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Abscate  Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 23782 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:15 am Post subject: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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A little bit lame to merit a DIY but, too bad..here goes.
G12 coolant is advertised as lifetime, but I change every 4-5 years (low miles on my EV, like 3k per year.)
This is a really nice coolant change.
Cold engine
Drop 4 M6 bolts to lower engine pan
Up high, left side of engine, is a coolant drain plug which unscrews by hand. Its got a nice o-ring seal which pops into the a seal groove.
Drain coolant into bucket.
Now put hose into reservoir and turn on
Check flow through drain port
Start car, let run for 30 minutes with water coming from both drain port and overflow reservoir. Resist the temptation to surf Samba while you are doing this, in case the hose flops out and you then burn up your EV.
I added 4.0 of VW G12 coolant after replacing plug, then it took 4.0 liters of water to top off I calculate the dead volume of 1.0 liter for a total freeze protection to -15F
All data told me to run the car at 2000 rpm for 3 minutes and then recheck level - I found no change. I took it for a highway spin of 10 minutes and found no change. _________________ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ π π π |
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kenney158 Samba Member
Joined: September 05, 2014 Posts: 121 Location: Easton, Pa.
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 6:57 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Thanks. My coolant overflowed recently when the belt tensioner pulley froze and shredded the belt. Need to refill. Since I had a reman engine installed only 1k miles ago I'm assuming I don't need to do the flush part.
Want to make sure I understand. I should start the van while the hose is running only water into the cooling system? I guess this means there's no overflow until the system is filled with water. Makes me a little nervous to start the engine with the system open. |
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Abscate  Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 23782 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:05 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Yes, this is to flush. Run the wate r until it fills before you start..takes about 20 seconds. Make sure you have water coming from the drain plug and coming out of the top of the reservoir to flush. Idle speed only. _________________ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ π π π |
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Scottn59c Samba Member

Joined: December 22, 2016 Posts: 309 Location: Northern CA
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:02 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Earlier question today got me wondering: Do you have to do any bleeding of the system by opening a bleeder screw or is the system self-bleeding? _________________ Farfignewton! |
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Abscate  Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 23782 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:55 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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I found it self bleeding. I just topped it up at idle, put the cap on, took it for a short spin, no change in level.
Quote: |
All data told me to run the car at 2000 rpm for 3 minutes and then recheck level - I found no change. I took it for a highway spin of 10 minutes and found no change. |
_________________ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ πΊπΈ π π π |
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jonathannickel Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2015 Posts: 38 Location: Saratoga Springs
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:54 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Scottn59c wrote: |
Earlier question today got me wondering: Do you have to do any bleeding of the system by opening a bleeder screw or is the system self-bleeding? |
I just finished draining and replacing the coolant on my 2001 EVC. The main job was putting in a transmission cooler so I drained the coolant first to keep it a bit neater.
Afterwards, it took at least fifteen minutes of running the engine and driving it around the block before the heat started working again, despite normal coolant temperature. I suspect that there was air in the heater core. While the car was warming up I periodically removed the coolant reservoir cap to allow air out, which seemed to help.
So yes, it does "self bleed," but in my experience it can take a while and you'll want to let the air out and refill the reservoir. |
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1961tbird Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2018 Posts: 320 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:20 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Will try on my 95 EVC. Far and away the best flush procedure I have come across! |
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1961tbird Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2018 Posts: 320 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:01 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Worked like a charm!
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menko Samba Member
Joined: June 01, 2015 Posts: 59 Location: Bay Area
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 11:13 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Thanks for these great instructions. Question--I did this flush but when I pulled my trans cooler, those lines were still full of dirty coolant so the flush didn't seem to get the whole system. Should I do this with the engine warmed up instead?
The problem I'm trying to deal with is a rust brown residue that is throughout my cooling system. I'm guessing that someone ran non g12 at some point and when I flushed and put in G12 it created this goop that I can't seem to get out. Running a water flush it all comes out looking clean, but the insides of the hoses and coolant tank are coated in the stuff.
Is there something I could run as a pre-flush to try and break it down using distilled water and then run this flush? I can't really replace all the hoses and assume its also in the radiator.
thanks! |
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Blaque Jacques Samba Member

Joined: February 06, 2018 Posts: 120 Location: Moab
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 5:04 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Old post but seems like a good place to ask this question. I actually have most of my coolant drained as I had my rear heater core fail so a good time to do the flush. My question is, if I flush this completely can I refill with standard green coolant instead of G12? I have a 97 EVC that came to me with green coolant at 160K miles and at 207K now its still running just fine. I prefer the green because all of my other vehicles use it and its sooooo much cheaper and easier to source. _________________ 86 2wd Westy GW2200. 97, 99 02 EVC. Lots and lots of bikes |
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VanGeek Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2022 Posts: 351 Location: New England
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Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2024 5:14 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Thinking about flushing my coolant since I will need to drain it when installing an external cooler and deleting the original factory trans cooler lines. Saw this post and did some digging about coolant mixing. Here is a helpful article... https://www.underhoodservice.com/volkswagen-engine-coolants-tech-tip/ |
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wannabecamper Samba Member
Joined: May 09, 2019 Posts: 227 Location: Sunnyside, US
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2024 8:12 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Blaque Jacques wrote: |
Old post but seems like a good place to ask this question. I actually have most of my coolant drained as I had my rear heater core fail so a good time to do the flush. My question is, if I flush this completely can I refill with standard green coolant instead of G12? I have a 97 EVC that came to me with green coolant at 160K miles and at 207K now its still running just fine. I prefer the green because all of my other vehicles use it and its sooooo much cheaper and easier to source. |
Yes you can do that. The difference (without getting into coolant compatibility, metallurgy, and technical mumbo jumbo) is that the green coolant has shorter service life. It will work for 97 VR6. |
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Endopotential Samba Member

Joined: February 13, 2012 Posts: 291 Location: Just outside SF, CA
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2024 11:32 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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"Up high, left side of engine, is a coolant drain plug which unscrews by hand. Its got a nice o-ring seal which pops into the a seal groove."
Can anyone give more details where this plug is located? The one plug I see that looks similar is located on the coolant crack pipe. Is there another one somewhere up along the water hoses on left side of engine?
And does it matter what gets pulled to do the flush? As long as it's not the supply line into the water pump I suppose.
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VanGeek Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2022 Posts: 351 Location: New England
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Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2024 7:44 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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That's the one.
Unscrew it and drain the coolant into a bucket or pan without the engine running
And then follow Abscate's directions at the beginning of the thread. |
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iqartwork Samba Member
Joined: February 23, 2025 Posts: 12 Location: CA
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Hi everyone! Iβve decided to do a full coolant flush on my 2000 Eurovan Weekender since I donβt know when it was last done. Below are my steps and I want to make sure Iβm not missing anything or doing something wrong.
Iβd appreciate any tips or corrections!
1. Open the coolant reservoir cap in an engine cold.
2. Open the drain plug underneath to let the old coolant out β I believe itβs the black cap #2 in my pic?
3. Once fully drained, close the drain plug.
4. Open the bleeding screw.
5. Fill the coolant reservoir to the MAX line.
6. Close the bleeding screw and the reservoir cap.
7. Start the engine, keep an eye on the coolant level and top off if needed later with cold engine.
Thank you!!
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Endopotential Samba Member

Joined: February 13, 2012 Posts: 291 Location: Just outside SF, CA
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 8:40 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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That looks about right.
Careful with unscrewing that drain plug (which you correctly identified). It's plastic, and mine was screwed on so tightly I mangled it getting it out.
Not a problem for me, as I was doing the whole upgrade to a metal crack pipe and thermostat housing. Which many would advocate for 20yo plastic. Though mine looked fine, so not sure it was worth the $200 or so for the hard to source metal housing. _________________ 2002 Eurovan Weekender |
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iqartwork Samba Member
Joined: February 23, 2025 Posts: 12 Location: CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2025 10:16 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Endopotential thank you very much for your tip, help and reply!!
Can I find online a second screw just it case?? |
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HeyCrutch Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2022 Posts: 414 Location: Asheville, North Carolina
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2025 11:20 am Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Abscate wrote: |
I added 4.0 of VW G12 coolant after replacing plug, then it took 4.0 liters of water to top off I calculate the dead volume of 1.0 liter for a total freeze protection to -15F |
Were you using G12. coolant concentrate, necessitating the addition 4.0 liters' water mix?
The current gallon bottle of G12 EVO Coolant sold at the dealerships is 50/50 mix, so I assume no further dilution with distilled water is necessary.
Also, was the "30 mins" of engine running / fresh water flush time just the time you piicked to make sure your flush was good, or was that amount of time taken from a service bulletin or maintenance procedure? _________________ -2003 EV MV Wk - Forest - 51k
-2002 EV Camper - Ghost - 82k
-2003 EV GLS - Fluffhead - 176k
-1997 EVC - 12vVR6 (SOLD 5/2025) |
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bigfoot_ev Samba Member

Joined: March 13, 2018 Posts: 286 Location: P.NW
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2025 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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iqartwork wrote: |
3. Once fully drained, close the drain plug.
4. Open the bleeding screw.
5. Fill the coolant reservoir to the MAX line.
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When I did this I read the instructions differently. I did not close the drain plug and fill with coolant. Instead I read that I should keep the drain plug open and to let your hose run into the reservoir with the engine running for 30 min. So, there is a constant flow of water. In my mind, that flow was flushing out the old. Then, turn off engine, turn off water, let it drain and refill with new. I hope I read that right!
HeyCrutch wrote: |
Were you using G12. coolant concentrate, necessitating the addition 4.0 liters' water mix? |
And this is the concentrate that I used: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-g13-coolant-1-5-liters-g013a8jm1
If anyone has a better source for coolant please let us know. _________________ 2003 Westfalia Weekender, AXK, 01P |
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dsh1705  Samba Member

Joined: June 11, 2014 Posts: 130 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2025 7:00 pm Post subject: Re: 2002 Eurovan DIY coolant change |
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Here is the VW procedure for flushing coolant:
_________________ David
1705.net
95 EVC
ACU,098 |
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