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Subject:Re: My Mechanic's Odd Reaction
From:Jeffrey Schwaia
Date:Thu, 16 Oct 2003 16:00:22 -0700

Here's another twist for the coolant discussion.

I've started using the factory Mercedes Benz coolant in my WBX'ers... and
it's pale yellow.  So now you have blue, green, orange and yellow.

BTW: I use the MB stuff because it meets or exceeds the VW requirements and
it's only $7 a gallon.

Cheers,

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Doktor Tim
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 3:31 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: My Mechanic's Odd Reaction

Don't let the blue fool you. Is it ethylene glycol??? Is it non-phosphate??
If yes to both, it meets spec. If not, it doesn't. All the VW blue is
manufactured by BASF Germany. I have never heard of any other manufacturer,
so check the details on the Pentosin to be sure. Otherwise, the new GM Spec
manufactured by all the majors does meet the non-phosphate e-glycol spec,
but it's orange.

At 12:58 PM 10/16/2003, you wrote:
>So, imagine my surprise when he replied, when i asked about a coolant
>flush, that he never uses Pentosin Blue and advised against it. He says
>he has had bad experiences with folks vans who used the blue stuff.
>
>Being a man of few words he didn't go into detail on what those bad
>experiences were.

Get the details, specifics.

>Anybody out there know of any reason not to use the blue stuff?

Verify the ingredients on the back of the bottle. If no phosphates are
shown and it is e-glycol, it meets spec. If not, don't use it.