coolant loss

[Marc81]

I have a 55 plate VRS and have been suffering from coolant loss for almost 2 years now! Its an inconsistent loss, I've driven for a couple of weeks with no loss at all, whereas sometimes i can go from full to the warning light in a day. I've had 3 garages look at it including Skoda and no one seems to be able to find the problem. Skoda eventually pointed the finger at head gasket failure but i think they were clutching at straws... an independent had it all day doing compression and block tests and said they were fine - telling me if it got worse then to take it back and they'll have another look (they advised that they didn't just want to change the HG on a whim in case it wasn't that and it wasted me a lot of money). Well that was a year ago and its still no worse with no other problems, I just top it up as and when. The problem I now have is that its time for a change, I need something bigger as I've a baby on the way - but i don't want to sell it to someone knowing it has a leak (I can't exactly say yeah its not a problem just keep it topped up as they'll automatically think HGF and Im not the type of person to not mention it). Does anyone have any ideas whatsoever with what it could be? There's no visible signs of a leak and no other issues like loss of power or anything, drives perfect.. would a car with HGF go for 2+ years and not get any worse?? I really am at a loss.

Cheers guys, all help much appreciated, as always this forum is a great place.

Marc

[wilsy7]

This is such a common issue, still no one seems to know what causes it :(

[danny6189]

Had the same problem here. Done all tests. Compression the lot. All came back ok. What it was, was when it's under boost it lifts the head just enough to get exhaust gasses into the coolant thus pressurising it. Skoda changed my HG under used car warranty and nearly 10k miles later it's all good.

[Taylor477]

Had the same problem here. Done all tests. Compression the lot. All came back ok. What it was, was when it's under boost it lifts the head just enough to get exhaust gasses into the coolant thus pressurising it. Skoda changed my HG under used car warranty and nearly 10k miles later it's all good.

this might be the solution to my problems.. I keep getting the coolant warning light beeping at me and the manual states to turn the engine off. The coolant is at a good level but then I open up the cap and pressurised air comes out them I close the cap and its fine..

[Phil-E]

Check the metal pipes at the back of the engine that go into the inside of the car to the heater matrix.

I had a leak from those pipes due to some corrosion on the pipes.

Known a few others that have had this too.

Very hard to spot as it's right above the exhaust and so the coolant was leaking out and straight onto the exhaust and burning off so no trace of a leak.

Phil

[Taylor477]

Check the metal pipes at the back of the engine that go into the inside of the car to the heater matrix.

I had a leak from those pipes due to some corrosion on the pipes.

Known a few others that have had this too.

Very hard to spot as it's right above the exhaust and so the coolant was leaking out and straight onto the exhaust and burning off so no trace of a leak.

Phil

Cheers Phil I'm going to give that a check myself..

[Phil-E]

Cheers Phil I'm going to give that a check myself..

I never spotted it but took it to a decent independant who got it up on the ramps and managed to spot it pretty quickly with the engine running from cold.

The pipes were about £60 I think as they're metal ones :(

[danny6189]

Easiest thing to do is open the cap first thing in the morning. If its pressurised then you have a problem.

[Taylor477]

Ah crap :/ off to Skoda I go! Still got 1 months warranty left so I'm gonna claim on everything I can! ah ha

[Marc81]

Hmmm sounds like HG failure is still on the cards then, just expected it to have gone worse over the 2 years... gutted as i really don't have the cash to get that done and then to sell it :-( Will still try and check those pipes though Phil thanks.

Cheers for all the replies.

Marc

[Dan93VRS]

I never spotted it but took it to a decent independant who got it up on the ramps and managed to spot it pretty quickly with the engine running from cold.

The pipes were about £60 I think as they're metal ones :(

Where did you get the metal pipes from I'm having same problem

[Phil-E]

Where did you get the metal pipes from I'm having same problem

No idea.

The garage sourced them for me but assume it was a parts place (ECP or similar).

A dealer should also be able to get them for you but probably have to order them in.

Phil

[Dan93VRS]

Well I have just spoke to Skoda, they sent me 2 diagrams and the pipe is not on them, they have no idea -.- So now I'm struggling to source the part :/

[Dan93VRS]

No idea.

The garage sourced them for me but assume it was a parts place (ECP or similar).

A dealer should also be able to get them for you but probably have to order them in.

Phil

Also tried ecp :/ really struggling

[Phil-E]

I'm really surprised the dealers can't find the pipes you need.

Phil

[cocat2517]

Hi

Did you find these parts? I can probably point you in the right direction?

My friend is having a nightmare fitting these for me at his garage? Did you get yours done?

[Jonny5ive]

My money is on a failed/failing radiator. Had similar symptoms on my fabia and thought it was HG to start with.

[gevans]

This is such a common issue, still no one seems to know what causes it :(

Frustrating, isn't it.

My 06 VRS has been losing a small amount of coolant for the last three years/40,000 miles. I have reported it at the last three services and the dealer always say no fault found.

If I fill the header tank to the full line, it drops to just above the fill line almost immediately and then mostly stays put. I can drive for thousands of miles, right across Europe, in summer, with no loss whatsoever, but driving small distances in town, particularly in cold weather sometimes results in a smell of coolant and a very slight coolant loss requiring a top-up every month or so.

I'm wondering whether to put a small amount of sealant in, but it's due a service soon so I'll report it again.

[Duck_Pond]

Had this on my vRS - a VW garage pressure tested it and they reckoned mine had a porous head (the car, not me). Apparently not uncommon for the PD engine.

Then, during the process of changing the cylinder head for one I'd bought off of a lad on here, they found that the head gasket was starting to deteriorate, and replaced just that instead. Was fine afterwards.

So I still have the cylinder head etc, if anyone ever needs one!