jschick

I sold my old 99 A4 to a friends 17yr old daughter. She has a very slight antifreeze leak which I have not been able to find. She needs to add coolant and I am out of G12 and It is hard to get locally. I would like to replace with something easier for her to pick up at any store. I have heard the Dex cool is compatible, but even to swap to dex cool I believe you need to flush the system, so anyone have any other recommendations, or should I just order the G12 and make sure she always has some with her. (this car has had a very slow leak for about a year now) I believe it has a very small pinhole in the radiator since I can see some corrosion, but no wet leaks.

Old Dog

Good morning jschick. Went searching here on AW to see what I could find for you. I did find one post that had a link to Audizine. It may be more than you bargained for, but here it is nevertheless: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...nt-amp-Testing.

The only personal comment I'd like to mention is, it may just be easier to do as you said above, "...or should I just order the G12 and make sure she always has some with her." Small thing to do for a friend.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!
Life is too short and friends are too few!

Take care

AudiMick

You can use any G05 coolant if you get the old stuff out. And that's easier said than done.

Prestone Orange or Zerex can be bought at nearly all car part stores. It works fine, I ran it in my A4 for 3 years without problems.

The trick is removing the old stuff, the most difficult thing is cleaning out the heater core. Try multiple flushes allowing the engine to warm up fully each time so the thermostat is open.

Dex type coolants don't do well with air in the system, they tend to turn into soup if the system is not completely sealed.

watauga2.7T

Just go to your local VW dealer or Napa and get the G12.

AudiMick

You obviously are not acquainted with the term "17yr old daughter"!

jschick

I will probably go to the Vw dealer, My local Napa can't get it so they say but Vw isn't too far. I just worry one of her helpful friends may at some point top it off with green stuff some day.
this car has me stumped, ever since I owned the car it was loosing coolant, the light would come on every 2-3 months, never a drop on the ground, no smell in the exhaust, plugs always looked good and no excessive pressure in the overflow so I don't think head gasket. Never found any wet spot on any hose or around water pump. I just see a spot of corrosion about 4-5 inches long on the end of the radiator but it's never wet? Never a smell of antifreeze. now it seems to be leaking more but then again she drives the car 2x more then I did so it makes since. but still no leaks!!

HBAudi

You can purchase Pentosin coolant over the Internet in 1 litre bottles so she can have some with her at all times.

Does the heater provide warm air when turned on?