Coolant warning light

[woofy]

Started the car, backed out and within about 10sec got the coolant warning light. Turned off the car, looked at the reservoir and it was just below min...or possibly over it, but it was the slope the car was on. So had some deionised water, tipped a little in, and it went up to Max pretty quick.

Then thought....I bet this car has some reason like everything else where I shouldn't have done that. Sure enough the manual says use the G12 stuff for topups. At which stage did we get where cars can't even be topped up with a tiny amount of water anymore?

It says you need a minimum of 40% coolant and higher is for really cold countries. I'm guessing since the car is 18mths old that it is probably much higher than that conc in it, but who knows what they do. I'm wondering why it was so low in the first place, no obvious signs of leaks anywhere. Anyway I'll run it over to Richmond Skoda in the morning and see what to do. I guess worse case scenerio, I could suck a little coolant out and add more concentrate in, but in the long run I think it would make bugger all difference if the conc is already higher than needed in Oz. My real worry is why it was at min anyway.

[Rob Burns]

If the car is very new then there's a chance there was an air pocket in the cooling system from the factory that hadn't completely worked itself out before the predelivery. Add in the fact that coolant contracts when colder means it might go down to the minimum mark (or lower) in colder weather. Topping it up with water is just fine.

[K1W1]

I really wouldn't bother doing anything at the moment (going to a dealer or sucking fluid out). The amount that you added would have changed the concentration by at most a couple of percent probably less and that will be well within tolerances. All I would be doing from now on is keeping and eye on the coolant level to see if you can ascertain the rate of use. If you are going to regularly check make sure that car is parked in the same sport and the engine temp is the same each time. First thing in the morning in the garage is usually good.

[woofy]

Air pockets seem to be mentioned a bit. I had two bottles of water, one distilled and one Spring water?? (don't ask both were left from the people renting, they are what they say they are though). Guess which one I picked up and used by mistake in a hurry due to a screaming toddler in the car. Tap water probably would have been better, but it was such a small volume, if the dissolved salts causes an issue then the super special coolant isn't worth bothering about if it can't deal with that.

And yep been watching the oil on dead flat surface first thing in the morning every few months. I think one thing that I haven't really got used to is that 12 mths/15k mark means things like fluid levels and tyre wear need more attention from me than other cars I have owned due to these not getting dealt with as soon. It's almost like having my 12 yr old car again as I haven't had a car with oil use for so many years it's not funny.

I'm due for a service in Nov, and I know they can check the concentration of coolant from the colour so I might just keep a close eye on it and wait until then.

[K1W1]

I haven't had a car with oil use for so many years it's not funny.

Every BMW we have owned in the last 25 years or so has used oil and needed a little top up between services (500 ml-1 litre sort of thing). I noticed that my Skoda was near the low mark when it went in for its 15k service a couple of weeks ago and it was full when I first got it. The Audi went in for a 30k service last week but I didn't check the oil before it went. I know that none has been added since the last service so whetever it used was between the max and min marks. Based on the three VW group car services we have had so far it looks like we will be getting the 15k out of the engine oil without needing to add. The problem is that it's easy to let the checking go then have the low light come on on the day you least need it to.

[woofy]

I think it's highly related to the type of traffic you drive in daily. I do trips on freeways a lot, but everyday trips to my office are in some of slowest traffic in Melbourne. When I do the freeway stuff more often, the oil lasts fine, but at times where I have been using some between services. I've always caught it when it's getting low and not when the oil light is on which is what happens to a friend a lot.

[Brycem]

I took my rs wagon back to the dealer recently as I had noticed that the coolant had fallen below the minimum level. They topped it up and told me to keep an eye on it. 1000kms later no change. Part of me suspects that it came from the factory with a level just below minimum.

[BlackOctaviaRS]

I took my rs wagon back to the dealer recently as I had noticed that the coolant had fallen below the minimum level. They topped it up and told me to keep an eye on it. 1000kms later no change. Part of me suspects that it came from the factory with a level just below minimum.

I had a similar thing happen with mine, low coolant on the RS came on, took it to the dealer and all they had to do was top it up.

[Brycem]

I should have added that they pressure tested the cooling system and could find no leaks

[woofy]

The difference between minimum and max is hardly anything, hence why I just used water, I think they tend towards the minimum at cold times of the year so they have room to add more if needed.

[dazag]

out of the guys using oil, who owns a diesel??

[K1W1]

Mine is a diesel and there was some oil usage before the service but not enough to require a top up.

[dazag]

Have you read much about the inlet oil recirc that puts a nice oily film through your inlet/turbo?? Have a look in the diesel section of the forum......
I believe as part of the 15k services that the inlet is supposed to be cleaned - have you had a look at it yet??

[clueless_rs]

Advice on changing coolant please

The coolant warning light appeared on my dash today (Skoda RS wagon 2010).

Sadly, in my haste (and with no access to my owners manual) I topped up with general purpose GREEN coolant. Bad, bad move as I have now discovered by reading other posts.

I intend to flush the system completely tomorrow (am worried about losing warranty if I go to my dealer) with several passes of deionised/demineralised water followed by refill with G12+ coolant. I'll inform dealer of the coolant warning at my next service which is due soon.

Could someone please explain where the drain plug is located & whether evacuation with air (pump) is really necessary (if so, is there a radiator hose I can disconnect & pump through.). Also what is total capacity of the system (I.e. What volume of coolant will I need?).

Thanks in advance,

[Transporter]

You will have to disconnect the bot. radiator hose, you need 8.6-9.6L of coolant (from the dealer and get G12++). I would remove the thermostat and flush it 3 times or until just clean water comes out. Make sure you bleed the system when you put the thermostat back in. Otherwise take it to the dealer, it is safer, after all you toped it up because it was low, so you might have already leaking water pump or some other leak in there.

To everyone who needs top up coolant: don't worry about what coolant to get, if the dealer is too far, just use distilled/demineralized water from any supermarket. The coolant in the cooling system is 50% mixture of the water and coolant concentrate and when diluted with water up to 33% it will still protect the cooling system.
You can't mix different coolants!