Mixing New and Old Coolant / Antifreeze

Hi all,

We've just had our first frost of the winter, as this is the first winter I've spent with my FL ('04 TD4) outside I thought I better check the anti-freeze. I've got one of those pippet style testers with the floaty balls. It reported a "medium" level of protection.

It had a coolant change when I bought it about 5k miles ago, so I don't want to do a complete coolant change.

My coolant level has always been at the minimum mark, is there anything wrong with just topping it up with undiluted anti-freeze? This would increase the concentration a little.

I know I need to make sure I get the same colour (red/orange) is there anything else I need to check?

Ta,

(PS - on a completely seperate note, I really love my FL in the winter, warms up quickly, heated seats, heated windscreen, great in the snow and ice, a MUCH better winter vehicle than my cold, draughty old 90).

That would be the sensible thing to do.

'Medium' doesn't really tell you much.

I tested mine with a cheapy (£1.49) tester from Lidl which showed protection down to -35degreesC.

I used 4 litres of the OAT stuff, when I changed the coolant - aiming for a 50% mix which would give -37C, so I'm happy.

If I were you I'd drain out 3/4 of a litre or so into a jug from the bleed screw near the bulkhead.

Then pour 3/4 of a litre into the expansion tank.

That way I could adjust a lttle either way, before pouring the lot together to keep for topping up in the future.

Remember to mark the bottle as 'Ready-mixed'.

Singvogel.

Thanks SV, didn't know about the bleed screw on the bulkhead, I'll do that. Am I right in thinking that as long as I get another red coolant, it'll be ok to mix together?

Yakko said:

Thanks SV, didn't know about the bleed screw on the bulkhead, I'll do that. Am I right in thinking that as long as I get another red coolant, it'll be ok to mix together?

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I think all the OAT (Organic Acid Technology) stuff is orangy-red.

Be careful with the bleed screw as the little rascals have a nasty habit of jumping out of your wet fingers and disappearing 'kamikazi-style' down the back of the engine into the unexplored void of never-never land.

Only open it a turn and a half.

S.