Ok, so looking at my coolant in the reservoir of my 2002 Jetta Wagon, the coolant is a transparent dark orange color. I hear G12 has been Blue, Red, Pink, Purple, orange, red-orange... Does this orange coolant sound like the wrong type?

 

It should be pink. I think maybe over time it would turn orange probably from a little rust. You have to dilute the coolant with distilled water to keep it from rusting.

 

Thank you for the tips! I guess it is possible that it has turned orange from rust, however the coolant looks awfully clean. It is a nice rich, crystal clear orange. In fact, the whole engine looks brand new. I think maybe someone used DexCool at one time. I hear that stuff is orange and is the American equivalent of G12. I'm taking it to the dealer this week so if it's bad, I'm sure they'll say something. I am just bracing myself as I am trying to guess at the cost and trying to guess if they'll need to replace the coolant, too. I'm guessing the thermostat will cost be about $300 and if they have to replace the coolant and flush the cooling system I'm guessing at another $100. Does this sound right? I want to know more about this orange coolant before I take it to the dealer, though. I have seen many examples of dirty coolant and the orange stuff in my car is squeaky clean. VW never used any sort of orange coolant? is there a way I can attach a pic so everyone can see exactly what color I am speaking of.

 

I figured it out Here are some pics to show my coolant color/condition. The coolant doesn't look as "foggy" in real life. It is quite clear.

[IMG]local://upfiles/8471/0C630D55D04347278429FC9110E6F117.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/8471/F9B6999F93C24C389B3DEE13163D17CF.jpg[/IMG]

 

I mean I figured out how to post pics...

 

Looks like it's just been mixed with a little green. But G12 is a pefect shade of pink. I have some in my garage.

 

Dropped it off at the dealer today for thermostat replacement and a coolant flush. The mechanic said it was Dex-Cool in there and VW's don't like Dex-Cool and I have heard horror stories about Dex-Cool even in the cars they were designed for. Glad I caught it when I did.

 

Cool. Good deal.

 

Got the car back from the dealer today and got the thermostat replaced and a cooling system flush. Problem solved! I now have toasty heat and the car stays right at 190 degrees! Also, the coolant they put in there looks a lot like the stuff that was already in there. I think the newer VW coolant is purple. Mine is more red now, but very close to the color it was originally. The coolant is listed as G-012-A8F-A4 on the repair invoice and a direct quote from my Jetta owners manual says this:

"You can recognize G12 AD8 in the expansion tank by its red color." Then it goes on to say it turns into brownies if you add other things to it. But my G12 is a redish-orange color. Just incase anyone it wondering about this on their car.

BTW if anyone is in the St. Charles/St. Louis, MO area, Bommarito VW in St. Peters is AWESOME! I highly recommend their service department.

 

Just did the thermostat on my car in the garage the other day on my 12v VR6 along with a temp sensor. After getting the darn thing apart and finding out my car parts needed to be ordered, i flushed the system.... all put back together i did some research on the coolant since this was my first run in on my VW with the system. Went to all the autopart stores since i do my stuff at home and VW dealers suck, found it in the next city over , g12 phosphate free coolant. Cost me $16.00 a quart. Mind you my car calls for 9.5 (i believe) quarts of coolant in the system (mixed 1:1 with distilled water). That stuff costs so much but now im also running an exact 190 degrees. By the way my stuff was pink as racerx002 stated