Bag in coolant.

[Noms]

2 hours ago, EnterName said:

You have piqued my interest. Did you do this with the expansion tank drained or full?

I did not drain the tank, nor remove anything. All I did was take the lid off the expansion tank and stuck fingers in. It takes a while, but don’t give up. It’s really worth it. I had so much anxiety over this issue before taking the bag out, thinking it could split at any time; and now sleep much better at night. 

[EnterName]

18 minutes ago, Noms said:

I did not drain the tank, nor remove anything. All I did was take the lid off the expansion tank and stuck fingers in. It takes a while, but don’t give up. It’s really worth it. I had so much anxiety over this issue before taking the bag out, thinking it could split at any time; and now sleep much better at night. 

Hmmm. I will have a bit more of a look at the job and see how the mood takes me at the time.

I understand the worry over the bag splitting, but I'm also worried about damaging the bag myself.

 

[EnterName]

I've been in a car fettling mood this week, so after fitting my reversing camera yesterday, I figured I'd go fishing for the silica bag today.

I dug around with my fingers as @Nomsdid, and found that almost before I knew it, the bag was loose in the header tank.

Getting it out of the top without splitting was then the trick, but it wasn't too much of a pain, and I used a pair of forceps to get a good careful grip on it to allow me to wiggle it out carefully without worrying about it falling back into the tank.

It was a lot easier than I expected, TBH and I'm glad I've got that little worry out of the way as my car rapidly heads towards being 3 years old.

That said, the silica bag looked in perfect condition, and I almost had a pang of regret about solving a problem I didn't seem to have.

(I've kept the silica bag in a sealed food bag for now.)

[EnterName]

On 08/12/2020 at 19:47, James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale said:

I'm not condoning the removal of the silicate bag on your Skodas but the first thing I did when I got my Leon was remove it.

 

That's speaking as someone who deals with the consequences of them failing on a fairly regular basis.

Hi @James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale.

When you've removed the silica bag, what would you suggest are suitable coolant service intervals, and what should be used?

(I have removed the silica bag from a MY19 car with G13 coolant.)

[FrankNicklin]

1 hour ago, EnterName said:

Hi @James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale.

When you've removed the silica bag, what would you suggest are suitable coolant service intervals, and what should be used?

(I have removed the silica bag from a MY19 car with G13 coolant.)

Doesn’t seem to be any specific year that the bags are present or not. I have a 67 Plate 1.4tsi and it doesn’t have the bag, yet cars both before and after my year have the bag. The coolant container should have “MIT Silikat” printed on it if the bag is present. Mine doesn’t and does not have the bag. Does not really make sense.

[EnterName]

8 hours ago, FrankNicklin said:

Doesn’t seem to be any specific year that the bags are present or not. I have a 67 Plate 1.4tsi and it doesn’t have the bag, yet cars both before and after my year have the bag. The coolant container should have “MIT Silikat” printed on it if the bag is present. Mine doesn’t and does not have the bag. Does not really make sense.

As far as I know, the silica bag was put in cars fitted with full dual climate control. (I.E. Passenger and driver can set different personal temperatures.)

Does you car have dual climate control, because that would blow a hole in that idea.

[FrankNicklin]

5 hours ago, EnterName said:

As far as I know, the silica bag was put in cars fitted with full dual climate control. (I.E. Passenger and driver can set different personal temperatures.)

Does you car have dual climate control, because that would blow a hole in that idea.

Yes mine has Dual Climate control, SEL spec.

[EnterName]

1 minute ago, FrankNicklin said:

Yes mine has Dual Climate control, SEL spec.

Well how about that!

Do you know what coolant you have in your car?

[FrankNicklin]

Just now, EnterName said:

Well how about that!

Do you know what coolant you have in your car?

No I don't. Only had the car since December last year, so not sure. Will have to check the coolant container for any other markings.

[EnterName]

Just now, FrankNicklin said:

No I don't. Only had the car since December last year, so not sure. Will have to check the coolant container for any other markings.

That's a good idea. I found this chart yesterday, it's a little illuminating on coolant and corrosion protection.

Hopefully you've got G12evo in there. 

[Noms]

On 04/08/2021 at 20:53, EnterName said:

I've been in a car fettling mood this week, so after fitting my reversing camera yesterday, I figured I'd go fishing for the silica bag today.

I dug around with my fingers as @Nomsdid, and found that almost before I knew it, the bag was loose in the header tank.

Getting it out of the top without splitting was then the trick, but it wasn't too much of a pain, and I used a pair of forceps to get a good careful grip on it to allow me to wiggle it out carefully without worrying about it falling back into the tank.

It was a lot easier than I expected, TBH and I'm glad I've got that little worry out of the way as my car rapidly heads towards being 3 years old.

That said, the silica bag looked in perfect condition, and I almost had a pang of regret about solving a problem I didn't seem to have.

(I've kept the silica bag in a sealed food bag for now.)

Well done mate, you now have peace of mind..

[EnterName]

5 hours ago, Noms said:

Well done mate, you now have peace of mind..

You'd think so, but now I'm worried about internal corrosion and looking ahead to swapping my G13 coolant for G12evo.

But thanks for the encouragement mate, you tipped me over the edge from wishful thinking into just getting on with it.