Hi, just had a service on my 2.0 diesel octavia estate. On picking up the car they told me there was evidence the coolant was contaminated, and would need flushing and replacing, along with the expansion chamber. The time they allocated to complete this was 6 (yes six) hours and said it will cost £850. To me this seems very excessive. Is this the garage trying to claw back lost revenue? or is this legit? Would be grateful for some guidance please.

Sounds bloody expensive to me!

My independent VW garage flushed my coolant after I realised I had lack of heat on drivers side and coolant was odd colour, soon after the cambelt got changed. 

 

Two bottles of Wynnflush, put on the new expansion tank, had it for a full day to get it hot and cold to do it twice, lent me a car, for £112 all in

 

 

 

 

 

Ok if just a simple coolant flush, but not if this.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/487819-bag-in-coolant/page/5

But then that is a ****-up from Skoda / VW and not simply clever or something that Skoda can just pass off as tough luck and not anything they need to bother about with a car out of warranty.

Edited 5 May, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

@e-Roottootthat links gone to wrong thread for some reason. 

 

Considering the colour of the coolant when I took it in, they did a good job of it as it's still bright pink today after 3k miles and certainly didn't rip me off. 

 

The silica bag had split when they took it out the tank.

 

6 hours to change and flush coolant and 850 quid. Holy F! Takes an hour maximum. Ridiculous.

17 hours ago, numptie-boy said:

6 hours to change and flush coolant and 850 quid. Holy F! Takes an hour maximum. Ridiculous.

Hi Mate, yes my thoughts exactly. It would appear dealers are trying to recoup some of the lock down losses at our expense.

I think the dealer is following the ridiculous VW flush recommendations when that happens.. In another thread someone had this “service” under warranty and it was including 6 or 8 flushes following some extra steps, plus the new G12Evo coolant on double price because it’s ‘ready for use’ mix.

If the silica bag has split, it is a long hard lengthy flush process because silica doesn't dissolve (in anything you could put in a car's cooling system), so it all has to come out and usually involves some dismantling. But then, as others have done, ask Skoda to cover the cost.

Hi all, further to my recent post on this, and after reading many similar ones, I decided to do as others have done and remove the bag. The tank  was single skinned, so bag came out pretty easy. It had not split but there was small black debris in the tank and it was pretty brown and dirty, so I brought a new one and fitted that. Topped up with G12 Evo. After running for a hour or so there is evidence of small amount of the black debris returned to the tank. Not sure what this is but will for now observe and wait. Heater works ok and no overheating. Fingers crossed its ok. Cheers to all who have offered advice, its much appreciated.

What’s the recommended mileage for a first coolant change ?

On 30/07/2022 at 16:49, Brian15 said:

What’s the recommended mileage for a first coolant change ?

As I understand, VW considers that the coolant shall serve the whole lifetime.

Nevertheless, I have changed mine BASF Glysantine G65, which is a G12evo after 2,5 years and also flushed the system about 7 times to remove steel sand particles from the system.

I have also removed a bag with silica gel from the reservoir and washed it with some detergents.

On 06/05/2021 at 16:33, numptie-boy said:

6 hours to change and flush coolant and 850 quid. Holy F! Takes an hour maximum. Ridiculous.

 

I call such people as "tea party" people. To be honest, they are pretty common here in the UK in many sectors (e.g. mechanical garages, house builders). Their priority is to enjoy their tea parties and family events while charging the customers for those hours they spend talking and "tea partying"! Only if they have any spare time left, or when they need the next payment they attend to the customer's job and do some work. 

Apparently VW specs on a System Flush and change some ancillary bits, is Flush the system, Fill the System (vacuum filling) , Get the Vehicle up to Temp,, Run it for 10 minutes, Let is cool sufficiently, Flush the System, Fill The System, Get the Vehicle up to temp... do this 4 - 5 times (that's what I've been told by 3 separate VW techs!), with a Technician on hand at your vehicle for the entire up to 6 hours (at £80 - £100 per Hour) so Parts: Clean Fluids each flush, New Header Tank and any pipes/clips that are needed, Pressure Testing, Labour: at least 5 hours maybe more!!!

 

I was quoted £1200 for mine!!!

 

So I'm going to an independent to get mine done, as I think I also need a Heater matrix replacement too (I think the Silica bag has gone POP)!!

On 30/07/2022 at 16:49, Brian15 said:

What’s the recommended mileage for a first coolant change ?

 

Never, the coolant is good until the day it leaks away from a leaking hose or radiator, my MK1 Octavia went to the scrapyard at 18 years old with 325000 mile on the original coolant and all cooling system components aside from one replacement temperature sensor, it was checked every year with a spectrometer and was as good as the day it left the factory.

 

Although if losing your car for a day while mechanics pretend to be working on it for 6 hours and charging you £1200 floats your boat then fill your boots.

 

Removing the Silkat teabag is a wise precaution.

Hi everyone,

is it possible to change the coolant at home without special tools? Squeezing the hoses will let all air out (or will it head to the reservoir by itself eventually) or do I really need a vacuum filler tool?

 

Thanks

Hello, welcome to the forum. I would recommend getting it done by an independent garage who have the correct equipment.

You might be lucky and not have too many issues with airlocks by doing it yourself - but there is some risk that you will.

Are you changing the coolant because you have removed the silicate bag from the expansion tank?  

Edited 14 May, 20242 yr by Warrior193
grammar

11 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Hello, welcome to the forum. I would recommend getting it done by an independent garage who have the correct equipment.

You might be lucky and not have too many issues with airlocks by doing it yourself - but there is some risk that you will.

Are you changing the coolant because you have removed the silicate bag from the expansion tank?  

Many thanks for your reply. No, I am planning to changing it because I had a bad experience of corrosion on an engine (this was a motorcycle) and I was recommended to replace the fluid every 2 to 5 years...

No, I have not removed the silicate bag, but also on that I have read that might be a good thing to either replace it (together with the entire expansion) or remove it (in case it breaks is a big issue, I understand)... 

The coolant service life is reported to be shorter without the silicate dispenser, I have just had the coolant changed in the Octavia, after replacing the 'Mit Silicat' expansion tank for one without it 4 years ago.

Edited 14 May, 20242 yr by Warrior193
added information

30 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

The coolant service life is reported to be shorter without the silicate dispenser, I have just had the coolant changed in the Octavia, after replacing the 'Mit Silicat' expansion tank for one without it 4 years ago.

So, are you suggesting that, if I keep the silicate bag (or I change the expansion container with one that has it) I should not worry about?

However, is a small expense in term of material (the coolant is not that expensive) and therefore I was planning to do it at the next oil change... I did not realise that is more complex than I thought.

However, having always done this kind of jobs (also breaks and break fluid change on my motorbike) I was hoping to be able to do it... And in case happy to get some tools to keep for the future.

 

I already have also the campervan that needs coolant change (that is really old, and don't know how much, since I got it second hand)...

 

Thanks for recommendations.

G12 evo is what you need if you don't have a silicat bag.

 

What I did was take the return line off the expansion tank, run engine, heater one etc...in the hope it opens up the whole circuit.

 

Run the return line into a bucket.

 

As the expansion tank went down, top up with new G12evo. I ran 10ltrs through.

 

1year on, I did 5ltrs on my next service, same process.

 

I assume I have quite a bit of the G12evo in there now.

 

To do it properly, you are supposed drain the system, vacuum it and let it suck in the new coolant. I think you might need vcds as well to open up all the flaps.

 

I have also watched a water pump replacement video and they had a large hopper on top of the expansion vessel, screwed in, filled up and let the engine run and as air came up, fluid went straight in. Seemed easier and cheaper then the vacuum method, but maybe some fluid stays in on a water pump change, I don't know?

I did exactly as @RoddersUK but had driven the car till it reached working temp in order to open all the coolant circuits.

 

I also wore gloves and long jacket to protect myself from burning, just in case.

 

And last but not least, I think I also had the HVAC set to max heat inside the cabin during the procedure.

 

I think I used 10L of “ready to use” G12Evo coolant and had 1L spare to top up in the next few days if needed.

I didn't warm it up first, too scared to take the coolant cap off lol. Did it spurt at all, or was it ok as it releases pressure when you first untwist it?

 

Also had heating to max temp.

1 hour ago, RoddersUK said:

G12 evo is what you need if you don't have a silicat bag.

 

What I did was take the return line off the expansion tank, run engine, heater one etc...in the hope it opens up the whole circuit.

 

Run the return line into a bucket.

 

As the expansion tank went down, top up with new G12evo. I ran 10ltrs through.

 

1year on, I did 5ltrs on my next service, same process.

 

I assume I have quite a bit of the G12evo in there now.

 

To do it properly, you are supposed drain the system, vacuum it and let it suck in the new coolant. I think you might need vcds as well to open up all the flaps.

 

I have also watched a water pump replacement video and they had a large hopper on top of the expansion vessel, screwed in, filled up and let the engine run and as air came up, fluid went straight in. Seemed easier and cheaper then the vacuum method, but maybe some fluid stays in on a water pump change, I don't know?

The container on my car actually mentions G13...

Yes, because it will have a silicate bag in the expansion tank.

 

G12evo was developed to run without the need of a bag.