[GregC247]

Hi All,

My car was with the main dealer for an oil consumption test and they made me aware of a coolant leak....
It must be recent as I've had no warning lights/over heating and have not long had the car serviced.

The level was below the minimum.
Last night I topped it up to the max level and drove home (80 miles up a motorway) and checked it this morning and the level was between the Max & Min marks....so it's obviously leaking quite a bit.

Question: The dealer didn't think it was a hose because there would be coolant sprayed everywhere and thought it would be the pump or thermostat.....could it be anywhere else? (looking at it there seems to be drips directly below the coolant reservoir itself as if that's leaking but I cant be sure of this and cant rule out there being a puddle of coolant elsewhere.

The dealer wants £140 to diagnose the fault and said a thermostat (their best guess diagnosis) will be around the £700 mark.

Question: I'm not in a position to afford that repair right now so could I put this off by constantly topping it up for the time being or does this have implications?

Thanks in advance,
Greg

 

[savs]

Hey Greg. Number one - as long as coolant is topped up (check every day at least) then yes you can drive.
But...... it will need monitoring. If you do have a problem it can get worse, the leak could get worse and you can get to a point where pouring in = pouring out! Common sense of monitoring, keeping eye on temp gauge, keep fluid in car etc. And you want to keep a coolant mix to top up with, not just plain water. Which then becomes an expense in itself...

Bit quick for dealer to be recommending repairs (£700 for a thermostat!). Check engine bay and look for residue of leak (usually goes a bit white where leak is).

This issue can be taken to a normal independent or typical repair garage (not dealer). They can pressurise the system and look for the leak. I expect its simple (join to hose, hole somewhere) and cheap to fix.

Not sure what water pumps are like on your engine? They are a case for leaks on 3.0tdi (i found the hard way!). But dont relate that to your engine as it is different.

I suggest do your best to find yourself. If you can find but can't repair yourself, or can't find leak then take it to a reputable normal garage. They'll fix it ok (use check-a-trade if you don't have a good friendly garage to use).

I gotta a feeling this is not a serious as we think (even with your oil consumption issue) and is another case of last owner not looking after car as good as they could of! You are picking up the pieces.

 

[GregC247]

Cheers Sav,

I owe you two now!

That's what I figured but thought I'd best check.....
I'll take a look around for a reasonable price for the pressure test and go from there.....
I was hoping someone might be able to rule in/rule out certain potential leak spots based on that level of leakage but that would be too easy .
I topped it up with water last night but going forward I'll use a mix.....but yeah.....I've got a 5L bottle of oil in the boot along with the coolant its getting bloody ridiculous

 

[savs]

Yeah you should be fine. The coolant in this case (until leak fixed0 is to prevent rust in the engine (any steel parts etc). If it were me i'd water the coolant mix down. Enough mixture to prevent rust, but not so much that i like buying the stuff!
I don't know the current 1.8 tfsi engine well enough for leaks.

I did have the old 1.8T engine in a Passat. That did suffer leaks from thermostat (electronic behind engine, mech thermostat could leak at housing). But these were cheap and easy to fix. And again - don't relate them to your engine as it may not be the same.

Local good garage and pressure test should find the culprit. And then its the next items to sort!

 

[GregC247]

Hey Savs,

Hope you're good mate.

It was the expansion tank in the end....good news. Sorted now.

There is another issue though.....I'll start a new thread 😂