Well thought I would put up a thread on my problem see if I can get some help..

Bought my car a week ago and soon after 2 days of owning it the water light came on and for some reason the water has to be refilled quite often,when I went to view the car it needed topping up then aswell but anyhow didn't think anything of it at the time ..

Garage now have my car and say its not losing any water and it's been the same since the past 3 days they have had it,the car is a 57 plate octavia ambient 1.9 tdi but I told them that I have filled it up twice in a 3 day period they can't find any leaks and have advised me they have done a pressure test and the heads ok but I don't think they have..

The car drives spot on

No white smoke

Oil seems fine too

It maybe a pipe chafed as mentioned in another thread which I think it is too but what can I do next to determine the problem for sure.?

water pump?

Happened to mate's 1.9TDi - losing water but no sign of it anywhere. Water pump was replaced under warranty as well as cambelt due to contamination.

The water pump is due for a change at the moment aswell as the timing belt so might just give that a go any other suggestions??

When mine lost coolant suddenly, called out Skoda Assist and they could not find a leak.

But they assisted me in getting to it the dealer who diagnosed it to be a worn coolant pipe near the DPF.

Apparantly rubbed through on the fixings.

It's at the garage at the moment and they still telling me that it's actually not losing water even though I have topped it up myself so the only thing I can actually do is pick the car up when it's ready and show my own mechanic and see what he diagnoses as the fault...

I'm quite sure it's a either a pipe or something similar

It may only be leaking when engine is running and/or under load. Water pump and head gasket leaks tend to work that way.

In initial stages, head gasket only leaks when head lifts up at close to full throttle mid-range (pressure test won't show it).

To eliminate head gasket as culprit, check if you have coolant traces under the coolant bottle. Another thing to check is if you have high pressure in the coolant bottle (from exhaust gases) on a cold engine (left overnight).

Replacing coolant cap is a good starting point, or dealership should pressure check it.

I found very recently a moderately interesting, though very slow leak on my Mk1 Superb. Coolant cap would leak, but only because apparently the coolant bottle got tired from sitting too close to exhaust and was no longer sealing the cap properly (on a V6TDI the coolant bottle sits above vacuum pump, next to exhaust, too much heat for plastic bottle apparently, though after 7 years/110k miles). New cap wouldn't fix it and I began to suspect head gasket (I had it on the Mk1 Octy) as the coolant was spitting out the bottle. But I put in a new coolant bottle a week ago and so far all is well. Added a few lenghts of reflective alu tape on the underside to prevent this happening again.

Well I've asked quite a few different mechanics and nearly all of them said you don't have the symptoms of a hg failure which obviously am hoping is the case.

I'm gonna pick the car up tomorow and take it to my mates garage sure he will get to the bottom of it and I can stop stressing then.

Leaking water pumps are very common on this motor, and will leak without trace, as it collects and then evapourates inside the cam belt cover.

If it is the pump, you will most likely need to replace the cam belt & ancilliaries as well. Good luck with it.

Well I have it booked in on Monday to have its pump and timing belt kit to be replaced.

What's the going rate on labour for something like this to be replaced??

I had exactly the same thing happen to me before Christmas. I was losing coolant, but not at any great rate. I checked all the usual pipes, radiator etc, but couldn't find the source of the problem.

I booked it into my independent garage. This guy is a cracking mechanic, yet initially after pressure testing the system, he was unable to identify the source of the leak. Like a dog with a bone, he asked if he could keep the car for a day longer and after pressurising the system overnight, he found a very slight leak from a pipe at the rear of the engine close to the bulkhead.

He tells me it was a bit of a bugger to get at, however he repaired it and all has been well since.

Not so sure about labour costs for your job but my previously mentioned mechanic charged me £300 for changing the belt, water pump & tensioners as well as a full service including oil & filter change, air, pollen & fuel filter replacement and checking the brakes. Oh, and he had it washed too!

Hope this helps & good luck.

FP

Edited 13 February, 201313 yr by flying pig

I had exactly the same thing happen to me before Christmas. I was losing coolant, but not at any great rate. I checked all the usual pipes, radiator etc, but couldn't find the source of the problem.

I booked it into my independent garage. This guy is a cracking mechanic, yet initially after pressure testing the system, he was unable to identify the source of the leak. Like a dog with a bone, he asked if he could keep the car for a day longer and after pressurising the system overnight, he found a very slight leak from a pipe at the rear of the engine close to the bulkhead.

He tells me it was a bit of a bugger to get at, however he repaired it and all has been well since.

Not so sure about labour costs for your job but my previously mentioned mechanic charged me £300 for changing the belt, water pump & tensioners as well as a full service including oil & filter change, air, pollen & fuel filter replacement and checking the brakes. Oh, and he had it washed too!

Hope this helps & good luck.

FP

Thanks for the advice fella in collecting the car tomorow and hopefully it will be ok but on Monday it's going to my mates garage for the belt and pump to be done he said he will check it over so fingers crossed

Update:

Collected my car today after the garage having it for 5 days and the 2 faults as were told that were going to be fixed Haven't!

Wiper still doesn't work well works once then doesn't so I assume its the motor,so after having a few words with them they located a new motor and its near to where I live so gonna collect it and have them fit it tomorow yes yet again back to the garage my 3rd trip aaarrrggghh!

Second issue with it losing coolant still not sorted they told me they pressure tested the head and its fine so they said its not losing any anymore?!?

But thought I would get a second opinion so took the car straight to the garage a mate owns and after looking at it he says there's no pressure in the coolant and he says there's water on the under tray his diagnosis is the water pump and he also checked the engine he said its fine so where do I go from now?

Get the water pump replaced and put K-seal in when you refill the coolant.

As has been mentioned you need to replace the water pump.

Skoda have a fixed price policy for this job including the cambelt of £369...

http://www.skoda.co.uk/gbr/owners/national-pricing/pages/maintenance.aspx

Anything south of this is a bonus.

Skoda have a fixed price policy for this job including the cambelt of £369...

The parts for the job come to about £105 minimum + 4 Hours labour @ £200?.....£305 total.

All of a sudden the Skoda price looks very good.....especially considering the warranty (2 years I think) they provide with any work they do.

So most likely guys do you think it will be the water pump??

As its never been changed and all symptoms point to it but my mechanic couldn't be 100% sure but he said that he's 80% sure it's the water pump as the wet patch was right under the undertray,so if it was the head gasket which I doubt it the symptoms would have been different am I right??

So most likely guys do you think it will be the water pump??

As its never been changed and all symptoms point to it but my mechanic couldn't be 100% sure but he said that he's 80% sure it's the water pump as the wet patch was right under the undertray,so if it was the head gasket which I doubt it the symptoms would have been different am I right??

Sounds like a reasonable assumption. The way to tell definitively would be to get all the cam belt covers off and run it like that for a few days to try to spot the leak.

Trouble is, if it's anything like the 2.0 TDI engine, taking the top cam cover off is easy....but to get the middle and lower cover off (so you can see the water pump pulley) you have to get the front wheel off, take the auxiliary belt off and take the crank pulley off, get the covers off then put it all back together again. A bit of a job all by itself, and possibly pointless if you intend to get the cambelt and water pump done anyway.

If you take the top cambelt cover off it might be possible on the 1.9 TDI to shine a torch down and get a glimpse of the water pump pulley, and possibly spot signs of a leak, but I'm not sure.....I'll give it a go on my 1.9 TDI (in a fabia) tomorrow.

Edited 15 February, 201313 yr by booke23

Definitely water pump

Replace and all will be fine.

Sounds like a reasonable assumption. The way to tell definitively would be to get all the cam belt covers off and run it like that for a few days to try to spot the leak.

Trouble is, if it's anything like the 2.0 TDI engine, taking the top cam cover off is easy....but to get the middle and lower cover off (so you can see the water pump pulley) you have to get the front wheel off, take the auxiliary belt off and take the crank pulley off, get the covers off then put it all back together again. A bit of a job all by itself, and possibly pointless if you intend to get the cambelt and water pump done anyway.

If you take the top cambelt cover off it might be possible on the 1.9 TDI to shine a torch down and get a glimpse of the water pump pulley, and possibly spot signs of a leak, but I'm not sure.....I'll give it a go on my 1.9 TDI (in a fabia) tomorrow.

Much appreciated as am on the fence weather to go down the rejecting car route and not get any work done to the car but I really like it and hopefully this will cure the fault let me know how you get on thanks for all the input guys

Just took the top cam cover off my 1.9TDI, and you can't see much except for the cam sprocket.

But there is a gap in the covers just below the engine mount at the front side of the mount, where you can just see the edge of the water pump sprocket. If you shine a torch down there at night you might see signs of leakage. If you were planning a cambelt change anyway, it's academic. Just get the pump done at the same time.

Just took the top cam cover off my 1.9TDI, and you can't see much except for the cam sprocket.

But there is a gap in the covers just below the engine mount at the front side of the mount, where you can just see the edge of the water pump sprocket. If you shine a torch down there at night you might see signs of leakage. If you were planning a cambelt change anyway, it's academic. Just get the pump done at the same time.

Much appreciated for the help pal my thinking is that if I start spending money on the car and it turns out to be something else like the head then I'll be more stuck then before but saying that the water pump is original and has been in there since day1 so most likely it will be that am hoping just want to be 100% before I sotartnspending money on it

Today's the day guys having the car serviced and timing belt done and water pump fingers crossed...

Head Gasket went on my 57 plate 1.9PD at 120k miles. Same symptoms - ran fine, no smoke etc, started using coolant. Garage pressure tested it and was losing pressure with no external leaks. When they took the head off the gasket had gone between cylinder 3 and the water jacket. Cylinder Head was fine, no cracks, not warped. New gasket fitted and its been fine ever since.

Head Gasket went on my 57 plate 1.9PD at 120k miles. Same symptoms - ran fine, no smoke etc, started using coolant. Garage pressure tested it and was losing pressure with no external leaks. When they took the head off the gasket had gone between cylinder 3 and the water jacket. Cylinder Head was fine, no cracks, not warped. New gasket fitted and its been fine ever since.

Was supposed to have the car timing belt and pump changed today but couldn't drop the car off unforeseen circumstances so its rebooked for tomorow

My wife had a 55 plate 1.9TDI (PD) that had similar symptoms. There seemed to be no noticeable leak at all, and then while driving the low coolant warning light would come on and there was a huge loss in coolant, but nothing was wet!

After the dealer had the car for a week, they were about to give the car back as they couldnt get it to happen, when it happened as I've described to them. They eventually got a Skoda tech down to investigate. It turned out to be a faulty EGR valve that was occassionally failing and dumping the coolant down the exhaust - hence nothing was wet as it all came out of the exhaust.

This might be worth investigating on yours.