There is a lot of commotion in Spain within the VAG group not only in Skoda but in the rest of the group's brands due to a video that has appeared on YouTube in which it says that the cars that carry the g13 coolant in whose expansion vessel there is a silicate bag  to avoid corrosion over time and kilometers they produce precisely that corrosion in the metallic elements of the circuit such as the radiator water pump and others.

 

In that video they recommend changing all the coolant in the circuit cleaning it with distilled water and adding the G12 coolant  Evo what is new and is the one that all the cars of the VAG group are taking from the factory.

 

 I open this thread so that the rest of European users and the rest of the world can tell us if they have heard this problem in their countries and if they have had breakdowns due to carrying this refrigerant over the years and the kilometers is a very serious issue since  a water pump in official service is € 800 in Spain.

The English term is coolant.  Refrigerant is what goes in the air conditioning system.

Interesting topic though, thanks for posting.

 

 

Deionized water rather than distilled in the coolant system.

Just to start a debate.

7 minutes ago, Wino said:

El término inglés es refrigerante. El refrigerante es lo que entra en el sistema de aire acondicionado.

Sin embargo, un tema interesante, gracias por publicar.

 

 

Thank you.  I have used the Google translator and it has happened to me to correct it and it does not allow me to edit messages ...

I will see if a moderator/admin can adjust it for you. 

On topic, is it definitely only cars that were factory-filled with G13 that have the silicate in the expansion tank? A workmate of mine has a car that has the silicate and is old enough to pre-date G13, I think

 

I read somewhere, I think, that G13 is the same as G12++, just made in a different way, starting with different, less ecologically damaging chemicals. Does anyone know if this is true?

Apparently only the 2020 models come with the g12evo coolant.  From 2014 to 2019 it comes with the g13 and the silicate sachet inside the expansion canister, it is marked on the outside of the canister.

G12++ isn't the same as G12 evo (as far as I know), it was the last version before G13. I can't remember what year my workmate's car is, just asking him on whatsapp. 

Edited 23 November, 20205 yr by Wino

September 2013 apparently, "one of the earliest Mk7 Golfs".  He'll check what coolant type it says on the bottle tomorrow.

G13 is a glycerin based coolant and has the silicat bag in the expansion bottle. G12++ is a glycol coolant. 
you should be able to mix them if you want, or if you replace your expansion bottle to remove the silicat bag, you can replace with G12 quite happily. 

Edited 23 November, 20205 yr by UndertheRadar
Phone cut part of sentence off.

29 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

Deionized water rather than distilled in the coolant system.

Just to start a debate.

I’ve a habit of using RO water in mine, as I make it in 5 gallon drums for my fish tank anyway. 

10 minutes ago, UndertheRadar said:

G13 is a glycerin based coolant and has the silicat bag in the expansion bottle. G12++ is a glycol coolant. 
you should be able to mix them if you want, or if you replace your expansion bottle to remove the silicat bag. 

 

It was 2013 it came in according to here: Wolflubes - The Vital Lubricant - Blog - What you need to know about G13 antifreeze and coolant

Seems ambiguous to me whether it ends up as 'glycerin based' or just starts out that way.

 

Title fixed thanks to @DeanVRS20VT 

OK, so the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the two say that both are principally still ethylene glycol (ethane-1,2-diol in modern chemical parlance), but G13 does have a proportion (10-30%) of glycerin too.

G13: 

 

G12++:

 

 

Interesting that the exact proportions of ingredients can be kept vague. 

 

Haven't found an MSDS for G12 evo yet.

4 hours ago, UndertheRadar said:

I’ve a habit of using RO water in mine, as I make it in 5 gallon drums for my fish tank anyway. 

`RO`?

Reverse osmosis?

Gonna be one hell of a fish tank.

26 minutes ago, mandp said:

`RO`?

As Chazzy has already said, its Reverse Osmosis water. Basically water from the tap ran through a certain amount of different types of filters (6 in my case) to leave it as pure as possible.

At that point i can either use it to water the plants or use it for engine coolant etc knowing it won't cause scale or have any chemical traces left in it.

When using it for the fish tank, i heat it in a 25 gallon drum to about 30 degrees and add reef salt until i get to the required level (1.024 or 32 ppt), aided by a circulation pump for mixing.

The tank if interested is around about 1000ltrs including the sump and all the reactors and skimmers when filled and running.

Probably more info than you wanted. lol.

Edited 23 November, 20205 yr by UndertheRadar

5 hours ago, UndertheRadar said:

G13 is a glycerin based coolant and has the silicat bag in the expansion bottle. G12++ is a glycol coolant. 
you should be able to mix them if you want, or if you replace your expansion bottle to remove the silicat bag, you can replace with G12 quite happily. 

This is exactly what I did myself! I bought a new tank and topped up with G12. 

The silica bag is also a matter for concern due to the risk of the bag rupturing and clogging up the cooling system. Some people have removed the bags and some have changed the expansion bottle. There are other threads about this.

 

3 hours ago, OldBoyScout said:

La bolsa de sílice también es motivo de preocupación debido al riesgo de que la bolsa se rompa y obstruya el sistema de enfriamiento. Algunas personas han quitado las bolsas y otras han cambiado la botella de expansión. Hay otros hilos sobre esto.

 

How can I find them? Was it done as a precaution or a fault? We have proven failures due to the use of G13 coolant and silicate?

Some variants of the silica bag (silikat) tend to split which can cause various blockages within the coolant system. I've never seen anything about G13 and silica causing corrosion on metal parts.

 

A common mod is to either remove the silica bag or replace the expansion bottle for one that is not 'mit silikat'