When I took my Furby in to the dealers for several jobs and a service recently, one of the issues I asked them to look at was an unidentified coolant leak. Anyway, some of you will be aware from my previous threads that these guys managed to b****r up just about everything they touched - well guess what.....!

I was concerned about this mysterious leak, but not overly, as I could smell antifreeze under the bonnet - which tended to rule out head gaskets etc.

So when the car went in, I asked them to look at it. "Don't worry, we'll find it!", said their head technician with a stupid grin. Well, when they rang to say the car was ready I asked about my leak. " No Sir, they've tested it and it does'nt leak". I explained that yes, it does leak! Please try again! When I collected the car they said they'd pressure tested it twice and could find no leak!

WELL I'VE JUST BL***Y FOUND IT WITH MY UNAIDDED EYES!!!!

Took the engine cover off, had a good sniff around and found a gungy coolant trail running down the back of one of the rigid heater pipes by the bulkhead. The assembly consists of two rigid steel pipes about 200mm long, with a bracket welded near the top. Leak is coming from the weld. At the bottom, the two pipes appear to terminate in a flange, with a central Allen bolt presumably securing this to the heater matrix.

Does anyone know if this should be as straightforward as it looks to replace?

" No Sir, they've tested it and it does'nt leak".

Doesn't it just **** you off when they say the fault doesn't exist! Never "sorry, we couldn't find it" but always denying the fault exists when you've taken the car in for that very reason. Do they think you would want to make it up?

-Sal

You haven't had much luck with your car, have you!?! Did you buy it from a Skoda dealer and did it come with a warranty?

Bought it from an independant trader - no warrenty - but it seemed well priced! It's true I've had some niggles! However the actual number of faults was/is quite small, it's just that my local dealer has either mis-diagnosed or just missed what they actually are/were.

I think in actuality the faults (as purchased) were/are:

1 Distorted N/S hub assembly

2 inadequate size battery fitted

3 Minor coolant leak from rigid heater pipe

Unfortunatly my dealer has led me (and in fact himself) down an expensive and time consuming journey of trial and error. It took 9 days for them to discover and repair the hub problem - costing me 2 wheel bearings and nearly a new alloy wheel (which they said was buckled)! They replaced the voltage regulator in an attempt to sort my electrical problem. This turned out to be caused by the fitment of a 44A/Hr battery instead of the specified 70A/Hr - I had to discover that one myself! And as for the coolant leak - well as I've already written - I had to discover that myself aswell!

In conclusion, it's not that I've had a lot of trouble with the car, more the idiots I paid

Is there another dealer you could use? And is the coolant pipe repair a dealer only job or could an independent garage do it?

Next nearest dealer is over 20 miles. There's a good independant (ex VW franchised garage nearby - can source all VAG parts), but it may be a DIY job. I was hoping someone may be able to enlighten me on that one!

The pipe does'nt look expensive and looks accessible, the main pain is draining, refilling, bleeding etc; and getting hold of that G12 stuff. Be grateful if someone could fill me in on the pipe flange/matrix/gasket (O ring) arrangement.

The two aluminium pipes are an absolute **** to seal if they leak. They have a real stupid way of sealing, they share one securing bracket with a 5mm allen key bolt in the middle. You will need two new o-rings and alot of patience, it will either go first time or will take hours. Best to take the air box out entirely to get access.

I saw that central allen bolt - thought it looked a bit under engineered. Think I might let that independant VAG specialist have a go if it's a pig to seal!

Thanks for your advice - it's good to have access to knowledgable guys with learnt experience like youself.