Coolant level dropped to min

[Tightmartin]

Got in my 1.8 tsi last night and the low coolant warning light came on. Checked the header bottle and it is on minimum. I have to admit I do not remember the last time I actually looked at the header bottle when checking the oil but I am sure it has dropped in the last couple of weeks.

Has anyone else had anything like this happen?

I do not have any coolant to top it up with and can not find any G12++ standard locally. Will have to book into dealer soon as warranty runs out in 3 weeks.

[Tightmartin]

Sorry this got posted twice as can not work my wife's iPad

[skodacarman]

Get it into the dealer straight away. I had a similar problem, and saved myself £300 with a new water pump (& contaminated cam belt) fitted free under warranty with only 3 weeks left of the three years.

[Rab-k]

As skodacarman states, get it in as the water pump is the most likely cause. Had mine replaced three weeks ago for the very same reason.

[ruffday]

Had this when I had my TSi but the light only came on and beeded topping up when I had been giving it the beans on a long run.

It turned out to be a leaking pipe which was changed under warranty.

[flying pig]

I've a 1.9 pd (105) and noticed today that my coolant level was at the minimum level, engine was warm after a 50 mile trip on the motorway.

I usually check my levels, oil etc on a weekly basis and found it was between max and min when I last checked it.

My question is this. Is it usual for the coolant level to drop during normal operating conditions? I have a daily commute of 100 miles round trip, mainly on the motorway.

Can't see any evidence of a leak.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

[Tightmartin]

Thanks guys, I will give the dealer a call in the morning as I have the day off to see if they can look at it asap.

[skodacarman]

Flying pig - your leak is showing the same symptoms as mine was (also a 105PS 1.9 TDI). And no, it isn't normal for the coolant to drop in normal operations.

Reason I couldn't find a leak in mine was that it was leaking from the water pump, which lives inside the cam belt casing and is driven by the cam belt. Lost a litre or so without a trace of it showing anywhere that I could see. Seems that the coolant either sits inside the case and/or evapourates off hot bits of engine inside there.

If it is the water pump, and from browsing this forum this does seem to be a weakness on these motors, then the consequent contamination of the cam belt could be serious. Most likely, it will need to be changed along with the water pump.

It's is a good reason for having a new pump fitted whenever the cam belt is renewed.

[flying pig]

Thanks Skodacarman.

I had my timing belt and water pump replaced about 12 months ago by a mechanic I've used for years. I'd trust him any day of the week as he's an ex VW mechanic.

What I didn't mention in my earlier post, is that I noticed a slight dampness on the centre console in the front passenger footwell. I had a poke inside with my fingers and could feel moisture on a metal pipe. I'm now wandering if this is the problem as it doesn't seem to happen all the time.

I'll top it up today and see how it goes over the next week or so. If it continues to lose coolant, I'll give it to my mechanic to have a look at.

Thanks again.

[Tightmartin]

Well took my 1.8TSI into the dealer today for a look at the supsected leak and they have kept it in as they have found a leak somewhere at or around the engine block at the front of the engine. So much for Skoda reliability, it is the second time this car has been back to the dealers for repairs since I have had it (first time was a broken injector about this time last year). I am glad it happened before the warrany expired but I am now worried what is next?

I will have to wait until they have stripped the engine to find the exact location of the leak before they can say how long it will be in for. They did not even have a courtesy car available which is a pain but okay until Thursday when I will need one so I hope the dealer either fix it or sort me a car out by then.

Not too happy as you can imagine, not sure it it is worth a call to Skoda Customer Service.... ?

[weyland]

My light randomly came on at the weekend but went off after driving a short way, stopping and starting the engine up again. Strange that some many people are talking about this right now. Can only assume the sensor was getting a faulty reading on mine and then cleared.

[Tightmartin]

Well I got my 1.8 back from the dealer today having had a new water pump fitted as the one leakin had a distorted body causing the leak. I wonder how it got distorted as the engine has never overheated. I say the invoice for the warranty and it said £545 cost so glad I still in warranty. Had 3rd service and 1st MOT too as it was in the dealers. I asked about the coolant I should use if it leaks again and the I was shown the G13 stuff and they gave me a 1.5L bottle for free for my inconvenience which was appreciated.

[skodacarman]

What is it with Skoda (or VAG) and water pumps? They seems like a real weakpoint.

[Tightmartin]

I was very suprised as I had not heard of the water pump being an issue on the Petrol VAG engines. In fact the only problems I have heard of on the 1.8Tsi seem to be the ones I have had. Lucky me ......

[anagy]

Same prob on my 2010 vrs.  I had the warning light come on a couple of times.  First the dealer suggested it was a theromsat gasket.  Light came on again, so next visit they changed the water pump and a pipe.  Hopefuly that fixes it for good.

[hatchy]

£545 for a change of water pump, made of solid gold is it?  :think:

[cheezemonkhai]

£545 for a change of water pump, made of solid gold is it?  :think:

 

No but it is behind (and driven by) the cambelt, so which will have had to come off and probably be replaced along with the tensioners etc.

Add the cost to find the issue (checking the pipes etc) and that's where the £545 comes from.

[DGW]

Have a look at pages 27-29 of the 2.0TSI Self Study Program below to see the complexity and nature of the water pump installation on the TSI engine.

http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/VW/Misc/VW.COM_2.0L_TSI_Turbo_SSP_824803.pdf

[clamberer]

I've just found leaking coolant under the front of the engine/radiator on some of the plastic guards on my 1.8TSI  .  Coolant level had dropped to minimum.

 

I REALLY hope it's just a leaky hose, as I don't have a Skoda warranty and would really rather not pay £545 for a pump or whatever a radiator costs on one of these.

[andyvee]

I've just found leaking coolant under the front of the engine/radiator on some of the plastic guards on my 1.8TSI . Coolant level had dropped to minimum.

I REALLY hope it's just a leaky hose, as I don't have a Skoda warranty and would really rather not pay £545 for a pump or whatever a radiator costs on one of these.

Try some K Seal in there first. If it is a pinhole in the rad or oil cooler chances are it will cure it.

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[silver1011]

Do you know for sure that they replaced the cambelt too? Does the 1.8 TSi have a belt or chain?

 

Either way you would do well to find out what exactly they've replaced. If they have replaced te belt you now won't need to do it next year at the four year interval.

 

A cambelt service on its own is £349 so you've actually been lucky to get the leak within warranty!

 

£545 is still expensive for a cambelt and waterpump. Skoda's National Pricing Policy has it down at £449 but I'm guessing the dealer was also claiming for the investigative work too.

[clamberer]

Try some K Seal in there first. If it is a pinhole in the rad or oil cooler chances are it will cure it.

 

I took out the under shield to have a look; it's a small leak on the radiator.

 

How does K-Seal compare to the likes of Radweld?  Any risk of clogging or reduced cooling performance?

What are peoples views on using leak sealing compounds like that??  - I've used Radweld on an older car before, but I'm maybe more reluctant to with the Octavia (what with VAG fussiness about using specific fluids, and me being concerned about how it'd behave around things like the water cooling of the turbo  & other smaller hoses etc.)

Cheers

Edited 17 July, 2013 by clamberer

[littleade]

Another option if you can get at the hole could be to use one of the apoxy resins that are available for sealing holes in rads and plug the hole from the outside. That way you'll target the actual problem without risking reducing the cooling systems performance. A second hand or refurbed rad is another option too I guess

[Phil-E]

I would only ever use K-seal type products on an old banger that I just wanted to keep going but didn't actually care about!

 

That gunk coats everything inside the cooling system and can seriously reduce the performance of the coolant system and even cause blockages or damage to water pumps etc.

 

For the sake of it just get a new radiator. It's not a mega job and even DIY-able. You will probably save money in the long run.

 

Also looking at the prices for cambelt and water pump... boy am I glad I got the dealer to replace them at their expense before buying the car! Ouch! Didn't realise they charged so much for them.

[andyvee]

Is that from experience Phil?

I had a small pinhole in my oil cooler, K Seal did the trick and has been in there for over 2 years and 40000 miles with no adverse effects.

My coolant was changed when I removed my EGR cooler and the system wasnt gunked up, and the leak hasn't returned.

Car is cooling fine, even in these 30 degree temps we are having.

I know of rally teams that use it as a preventative measure so if it is good enough for them .......

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