Prestone 'Universal' coolant??

[BFlan2001]

I'm in the process of cleaning/flushing my cooling system. i have Preston universal coolant that I use in my old bimmer. It says it's safe to use in 'ANY year' and mixes with 'ALL coolants'. Is anyone running this stuff and does it seem to hold up well?

[JackalS4]

As far as I know, you'll definitely want to stick with Audi/VW G12 coolant only (the pink stuff).

[Splinter]

X2

[BFlan2001]

i can't get the lower radiator hose off?!?! i got the clip off (to the halfway point) but it's stuck on there. do i need to twist? wth?

[s42k5b]

prob stuck on there due to corrosion. Try and twist it.

[BFlan2001]

still trying...it's not budging so far :(

[cdc]

I refilled mine with prestone after I have put the engine back in and so far I have had no problems.

[BFlan2001]

ok i need some help bad. i don't have much time before this car has to be moved and i still can't get the lower hose off. i even pulled the hose to the intercooler so that i could get better access to the rad hose. i wrenched on it (by hand) hard enough that i was afraid of cracking it, and it isn't budging. can i take a pipe wrench to this thing? it looks like it's made of plastic :(

[JackalS4]

Use a flathead screwdriver to pry it off/break it free gradually from the base.

[GunSupplier]

As far as I know, you'll definitely want to stick with Audi/VW G12 coolant only (the pink stuff).

My car had all G12 coolant when I bought it used. Eventually, I discovered that I was a bit low, so I bought some of the Prestone Universal (green, mix with anything) coolant and it's been completely fine.

I've been running a G12 + Prestone mix for over a year now, and there are absolutely no problems whatsoever. The red G12 + green Prestone doesn't exactly look visually appealing, since it turns kind of muddy, but as far as cooling goes, I haven't had a single issue.

[CONTROL ONE]

Same here, I've topped up with Universal Prestone as well. Why would one coolant make a significant difference over the other?

[BFlan2001]

fuck it i give up...i wrenched on that god damn hose to the point that the whole car was shaking. it's not coming off...the dark, nasty 80k mile coolant is staying in there, hopefully my engine doesn't blow up. now i remember how much fun working on audis is.

[GunSupplier]

Same here, I've topped up with Universal Prestone as well. Why would one coolant make a significant difference over the other?

Yep. I just wouldn't advise mixing with anything except the big name "Universal" stuff. Don't ever try and fill up with orange Dexron or anything like that. Certain coolants eat away at seals in certain engines, so you wouldn't want to mix with those. But as long as it's universal stuff like the Prestone, there really shouldn't be issues.

[Blake260]

I get the lower rad hose off by:

pulling really freaking hard, and pushing the edge(carefully) of the hose end from the front of the car with a big (not sharp) flat head screwdriver, you can see it, but I think you have to move the A/c condenser out of the way.

[blmlozz]

You do not want to mix g12 and green stuff, g12 is an organic based coolant and the green stuff reacts with it(which is why it turns brown) because it's a synthetic mixture. Stick with g12 unless you plan to flush the entire system(which you are doing anyway) otherwise do not mix. I did my research a while back and although I can't remeber specifics there are some good reasons to choose g12 over green coolant.

[MacDaddy]

i would remove the clip completley, its probably the issue, prying at it helps too, and make sure you remove the overflow cap so your not fighting a vacuum.

[BFlan2001]

WOW. i finally got it off, all is well again. that must have been the first time that hose was removed, it was REALLY stuck on there. i ended up doing what blake said and pressing it off from the front. i'm glad it's over for now, hopefully it won't give me any trouble when i pull it again in a couple days to drain the cleaner out and put coolant back in

[Chknkatsu]

good to hear, good luck

[HotSauce]

You do not want to mix g12 and green stuff, g12 is an organic based coolant and the green stuff reacts with it(which is why it turns brown) because it's a synthetic mixture. Stick with g12 unless you plan to flush the entire system(which you are doing anyway) otherwise do not mix. I did my research a while back and although I can't remeber specifics there are some good reasons to choose g12 over green coolant.

It solidifies when it reacts with certain components.

[mholme]

It solidifies when it reacts with certain components.

Yup, you don't want to mix significant amounts. You can use either, but just one or the other. I'd stay with the pink stuff for reasons mentioned above.

[eliTTe]

like said, DO NOT mix anything with your G12. My old Audi when I bought it had green coolant mixed with its factory G11 and the radiator was completely clogged and gunked up from it... and I might imagine the failure of my thermosta had something to do with the mixed coolants creating that residue. you probably could just use the green coolant and be fine but I would suggest using only G12

[///M3 TO S4]

G12 is just a long-life coolant. You can go to advance/autozone/ect and guy the prestone DEXCOOL which is also a PINK long-life coolant. I've been running it for 20K miles with NO problems/gunk/corrosion/ect in the middle of NC summers (which are VERY humid, like 115 actuall temp due to the humidity) with NO front fan due to my FMIC and have not had any problems. I also have 2 other buddies with S4's with the same coolant. It's the same coolant as G12, just renamed.

[mholme]

G12 is just a long-life coolant. You can go to advance/autozone/ect and guy the prestone DEXCOOL which is also a PINK long-life coolant. I've been running it for 20K miles with NO problems/gunk/corrosion/ect in the middle of NC summers (which are VERY humid, like 115 actuall temp due to the humidity) with NO front fan due to my FMIC and have not had any problems. I also have 2 other buddies with S4's with the same coolant. It's the same coolant as G12, just renamed.

Is it orange or is it pink? I would still do a full flush when going from the factory stuff to something else. Don't mix it.

[///M3 TO S4]

Is it orange or is it pink? I would still do a full flush when going from the factory stuff to something else. Don't mix it.

Oh mines not mixed at all. It's all dex-cool. It's a dark pink, maybe with a hint of orange color.