Hiyall, Do i have to put special antifreeze in my 2001 sharan tdi sport, or can i put a universal run of the mill in it, if it needs special antifreeze, anyone know where i can get it readily instead of vw. cheers
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Hiyall, Do i have to put special antifreeze in my 2001 sharan tdi sport, or can i put a universal run of the mill in it, if it needs special antifreeze, anyone know where i can get it readily instead of vw. cheers
Viv,
Check the colour of your existing Antifreeze/Coolant.
It is probably a Red/Pink/Purple colour, if so it is some form of G12 coolant and you should try and replace with a G12 conformant coolant (again normally pink/red/purple coloured).
See this post for details of G12 conformant coolants;
VW specifications for G12 compatible coolant, for more details on coolant.
G12 conformant coolants should specify any of the following conformance levels;
- TL VW 774D
- TL VW 774F
- TL VW 774G
on the bottle/label.
If your coolant is the G12 Red/purple/pink type you must avoid coolant specificationTL VW 774C which is BLUE G11 coolant and must not be mixed with G12.
G12 conformant coolants (RPP) have a 5 year lifetime, whereas G11 coolant (blue) is typically rated to 2 year lifetimes.
Apart from VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat dealers, G12 conformant coolant can also be purchased from;
- GSF (German Swedish and French)
- ECP (Euro Car Parts)
- TPS (Trade parts specialist)
- Halfords (ready mixed coolant, undiluted coolant)
IIRC GSF's Febi coolant is the cheapest, if you only require 3 litres (2 x 1.5L bottles).
Finally, G12 should optimally mixed at a 50:50 ratio of coolant to distilled/deionised water (i.e. avoid tap water).
TR7