failures within the warranty period. But this may vary from dealer to dealer, and the dealer who told Gaz this may be in error. Or not.

 

But I can't resist being playful here (and may God forgive me for planting this doubt in your head), when you remove the bag after your warranty has expired only to find it has split, what then?

 

On 17/08/2021 at 10:03, EnterName said:

The attached post seems to vindicate your decision.

If Gaz is correct, removing the bag voids a VW warranty, and I suspect Skoda are no more generous than VW when wriggling out of the cost of failures within the warranty period. But this may vary from dealer to dealer, and the dealer who told Gaz this may be in error. Or not.

 

But I can't resist being playful here (and may God forgive me for planting this doubt in your head), when you remove the bag after your warranty has expired only to find it has split, what then?

 

 

Yeah. It's a difficult one. 

 

If it wasn't for the warranty I'd be running nicht Silikat (I'm never convinced that fluids are good for life of a vehicle and a coolant flush isn't a big deal for me), but with the warranty in place I think mit Silikat is the way to go maybe. I think there's also an element of 'you only hear about the failures' on forums maybe.

 

Still got the tank / coolant on its way to me though so I'll continue to give it some thought.

1 hour ago, Ynox said:

 

Yeah. It's a difficult one. 

 

If it wasn't for the warranty I'd be running nicht Silikat (I'm never convinced that fluids are good for life of a vehicle and a coolant flush isn't a big deal for me), but with the warranty in place I think mit Silikat is the way to go maybe. I think there's also an element of 'you only hear about the failures' on forums maybe.

 

Still got the tank / coolant on its way to me though so I'll continue to give it some thought.

Unsurprisingly the chance of failure increases with time, so as the car gets older, the likelihood of silica bag failure increases.

I would say, and I might be wrong, that you're just into what I would call "unlucky early failure territory". Six years and onwards seem to be more common age for the silica bag to fail, if they're going to fail.  There doesn't seem to be any data on silica bag failure, and as you suggest, I'd agree that's it's actually a minority of silica bags that do fail, Even when they do, it's not always catastrophic if you catch the failure in time. (See Nik's post and split bag.)

 

That said, there are a plethora of different silica bag designs, which suggests either there was a known problem and VAG are trying to find the optimum solution, or VAG get header tanks with silica bags from a variety of suppliers who satisfy the required specification in a different way. The fact that VAG have actually developed a better solution, in the form of G12evo, could suggest that silica bag failure is enough of a problem to warrant developing the G12evo to cure the problem. I dunno!

 

As it is, you have had silica correctly leeching into your coolant for the life of the car so far, so pulling an estimate out of my backside, I would say you have at least 12 months' good corrosion protection with what you've got, even if you remove the silica bag. (Maybe more, but I'd feel very safe about 12 months protection.) I'd also suggest that you're running a fairly small risk of failure before the warranty runs out by leaving the bag in.

 

Ultimately, I don't think there's a "wrong" decision to make in your situation. You do what feels right to you, and hope for the best.

Framed rather crudely, you're betting your car will fail but your silica bag won't.

Edit: That framing really is too crude, because even if your silica bag fails, any damage is covered under warranty. So arguably your approach is the logical choice.

Hence having your warranty intact for all possible warranty failures, is more important to you than worrying about one particular failure, that would be covered by your warranty anyway.

I've done the opposite, but that might well yet bite me on the backside.

 

Edited 19 August, 20214 yr by EnterName
Update on my crude framing

It is a crazy world if VW or Skoda wriggle out of a warranty claim for anything to do with a silica bag removal other than an internal engine corrosion issue. Anything else, is ludicrous, and pure scam! Maybe that is the environment we live in.  I read somewhere lately, unless I was dreaming that we, the uk, was going down the road of following an EU reg, which prevents small garages from using after market parts. Seems pretty misguided if you are talking named respected aftermarket mfrs, who in some cases will be the OEM!

3 minutes ago, TheClient said:

It is a crazy world if VW or Skoda wriggle out of a warranty claim for anything to do with a silica bag removal other than an internal engine corrosion issue. Anything else, is ludicrous, and pure scam! Maybe that is the environment we live in.  I read somewhere lately, unless I was dreaming that we, the uk, was going down the road of following an EU reg, which prevents small garages from using after market parts. Seems pretty misguided if you are talking named respected aftermarket mfrs, who in some cases will be the OEM!

I understand the urge to ban the use of unsafe third-party parts, but if they can be shown to meet or exceed OEM specs, then banning them seems anticompetitive.

Yeah, inferior below par non branded parts sure. But the garage also runs a risk of an early failure. But it is a case of a demolition ball to a walnut rather than finding a good legislative / regulation policy to adopt.

 

Edit: will it apply to non VW branded oils...do we need to use quantum or some other brand with a little vw badge in the corner that costs 25% of the product cost!

Edited 25 August, 20214 yr by TheClient

China will copy anything and everything. They will mark products with CE stamps and brand boxes accordingly. This is what we need for stop not the legitimate use of OEM parts that truly meet the standards.

4 minutes ago, TheClient said:

Yeah, inferior below par non branded parts sure. But the garage also runs a risk of an early failure. But it is a case of a demolition ball to a walnut rather than finding a good legislative / regulation policy to adopt.

 

Edit: will it apply to non VW branded oils...do we need to use quantum or some other brand with a little vw badge in the corner that costs 25% of the product cost!

Maybe an agreed certification mark such as the British Kitemark or German TUV product certification?

https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/kitemark/

https://www.tuv.com/world/en/product-certification.html

 

But of course, that will add to the product cost...

On 16/08/2021 at 13:56, varaderoguy said:

Less than ideal - why not use brand new G12evo ready-mixed instead?

Actually topped up with fresh, pre-mixed G13 - turky baster was used to empty the header tank so as not to spill old coolant into engine bay.

When I find an easy way to drain coolant without risk of creating an air lock, I intend to do full coolant change - probably G12 evo.

I had the water bottle replaced in my 2015 diesel VRS when the belt and pump was done.

 

Have recently upgraded to a 2018 petrol 245. I can’t see a silica bag in the water bottle. Did this not apply to that model or possibly previous owner removed?

On 20/09/2021 at 16:30, purephotoni said:

possibly previous owner removed?

Quite likely.  Most independants removed then as a matter of course.  A lot of folk have done the same.  As long as you have revision M header tank you should be good to go.

On 20/09/2021 at 16:30, purephotoni said:

Have recently upgraded to a 2018 petrol 245. I can’t see a silica bag in the water bottle. Did this not apply to that model or possibly previous owner removed?

 

Apologies for the old thread resurrection, just adding this for anyone that searches on this topic...

 

I have a 2018 petrol 245 and mine had the Silica bag with the Coolant tank that was appropriate at the time (the old style as it is now). Anyhow, I contacted my local Skoda dealer and they wanted £71 to supply and fit the new non-silica bag style coolant tank - I'm not brave enough to do this myself, so I gave them the go ahead. It took them 20 min at the most, as I sat and waited for them to do it.

 

Hope this helps others.

The new expansion tank, Part No 5Q0 121 407 M doesnt come with a filler cap. Does anybody know the part number for the cap? Cheers

Hi! 

The old cap fitted on my new expansion bottle . It should fit

I changed the expansion tank a year ago to the new one without silica bag and used the old cap. I went for a short trip yesterday, this morning the expansion tank is empty. I have taken off, cleaned, no leaks. Could this be a one off or likely to happen again? Trying to eliminate things before an expensive trip to the garage and possible head gasket.

Keep an eye out for coolant residue under the tank and around the over flow (the tube on the side) 

 

also keep an eye out for steam out the exhaust. Might help narrow things done. 
 

faulty egr cooler or charge cooler (if diesel) is more likely than head gasket. May also be a blocked heater matrix, have a google for more info 

Thanks for reply.  Mine is a diesel. Would a faulty egr cooler,/ charge cooler or blocked heater matrix show up as a fault on the dash?

I have been out today, done about 10 miles and everything seems ok 🤞, not a drop under tank or overflow tube. No bubbling in tank.

Just wondered if it could be a one off? seems strange for the tank to completely empty just once, makes you feel like it could happen again and not trust on going a long distance.

 

Nope not likely to throw a fault on the dash unfortunately. Keep an eye out for the vents not blowing hot air too, this is also a symptom of a blocked matrix or air locks entering the cooling system

Thanks for quick reply again. Will do, cheers.

Hi all!

 

I recently joined team vag after years with MB.

I found out about this issue with the silicate bags and immediately took a glance to my expansion tank. No problems in the heating and the liquid is clean and pink.

The tank is "two wall" design and even with a strong torch/flashlight shining through the tank I was not able to locate any bag or capsules. Tank has no label for "mit silikat".

 

The car is Superb 2020 facelift 2.0tdi dsg 4x4 and part nubmer for the expansion tank ends with AA, yes two A letters. It seems that this model of expansion tank is also used in the latest Octavia mark 4. I found this out by looking parts online from crashed cars here in Finland. I was not able to find any additional information about this version of the tank.

Is there anyone who can verify, whether this expansion tank has silicates or not? Thank you!