Replacing coolant tank with Silicon bag

[Grahamt]

Interesting thread.

I had read abouts these bags and their failure and was wondering what to do with mine.

As the tanks aren't too expensive I might consider replacing mine rather than trying to squeeze that bag out of the hole and splitting the bag. I've heard these engines are hard to bleed but if I crimp the connecting pipes when I change the tank I should have a problem.......any thoughts?

I'd rather pay for a coolant change every 4 or 5 years than have the hassle of replacing numerous parts when it's out if warranty as I bought the car as a keeper.

Mines a Feb 2019 GTI and it has a bag, not an urgent issue but the previous poster had his fail at just 2 years.

Oddly the wife's 2014  Tdi doesn't have one.

Has anyone on here actually extracted the bag, any tips,  other than shown in the video.

[Rob_benton]

I’m waiting to see if my tank arrives with a bag or without a bag. It’s very exciting!

For the sake of £20 I think I’d just replace the tank rather than try and take the bag out. The videos I’ve seen use long nose pliers and yanking it out and it seems tight.
Knowing my luck I would split the bag !

[Grahamt]

I'm in agreement with you, knowing my luck I'd rip the bag too, that space looks really tight.

[Talk-torque]

.........but, if you’re removing the tank, it’s then easy to remove the bag, without risk, and replace the old tank.

Or am I missing something?

[Garhan]

I was in my local dealer last Saturday picking up a part for my wife’s car,luckily,the parts guy was the nice one who also owns a Golf and is happy to answer any questions you have.
I own a 2015 Golf R so asked him about the coolant bottle and the bag,he said he’s been following the problem closely as he’s concerned about it bursting in his own car.
He showed me a bottle that he ordered in last week for a car that’s coming in this week to have it changed,the bottle was double walled and,when you held it up to the light you could see the bag sandwiched between the walls.Then he shows me another bottle that came in the day before,it was single walled and had no bag.He said this one superseded the first one,and is the only one now available.
It will be interesting to hear what others are being supplied with.
I removed the bag on mine this week,I clamped the bottom hose in case I burst the bag,it honestly took less than ten minutes to remove,as the hose was clamped I didn’t nanny around with it.

[rwleigh]

With all this in mind has anyone ever considered waterless coolant in their car?

It has many benefits and you'd obviously do away with the silicate repository.

See here if you've not heard of it before.
https://www.evanscoolant.com/how-it-works/benefits/

[Grahamt]

.........but, if you’re removing the tank, it’s then easy to remove the bag, without risk, and replace the old tank.

Or am I missing something?

Guess your right...... Probably the safest way to do this job

[Grahamt]

I was in my local dealer last Saturday picking up a part for my wife’s car,luckily,the parts guy was the nice one who also owns a Golf and is happy to answer any questions you have.
I own a 2015 Golf R so asked him about the coolant bottle and the bag,he said he’s been following the problem closely as he’s concerned about it bursting in his own car.
He showed me a bottle that he ordered in last week for a car that’s coming in this week to have it changed,the bottle was double walled and,when you held it up to the light you could see the bag sandwiched between the walls.Then he shows me another bottle that came in the day before,it was single walled and had no bag.He said this one superseded the first one,and is the only one now available.
It will be interesting to hear what others are being supplied with.
I removed the bag on mine this week,I clamped the bottom hose in case I burst the bag,it honestly took less than ten minutes to remove,as the hose was clamped I didn’t nanny around with it.

Thanks for the post on how you did it.

[GolfTi]

Not sure about this one. VW obviously put the bag in for a good reason.
Mine is 6 1/2 yrs old and has the ‘mit silikat’ label so presumably has the bag of doom.

I have the VW extended warranty so if I did remove it VW would no doubt blame that on any corrosion/failure of the cooling system.

I’m going to leave it as designed by the clever Germans.

If it pops in the near future I’ ll let you all know.

[golfdave]

Not sure about this one. VW obviously put the bag in for a good reason.
Mine is 6 1/2 yrs old and has the ‘mit silikat’ label so presumably has the bag of doom.

I have the VW extended warranty so if I did remove it VW would no doubt blame that on any corrosion/failure of the cooling system.

I’m going to leave it as designed by the clever Germans.

If it pops in the near future I’ ll let you all know.

They designed it to "replenish" the coolant..see a previous post where somebody quoted from the VW mechanics self study guides "ERWIN".....

basically there is NO maintenance schedule on the coolant now & they removed the drain tap that was fitted to previous VWs...so fill for life...

those same clever Germans designed the toothed cam belts on the petrol MQB engines (1lt & 1.4lt etc) to be "for life"...& guess what..now there is a mandatory every 5yr change schedule...

& the extended warranty is only for 5yrs from date of first registration..so yours will be out of warranty...

prevention is better than cure....