contaminated coolant

[Jules73]

During a recent service, the garage said that my coolant is contaminated and needs draining & replacing at a cost of £55. I had the head gasket replaced 2 yrs ago, which I believe can cause thi,s so this shouldn't be the problem. Does anyone know if this is essential, what can cause this contamination, and is this a good price??

[Toureman]

If you had the head gasket replaced without renewing the coolant then it could still be contaminated with oil.

You should renew the coolant, you could do it yourself for just the price of the anti freeze around £20.

Always helps if you don't keep your car details separate, most modern cars do not have a drain to let the coolant out so you would need to remove the lower radiator hose, drain it then flush clean water through the system for a few minutes, re secure the bottom hose then top up with new coolant.

There are usually at least two vents somewhere in the cooling system you need to open to get rid of air locks which can cause problems if not done correctly so it is a decent price for a garage to do the work.

[Jules73]

Thanks for the advice. Checked paperwork and coolant was changed when gasket done, so phoned another garage who said quote was overpriced - they checked it and said didn't need changing as was fine! Just goes to show that you should always phone around first!

[Hopkirk]

I once had a service and they said the coolant needed renewing.

I declined but later had a call from the manager, as his mechanic had accidentally left his coolant tester under the bonnet.

I found it, and before returning it, I checked the coolant.

You've guessed it. It was fine.