I have a gallon of leftover Audi/VW coolant from a car I sold. It looks like it's okay to mix Zerex G05 with it in a Audi/VW, but is there any reason not to mix it the other way around into a TJ?
Audi / VW G13 coolant okay to use in TJ?
- Thread starter toximus
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Is it VW G13 and purple/violet in color? If so, it is ethylene glycerine rather than ethylene glycol but backward compatible with G12+ and G12++, both of which are standard ethylene glycol and pink in color. G13 is not fully compatible with the original G12, which is red, but is always miscible with G11 which is blue green.
G13 is claimed by VW to be fully compatible with aluminum radiators and iron cylinder heads, however the literature also states that it is not recommended for copper/brass radiators and heater cores and that it doesn’t work well with the lead solder. VW recommends antifreeze with the G11 (blue green) or G12 (red) specifications instead for such applications.
So if I were in your situation I would feel confident adding pink VW/Auto G12+ or G12++ coolant to Zerex G-05 but just okay with adding purple/violet G13 because I can't say with absolute certainty that there is no copper, brass or lead solder anyplace in the cooling system. I wouldn't mix red G12 with Zerex G-05 without knowing more about its composition.
Have I made things clear as mud?
To complicate the discussion even more, I now use Nissan branded dark green coolant in all of my vehicles because each of my vehicles has an aluminum radiator with plastic tank, each has a cast iron block, and each calls for ethylene glycol coolant with HOAT technology. I like to standardize lubricants and fluids whenever possible for the sake of consistency and because it costs less in the long run. I could have standardized with Zerex G-05, and I typically do use Valvoline products, but I already had an unopened gallon of Nissan green coolant leftover from servicing my Xterra so when it came time to change the coolant in the Jeep and the Miata I decided to standardize with green. Besides, I'm old school and my mind expects coolant to be green and not a rainbow of colors that require a guidebook to decipher.
Nissan L248SP Engine Coolant (P/N 999MP-AF00P) is a silicate-free "long life" HOAT coolant that is fully compatible with conventional green coolant should I find myself in the position of needing to add coolant rather than plain water when I am away from home. With my usual discount at the local Nissan dealership's parts counter it costs no more than Zerex at the chain auto parts store.
G13 is claimed by VW to be fully compatible with aluminum radiators and iron cylinder heads, however the literature also states that it is not recommended for copper/brass radiators and heater cores and that it doesn’t work well with the lead solder. VW recommends antifreeze with the G11 (blue green) or G12 (red) specifications instead for such applications.
So if I were in your situation I would feel confident adding pink VW/Auto G12+ or G12++ coolant to Zerex G-05 but just okay with adding purple/violet G13 because I can't say with absolute certainty that there is no copper, brass or lead solder anyplace in the cooling system. I wouldn't mix red G12 with Zerex G-05 without knowing more about its composition.
Have I made things clear as mud?
To complicate the discussion even more, I now use Nissan branded dark green coolant in all of my vehicles because each of my vehicles has an aluminum radiator with plastic tank, each has a cast iron block, and each calls for ethylene glycol coolant with HOAT technology. I like to standardize lubricants and fluids whenever possible for the sake of consistency and because it costs less in the long run. I could have standardized with Zerex G-05, and I typically do use Valvoline products, but I already had an unopened gallon of Nissan green coolant leftover from servicing my Xterra so when it came time to change the coolant in the Jeep and the Miata I decided to standardize with green. Besides, I'm old school and my mind expects coolant to be green and not a rainbow of colors that require a guidebook to decipher.
Nissan L248SP Engine Coolant (P/N 999MP-AF00P) is a silicate-free "long life" HOAT coolant that is fully compatible with conventional green coolant should I find myself in the position of needing to add coolant rather than plain water when I am away from home. With my usual discount at the local Nissan dealership's parts counter it costs no more than Zerex at the chain auto parts store.
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I wouldn't and you can't pay attention to colors used in coolants as there is no industry standard for what the colors mean. It may very well be compatible but how long it would take to confirm that wouldn't be worth it in terms of the low cost of just buying more G-05.
It says G13 on the bottle so I'm pretty sure that's what it is and I'm not confident enough in my ability to see the color difference between them without having any reference.
I'll post it up on Craigslist and see if anybody wants it.
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