VW Coolant Flush - The easy way, no mess! Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen Passat Golf TDI

Changing the engine coolant by using the system's constant flow loop to our advantage. This was a total experiment so if you have any tips/insights feel free to post them in the comments.
Ideally you would remove the thermostat to allow for 100% coolant flow or at the minimum, have the engine at operating temp and running at a high RPM during the flush.
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[@dxl3449]

Well, it kinda of worked your way on my 07 ES. I tried a hose but couldn't stop it from leaking. So Autozone suggested a barbed double-head joiner and actual 3/8" rubber hose. Which didn't leak. When you're running the engine be very attentive to the coolant level. It does surge and suddenly you'll find it's hitting the bottom. You don't want air locking up your systems and burning out your cylinder head. Keep all your bottles open, nearby and ready to go. I flushed with distilled water and then when it came out clean in the bucket I started with the pink. It fill a five gal bucket up so I began to fill empty gallons. They became pink. So I shut off the engine. Drove for 20 minutes and everything sees good. Thumbs up!

[@green_comet83]

Thanks for the video mate, was straightforward and easy to follow. 👍 I just finished using this method to flush out all of the old G13 coolant from my B8 Passat and replaced it with G12 Evo. I've always wondered if you could do just this and let the system flush itself with the engine running. The only thing I did different was at first I kept topping up the overflow bottle with demineralised water until the return hose ran clear into the bucket (just to make sure the G13 was completely flushed out), then I switched to adding the fresh coolant until the return hose was running a solid pink colour. Worked a treat, thanks again!

[@fharrison3011]

Very nice to see this video just to confirm a post I saw from Reddit.
The below is the person who claimed to be an VW tech, hope it helps.
“VW tech here. We have all sorts of fancy equipment for this BUT I prefer to use the homemade version. Its a lot faster and easier. Get the car running so the heat blows hot. Disconnect the rubber hose from the coolant reservoir bottle and connect it to a long plastic rigid hose (Home Depot $2). Place the other end of the hose in a 5 gallon bucket. With the car running, keep topping off the coolant reservoir bottle as the old coolant is draining into the 5 gallon bucket. Once you see the new coolant start to come out of the hose, you can disconnect the HD hose and reconnect the rubber hose to the reservoir. If your coolant system is really bad, repeat the process after driving for a few hours. Here's the important part --> USE ONLY VW COOLANT. You may also want to clean out the reservoir bottle if the sludge is really bad.”

[@420kickinkate]

🎉🎉thanks for sharing!! Worked great on my 2012 gli

[@luso_overland]

Awesome, glad to hear this is helping people out!

[@ArmandSalmon]

Great video, think I have the confidence to tackle this project.
2 Questions: 1.) Will this method also work for the 2017 Jetta TSi ? & 2.) How many gallons of coolant will be needed for a exchange ?

[@luso_overland]

1. Remove the return line when the car is running, if coolant is free flowing out of the return line then this method will work.
2. Check your owner's manual for coolant capacity of the system and then budget a little extra above that since you'll waste some with this cycling process.

[@ArmandSalmon]

@@luso_overland thank you! Appreciate the extra tips

[@mjt708]

Is it recommended to flush with distilled water until it runs clear or can you just proceed with what you showed in the video? Thanks for this video by the way.. Seems like a really simple and great way to do a full flush.. Way better than draining the radiator boot, which doesn't even clear out all the coolant

[@luso_overland]

You could do it that way but if you're trying to get every drop of old coolant out. Certainly wouldn't add much cost, it would just take a little longer.

[@mihainoaje]

How long did the entire process take? (getting 2 gallons of coolant out of the system) Thanks!

[@luso_overland]

Around 30 mins.

[@Mt.Man1700]

Did you run the heater while flushing the coolant? Thanks for the video!

[@luso_overland]

Yes

[@Mt.Man1700]

@@luso_overland Awesome, thank you for the tips.

[@Alex.12065]

Nice! Any updates, would cranking the heat clear out the heater core?

[@luso_overland]

I believe so, i had the heat on the whole time.

[@andreadebiase3997]

If u do this with a hot engine isn't the coolant under pressure and will it splash all over when open the cap or not really..

[@andreadebiase3997]

Also do u really need to plug that nipple when removing the return hose?

[@luso_overland]

@@andreadebiase3997 Be careful when removing the cap on a hot engine, put a towel over it or get the car hot with the cap off from the start. As for covering the nipple, you don't have too but then you won't be able to add much coolant to the tank as it will flow out of the nipple when it reaches that height so you'll have to keep a closer eye on the fluid level.

[@CurtisWilkinson-zy6eh]

@@andreadebiase3997 I tried it it will push a little bit when u pull hose off burp nothing bad

[@mrw1160]

Does this work on the TSI engines?

[@luso_overland]

Not 100% sure but I think so. Just take off the return line off the side of the reservoir with the engine running and if coolant is flows freely out of it then it is identical.