My coolant level is looking a bit low, so i checked the manual to see what type of coolant i should be using. it states that i should use G12 + and that its purple in colour. however the coolant thats in the car at the moment is an orange colour. should i be worried??? :eek:

any help would be much appreciated, i drive a fabia vrs if thats any help

thnx

no its nothing to worry about that the coolant is orange , when its in the bottle it will be a pinky/purple colour but that seems to change when its put in the cooling system

the Ford stuff does the same aswell

if the level is not below the minimum mark on the bottle when cold , i would just leave it for now , obviously if its well down , top it up , but get it checked for a possible leak also

thx for the quick reply

the coolant is just under the minimum level mark so i guess it just needs topping up. i noticed it as i was topping up the windscreen washer water.

if you only have to top a little bit then just put water in.....

G12+ isn't expensive either so it's definately worth keeping a bottle spare

a little bit of water it is then, until i can be bother to get some of the G12+ stuff:D

thnx all

Whats this g12 stuff then ????

g12 is special anti-freeze with corrosion inhibitors in it

All anti-freezes have anti-corrosion additives in.....is it only available from vw;/skoda

Not all are suitable for aluminuim engines. G12+ can be mixed with G11. G12 was made obsolete around five years ago now. Certian parts of the car like the heater matrix for example will get blocked if the correct antifreze isnt used.

G12+ is propelyene glycol (iirc) and cannot be tested with regular hydrometers.

Halfords appear to be selling compatible stuff - at least that's what I used in the past when I had trouble with coolant leaking.

i've got a volvo t3 cylinder head somewhere that has been eaten away by the use of the wrong type of anti-freeze, i'll dig it out and post up a picture so you can all see what sort of damage can happen