2006 BRM Coolant debate G12 vs G13...

Somedevildawg229

Active member
Joined
Mar 11, 2018
Location
South Georgia
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
So I bought a 2006 TDI used and it looks up to snuff on maintenance since day 1, 5k oil changes at VW (probably excessive) - cam replaced at 205, EGR cooler replaced at 205k, Timing belt changed at 190k, DSG tranny and DMF replaced by VW under some warranty deal at 140k. My question is on the coolant that is the only thing I'm noticing the owner before me had a record at 245k that he took the car into the VW dealership complaining about coolant leak. Per the records VW said his "coolant tank had a leak?" and replaced it and did a coolant flush. Now I have the car and still seems to have a slight leak somewhere else because I am seeing the levels decrease. So I search around and buy G12 which is for the 2006 PD. I then for some reason look in my truck today and realize G13 is in the back of the car which leads me to believe that is what the VW dealership put in. So getting to my question, will G13 and G12 mixing hurt anything because I just mixed 2 gallons of G12 with distilled water and apparently G13 is in the car now after the flush?
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
No worries(well...), they are 100% compatible. I'd want to find out where that coolant is going. If there are no signs of an external leak, the head, block, head gasket, or egr cooler could be leaking coolant internally (not good). The egr cooler wouldn't be quite so bad, but I'd find the source of the leak asap.
 

banshee365

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Location
FL
TDI
06 Jetta
I would almost bet money that the coolant leak is external. There are LOTS of places coolant can leak on TDI's.
 

325_Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2011
Location
West Central Texas
TDI
MkV Jetta
Seems they did nothing to solve problem.
Sounds about right for dealer work. :rolleyes:

The coolant hoses to/from the EGR cooler get soft with age and weep coolant. This would manifest itself as the slow leak you're seeing. They're easy to check from underneath the car. A gentle massage of the hose and if your hand comes away sticky, you've found your problem.
 

Carlos_TJ

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Location
Tijuana Mexico
TDI
2009 Bora (BXE PD)
^^^ also if you remove/reattach the EGR cooler you put strain on the coolant hose that comes from the the engine.
 
Top