Bag in coolant.

[lway]

2 hours ago, Noms said:

Just went to have a look at the expansion tank in my 2016 VRS, and sure enough, the tea bag is present.

I've tried to fish it out, but had no joy; does anyone have any tips?

 

You might, like me, have the double walled version with the silica located between the two walls of the tank.

I bought some coolant to top up from a local car parts shop that has a garage attached and the mechanic told me to get rid of the old tank and order a new one without the bag, told me to ring up the local VW garage as they always keep loads of them in stock so I'll be looking to replace mine soon enough.

 

Some good tips on the previous pages from people who have fished out the bag (if you have the single walled version)

[wellsy1]

4 minutes ago, lway said:

 

You might, like me, have the double walled version with the silica located between the two walls of the tank.

I bought some coolant to top up from a local car parts shop that has a garage attached and the mechanic told me to get rid of the old tank and order a new one without the bag, told me to ring up the local VW garage as they always keep loads of them in stock so I'll be looking to replace mine soon enough.

 

Some good tips on the previous pages from people who have fished out the bag (if you have the single walled version)

Thanks for the info. Shame all dealers do not give this advice. I’ve spoken to Skoda uk who told me not enough issues to warrant a recall . However lots of issues reported over vw, seat and Skoda forums. Plus why release this new style if the old style didn’t cause issues . 
 

[Noms]

15 minutes ago, lway said:

 

You might, like me, have the double walled version with the silica located between the two walls of the tank.

I bought some coolant to top up from a local car parts shop that has a garage attached and the mechanic told me to get rid of the old tank and order a new one without the bag, told me to ring up the local VW garage as they always keep loads of them in stock so I'll be looking to replace mine soon enough.

 

Some good tips on the previous pages from people who have fished out the bag (if you have the single walled version)

Mine is the single walled version. I can feel the teabag and move it around, but not able to prise it out. I guess I'm also worried about damaging it.

[Noms]

10 minutes ago, wellsy1 said:

Thanks for the info. Shame all dealers do not give this advice. I’ve spoken to Skoda uk who told me not enough issues to warrant a recall . However lots of issues reported over vw, seat and Skoda forums. Plus why release this new style if the old style didn’t cause issues . 
 

"Not enough issues to warrant a recall"? That's a joke!

This issue exists across VW, Audi, Skoda & Seat, and they say there are not enough issues. Such nonsense.

[wellsy1]

1 hour ago, Noms said:

"Not enough issues to warrant a recall"? That's a joke!

This issue exists across VW, Audi, Skoda & Seat, and they say there are not enough issues. Such nonsense.

Exactly , since I’ve been told about it the web seem full of people with issues . I guess if the result was a £100 or even £200 to fix but the cost are crazy and the costs I’ve had Seem the lowest at £680 Compared to some stories . 

[Gaz]

20 hours ago, Noms said:

Mine is the single walled version. I can feel the teabag and move it around, but not able to prise it out. I guess I'm also worried about damaging it.

 

I was the same Noms, and have a Phd in being ham-fisted 

 

Point nosed pliers or surgical clamps are your friend.  I too could feel it and swill it around (enough to inspect it for any damage), but not do much else.  Take your time, get it vertical and then manoeuvre it into the neck of the bottle.  Once you can get hold of it with your fingers you can wiggle it free.  There is a bit of resistance as you get it almost clear, but this is the seam of the bag needing to compress a tad.  I was watching closely and was going to get a screwdriver to ease the seam through, but then a bit of upward pressure and it popped free.  It's quite a strong plastic mesh, nowhere near as weak as a tea bag you make tea with.  I took the view that if it did start to rupture, I'd immediately stop, isolate the tank and then remove the tank, carrying on once the tank is remote from the car.

 

If I can do it, anyone can.

 

Gaz

Edited 30 March, 2021 by Gaz_
typo

[Noms]

8 hours ago, Gaz_ said:

 

I was the same Noms, and have a Phd in being ham-fisted 

 

Point nosed pliers or surgical clamps are your friend.  I too could feel it and swill it around (enough to inspect it for any damage), but not do much else.  Take your time, get it vertical and then manoeuvre it into the neck of the bottle.  Once you can get hold of it with your fingers you can wiggle it free.  There is a bit of resistances you get it almost clear, but this is the seam of the bag needing to compress a tad.  I was watching closely and was going to get a screwdriver to ease the seam through, but then a bit of upward pressure and it popped free.  It's quite a strong plastic mesh, nowhere near as weak as a tea bag you make tea with.  I took the view that if it did start to rupture, I'd immediately stop, isolate the tank and then remove the tank, carrying on once the tank is remote from the car.

 

If I can do it, anyone can.

 

Gaz

Thank you so much Gaz, your encouragement and advice helped me to remove the silica bag from the Coolant Reservoir.

I'm now thankfully clear of this 'ticking time bomb'.

 

Mit Silikat? - nicht jetzt!

 

[NikTheGeek]

On 29/03/2021 at 11:27, Noms said:

Just went to have a look at the expansion tank in my 2016 VRS, and sure enough, the tea bag is present.

I've tried to fish it out, but had no joy; does anyone have any tips?

I show the aftermath

I know I should have filmed the process! But remove your tank in case you split the bag and then you can be as rough as you like!

 

HTH, Nick

[wellsy1]

5 minutes ago, NikTheGeek said:

I show the aftermath

I know I should have filmed the process! But remove your tank in case you split the bag and then you can be as rough as you like!

 

HTH, Nick

Thank for the video. 
just had a update on my case. Car will be going in soon to be done . I’ve checked with the dealer to see if the new tank will have this bag, Confirmation From dealer the header tanks has had several revisions and the new ones don’t  have a silica bag. So my question if skoda /VW haven’t had many issues to warrant a recall Or cover costs outside of warranty because of it being a design issue, why change the design of the header tank and remove the bag. 
it looks like skoda uk are going to support me on the repair bill so anyone having issues, it maybe worth a call. 
however, I do think skoda ( to be fair All VW brands that can suffer this issue)  should see this as a recall issue or at least cover costs to repair. 
 

[Stoofa]

Not to come over sounding like a **** but of course Skoda are correct - there are not enough issues to warrant a recall.

Just how many problems do you think there have been compared to the number of vehicles that went out with this configuration?

You're making the usual mistake of assuming that the vocal make up a majority - they don't. Unless you've got some kind of data to indicate that the number of issues makes up even a single percentage, you'll find the number is extremely low.

 

It's a mistake made on numerous forums for everything - if you believed Reddit for example, you'd believe that the vast majority of Playstation 5 consoles have a number of issues and that list of issues is an "arms length",

Once you drill into the number of units in the wild and the number of people actually making the complaints, you drop down in to the realms of 0.1 / 0.2%

 

I can guarantee you it is likewise here. Before we go down the "Yer, but my mate Dave has had an issue" and "When I spoke to my local garage they told me hundreds of people......." - no, these aren't statistics. This is hearsay at best, anecdotal.

 

Now if you want to make the change then go for it. I've, out of interest, looked at my own setup and see there is a bag sandwiched between two plastic skins. I've not got any intention of changing that.

Others will want to make the change, sure - nobody is going to tell you not to do that.

But please don't start making it sound like every other car is going to start having issues and if you don't do it then it's just a matter of time before it all goes wrong - you're sounding like the TFSI issues with cam chains all over again, that too did not effect more than a handful of vocal people.

[wellsy1]

4 hours ago, Stoofa said:

Not to come over sounding like a **** but of course Skoda are correct - there are not enough issues to warrant a recall.

Just how many problems do you think there have been compared to the number of vehicles that went out with this configuration?

You're making the usual mistake of assuming that the vocal make up a majority - they don't. Unless you've got some kind of data to indicate that the number of issues makes up even a single percentage, you'll find the number is extremely low.

 

It's a mistake made on numerous forums for everything - if you believed Reddit for example, you'd believe that the vast majority of Playstation 5 consoles have a number of issues and that list of issues is an "arms length",

Once you drill into the number of units in the wild and the number of people actually making the complaints, you drop down in to the realms of 0.1 / 0.2%

 

I can guarantee you it is likewise here. Before we go down the "Yer, but my mate Dave has had an issue" and "When I spoke to my local garage they told me hundreds of people......." - no, these aren't statistics. This is hearsay at best, anecdotal.

 

Now if you want to make the change then go for it. I've, out of interest, looked at my own setup and see there is a bag sandwiched between two plastic skins. I've not got any intention of changing that.

Others will want to make the change, sure - nobody is going to tell you not to do that.

But please don't start making it sound like every other car is going to start having issues and if you don't do it then it's just a matter of time before it all goes wrong - you're sounding like the TFSI issues with cam chains all over again, that too did not effect more than a handful of vocal people.

I’m sorry but I think you are missing the point . We are talking about a £30 header tank that if fails causes between £600 and over £1000 of damages) 

also dealers do no mention it however the moment Ive questioned them And asked  ‘ could this be because of the silica bag I’m told yes”. 
the last dealer told me it takes a long time to flush as they need to follow a service bulletin for the issue. Then I’ve now found out the header tank as had several revisions and the new design doesn’t have silica bag.! 🤔

so if no major issue, why issue a change or service bulletin regarding a fix . 

personally I’ve worked in the spare parts business   for over 20 years so I understand why companies issue changes . 

 If this issues only effects a small number of cars(maybe before ur design type) then again why not cover repair bill . lastly I’ve not mentioned “every other car will have issues. “ I’ve just tried to inform other Skoda users of the issues I’ve had . Secondly , if it wasn’t for people on forums talking  about the issues they have, nothing ever gets sorted . 


 

[FrankNicklin]

Does anyone know when the redesign was done. I have a 67 plate 1.4 TSI SEL DSG, will it have a silicate bag and is it likely to cause an issue.

[lway]

9 minutes ago, FrankNicklin said:

Does anyone know when the redesign was done. I have a 67 plate 1.4 TSI SEL DSG, will it have a silicate bag and is it likely to cause an issue.

 

Have a look under the bonnet, if it says "Mit Silikat" then it has the Silicate Bag, my 2015 TDI and the missus 2019 Petrol both have it.

[Tazdaz]

My 2017 vRS 245 had the bag in.

 

I took it out several weeks ago and the seam on one side wasn't perfect so glad I did it.

[wellsy1]

12 minutes ago, FrankNicklin said:

Does anyone know when the redesign was done. I have a 67 plate 1.4 TSI SEL DSG, will it have a silicate bag and is it likely to cause an issue.

Sorry I’m not sure. I only got the info regarding the change as my car is due to go into the dealer and I asked what the new tanks looked like as I didn’t want to spend all this money with the possibility of it happening again. I was told they have just ordered one in to do another car and that one didn’t have a bag. Also on the system it shows lot of revisions to the design.

[GreenMachine1.6]

I have an early 2019 and it has the double wall mit silikat. I will be changing it when the car is out of warranty. Have suffered a VAG corrosion protection screw up years ago on a Golf MKII when at 5 years old the core plugs  rusted through!

[wellsy1]

2 minutes ago, GreenMachine1.6 said:

I have an early 2019 and it has the double wall mit silikat. I will be changing it when the car is out of warranty. Have suffered a VAG corrosion protection screw up years ago on a Golf MKII when at 5 years old the core plugs  rusted through!

With the double wall type, does it still have a bag? Maybe this is the new style, sorry I don’t know what the new style looks like, just dealer told me no bag. 

[GreenMachine1.6]

I believe so according to earlier posts and it say "Mit Silikat" in the tank.

[FrankNicklin]

This is mine from a 67 plate 1.4TSI DSG. No mention of "Mit Silicate" on the body, so is this the new double walled unit.

 

[dieselV6]

I replaced the coolant tank on my vRS for the current, bagless version a month ago, the silica bag was intact in the old double walled one, but I did notice that there is only a single seam sealing the bag at each end, and the seam did look tired or perhaps not very well made at one corner.  The whole bag idea would probably have worked very well with double seam, but I bet this stood in the way of profit...  

 

Another annoying tidbit is that the coolant cap costs as much as the coolant tank at Skoda, I guess I could have reused the old cap but why charge so much for it?

 

G12++  from now on... after I run out of G13 that is, until then 50% mix G12++ / G13  mixed with water 35:65 and partly flushed every couple years to keep water pump happy and the oil cool enough on autobahn runs.

[lway]

19 hours ago, FrankNicklin said:

This is mine from a 67 plate 1.4TSI DSG. No mention of "Mit Silicate" on the body, so is this the new double walled unit.

 

 

 

This is the one you want to have, single or double walled doesn't matter if it doesn't say "Mit Silikat" then it doesn't have the silica bag.

 

There are single and double walled versions with Mit Silikat written on them and these aren't necessarily bad, just that the silica bag could potentially burst and empty the crystals into the cooling system leading to an expensive system flush and more than likely a blocked heater matrix.

 

[fr1nklyn]

On 01/04/2021 at 18:19, dieselV6 said:

Another annoying tidbit is that the coolant cap costs as much as the coolant tank at Skoda, I guess I could have reused the old cap but why charge so much for it?

For those who are wondering - the old cap can be reused. I switched my tank with silica bag with the latest model without such. It was like 25 euro.

The old cap and its seal were perfectly fine.

Edited 3 April, 2021 by fr1nklyn

[MICKLEN3]

On 26/03/2021 at 19:49, wellsy1 said:

Hi all, 

not sure about new tanks And silica bags however I’ve just fell foul to the silica bag issue. 
66 plate 1.6 tdi diesel with 43 k on the clock . 
my issue are the crazy prices to fix a technical design fault .  £650 to £850 I’ve been quoted for just have the system flushed! I’ve mentioned my cam belt and water are due soon so can I save any bringing in that forward . Nope, that’s another £600. 
now the egr valve might need changing . This is my first and at present last Skoda I’ll buy. 

 

Hi, yes just had a quote for £850 to flush and replace coolant and expansion bottle. They said its 6 hours fitter time. Can't see how it takes 6 hours. You can take the engine out quicker. Is this taking the ****?

[wellsy1]

Hi ya. 
The reason I was given was the flush needs to be preformed a couple of times with a special Skoda flush kit ( this might be just a standard flush kit, I don’t know just know skodas cost for the kit around £140 ). 
this is to make sure all of the silica beads have been removed to prevent any blockages . 
the cost sounds about average to the costs I’ve heard Been quoted however its crazy and something I believe VW brands should help cover.

how old is your car? And do you use main dealer? I’m only asking because I’ve just settled mine with Skoda 

 

[MICKLEN3]

1 hour ago, wellsy1 said:

Hi ya. 
The reason I was given was the flush needs to be preformed a couple of times with a special Skoda flush kit ( this might be just a standard flush kit, I don’t know just know skodas cost for the kit around £140 ). 
this is to make sure all of the silica beads have been removed to prevent any blockages . 
the cost sounds about average to the costs I’ve heard Been quoted however its crazy and something I believe VW brands should help cover.

how old is your car? And do you use main dealer? I’m only asking because I’ve just settled mine with Skoda 

 

Hi, yes this quote is at our main Skoda dealer. The car is a 2017 and only has 30k on the clock. Cant see how this can take 6 hours to complete. How long did your take? and was that at main dealer? and what was the cost (if you don't mind me asking?)