Coolant issue - should it not be pink???

[finchi5]

I purchased this 1.4 59 ibiza sport last month for my wife and already there is hardly any coolant left. When we bought the car the dealer (non seat) told me that the cambelt and water pump would be replaced by seat ***** in Preston. However I've contacted seat today and they haven't had the car since August 2012 and that was for a service. So firstly why is my coolant blue and not pink and what damage can this do? Secondly any advice on what I should do/say to the dealer we bought it from.....I'm getting really annoyed with this car as well, it rattles like a bag of spanners, and it sounds more like a diesel than a petrol! Please help


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[3mile3llis]

Pretty sure blue is for HGVs but im not sure the the reasons behind it?


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[finchi5]

I'm sure it's meant To be pink, it's pink in my leon


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[Biker]

Could be wrong but I thought the switch to the pink anti-freeze was because it is less toxic than the blue. I do know that the two should not be mixed together as they react and gunge up the cooling system.

 

[finchi5]

Plus it's hard to see if the belt has actually been changed. Loads of other issues to. Window main switches are intermittent and operate randomly, rattles from doors, rattles from dash, rattles from b pillars. Why are these cars soo bad for this. My old 02 fiesta was as solid as a rock compared to this thing!


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[Biker]

To be fair not all Ibiza's rattle. My old 10 plate 1.6 TDI sport was pretty much rattle free, even after 45,000 miles. It sounds like the car you have bought has had a hard life!

 

[Gorbstein]

I would be getting this back to the dealers and demanding that they sort the cambelt and water pump. If you're getting a lot of rattling from the engine bay, especially around the cambelt cover I'd be concerned the water pump is on its way out and it might explain coolant loss.

Sorry to hear about the build issues as well, the Mk4 rattles like nothing else but the Mk5 seemed so much better to me. It may just need some TLC to iron out the niggles.

Also the 1.4 is quite refined IMO, sounds a bit dieselly on a cold morning but soon goes near silent. When was the last oil change?

 

[NetworkMan]

Mine came with pinkish coloured coolant and I seem to recall reading that the approved TL-774-G also known as G++ is always pink or some say purple. I bought some Fuchs Fricofin G++ to top mine up and that was indeed pinkish too. My guess is that your car has been filled with non apporved coolant. I don't know what effect using the wrong stuff would have - probably corrosion of the engine or radiator but I don't know how quickly this would happen.

If I were you I'd reject the car if you can - must be plenty of other used ones around and it's clearly not fit for purpose if it's already used loads of coolant.

 

[NetworkMan]

Another thing. Is there a service record? A car this age is likely to be on time/distance servicing and it looks as if it hasn't been serviced since August 2012 whereas it should be done (I think) every 12,000 miles or 1 year whichever is sooner.

 

[Deleted member 67732]

in general, the colour indicates the life span of the anti-freeze, some of which lasts the lifetime of the car, others only two years.

below is information extracted from a search on google
the comma oil web site also has information on the colouring.

Actually all anti-freeze coolants are inherently colorless and there are a lot more than just 3 different colors. The coloring is merely a dye added by the manufacturer and since there is no standardization at all, the color doesn't tell you anything useful.

All anti-freeze coolants are based on a chemical called ethylene glycol. Where the differences occur is in the corrosion inhibitors. Traditional coolants use silicates for corrosion prevention while many newer vehicles (All GM, some Chrysler, all VW/Audi for example) use a new class of organic based inhibitors with an extended service life. GM calls this coolant Dex-Cool but it is sold under other brand names and VW/Audi has its own unique formulation called G12. Many of these can not be mixed, especially the unique hybrid coolant Chrysler used in the late 90's. Traditional coolants are designed for use with copper/brass radiators while Dex-cool type organic coolants are designed for use with aluminum radiators.

So when choosing a coolant don't judge by color, which could be anything depending on the brand. go by chemical makeup - does it use silicate or organic corrosion inhibitors?

 

[Biker]

Having the blue coolant in the system shouldn't cause any problems, provided all the old pink coolant has been flushed out and the two have not been allowed to mix.

 

[BF95]

If the two mix is causes it to become a solid and it will attach its self to metal and cause over heating, your supposed to use G13 from vw

 

[finchi5]

It was serviced in December 2013 by an Indy garage. This is before we bought it though. I would have thought that the coolant would have been changed/flushed anyway if a new water pump had been fitted which it has meant to. The weather is terrible so I Don't really want to go outside and have a look at the pump at the min!!


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[finchi5]

I presume the deiselly sound is because it's an aluminium block and they are a bit tappitty?? Can this be sorted? It going to chorley Nissan in the morning anyway to have its window switches looked at so we are going to have a chat. Am I within my rights to reject it? We paid cash for it as well


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[finchi5]

Just read that blue is g11 coolant, g12 is pink. The expansion tank says g12! Just had a chat with the manager at the dealership, we were under the impression that seat did the belt and pump, now they are saying they did it with seat parts


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[DEAN0]

Just read that blue is g11 coolant, g12 is pink. The expansion tank says g12! Just had a chat with the manager at the dealership, we were under the impression that seat did the belt and pump, now they are saying they did it with seat parts


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Then they wont mind producing a receipt showing the seat parts they bought to do the job.
( Yes they can blank out the prices but the date and part numbers should be showing )

As stated earlier - colour is not as important as the G12 or G13 specification.

 

[finchi5]

Thanks DEAN0 that's exactly what we are gonna do, get to see the receipt from Seat. It's strange that it's lost a lot of coolant in a month though, it's only done 29k since December 2009 so I wasn't expecting to have problems like this so early in a cars life. I took a photo of the expansion tank but can't post it as I've not completed enough posts yet


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[DEAN0]

Thanks DEAN0 that's exactly what we are gonna do, get to see the receipt from Seat. It's strange that it's lost a lot of coolant in a month though, it's only done 29k since December 2009 so I wasn't expecting to have problems like this so early in a cars life. I took a photo of the expansion tank but can't post it as I've not completed enough posts yet


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Have a good look at the back of the radiator - you are looking for wet fans & coolant sprayed around.

My radiator went within 2 years and was replaced under warranty.

Apparently the fan support plastic rubs against the radiator and eventually causes a leak.


EDIT - the different coolants are
ethylene glycol - normally blue
Organic Acid Technology - normally red/pink/purple

The two should not be mixed

 

[finchi5]

So what I really wanna know is if it is the wrong coolant can it be fixed with no future issues or should I point blank refuse the car as it will cause issues. If the coolant is rightspec then there must be a leak, I'll have a look at the rad/fan


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[DEAN0]

So what I really wanna know is if it is the wrong coolant can it be fixed with no future issues or should I point blank refuse the car as it will cause issues. If the coolant is rightspec then there must be a leak somewhere?


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In reality - the main differences are the life of the coolant

BLUE coolant is usually changed at 2 years

RED/Purple coolant is generally good for 5 years