I've been having a issue with coolant loss on the 1.6tdi 2015 occy ive had it about 2-3 months.

The water slowly drops around 200-500 miles i get the check coolant error, i check under the bonnet and its either low or almost 1cm from the bottom (its always checked when cold when possible)

So after a few errors i contacted skoda they booked me in for a pressure test he said it could be the water pump he fitted it but stil no joy..

i called again the techs kept saying it might be a air lock etc.and that the expansion tank will naturaly move with the pressure when the cars hot as the coolant moves to the radiator, So i gave it a few more weeks as i was moving house.

I then called again they booked me in they had my car for two days they said a tech and master tech spent hours going over it with a fine tooth comb the couldnt find a leak on the hoses radiator egr cooler etc and that he thinks the expansion tank cap could be moving under high load so they replaced the cap and expansion tank.

I drove it just over 200 miles and its stil come up check coolant i looked under the tank was 1cm from the bottom again so i added more water.

I've called them up again hes told me hes basically out of ideas, as he said you would see the antifreeze from the leak hes assured me it cant be the head as hes checked but we are stumped where its going and why its not showing a leak on the road or hoses etc.

So i basically said i'd try some k-seal would it affect my water pump bla bla he said its fine and a good idea to try it so i kind of at a guess will have to wait until a part breaks before i can fix it.

Feeling very disheartened on a now 19k miles car im stumped. I drive it around 500 miles a week as its a taxi but im topping it up almost every other day a long run like say 180miles it looses around 2" of water from the expasion tank other then that im checking daily..and topping up as needed. Carrying my trusty water bottle.

is there a sweet smell in the cabin?  Sometimes a leak from the heater exchange isn't detected as it goes into the underlay and carpet under the dash.

?

Did you contact Skoda or just a Skoda Dealership.

 

Contact Skoda UK and get a handler.

Have them arrange a courtesy car and a competent Qualified Technician to have the car delivered to for a proper repair under Warranty.

 

Do not mess do not touch and do not deal with incompetent cretins.

PS

Is the Coolant going below MIN or just dropping near MIN after filled up to MAX.?  Or never filled to MAX?

 

It should not be at MAX when cold and if filled to MAX is liable to find its own level.

Do not let it go below MIN, but do not keep opening the cap and topping up with the correct coolant.

It doesn't just evaporate and if there's no external leaks then it's got to be going into the head.

As it's a slowish leak it just means you're steam cleaning the inside of your engine but it needs rectifying.

You should also fill up with the correct mixture of coolant not just water.

I too it up to max it does drop a little once started and pressurised but then it slowly gets less and less until the warning lights on.

It was a local dealership in lancashire. I've had no contact with skoda uk that sounds a good idea

3 lots water 1 lot antifreeze they told me.

I asked him several times if it could be the head he said hes checked but it would leak from a certain part of the head and ruled it out he also said my temperature gauge would be all over the spot it holds 90 all the time . I cant remember the bit he said

@paulie nope no sweet smell i asked it it could be the air con or intercooler he said no there seperate

You have a warranty use it.

Talk with the Dealer Principal at the Dealership & explain the actions of his / her Master Tech and ask what the Dealership wants to do if doing the Warranty Repair.

 

Or just best go to Skoda UK, tell the Customer Services Manager your story and have them arrange collection and repair of your vehicle.

Take the lid off the expansion tank first thing in the morning, after it hasn't been driven for 7 or 8 hours. Do you hear a hiss of escaping pressure?

Thats the only time i look at it when its cold unless im working and have to sort it out.

Yes it holds pressure theres no loss on pressurse when i went to skoda the 2nd time he said it holding the correct bar

Its really tricky offski as its my taxi so when the cars away i cant work ive lost 4 days already they told me skoda wont pay loss of earnings.

But i think i will contact skoda uk to just see there options i would reject the car but if that drags on i will be out of business.

So do you hear a hissh of escaping pressure or not, it's not clear to me from what you've written.

There shouldn't be any such hiss.

Yes it is stil pressurised it does his as you slowly turb the cap

I would say that's good evidence that combustion gases are mixing with coolant via a fire-ring leak in the headgasket.

I did say to them should the level even out when its cold they said it shouldgo up slightly then asked about the pressure they said if the head was done for it would loose pressure not hold it?

Also theres no creamy resedue in the water or oil or water discolouration

No point in guessing.  It's losing an unacceptable amount of coolant.  It has a problem and needs competent diagnosis as to what that is, and then equally competent remedial action.

 

If the local dealership are out of ideas, then George is right and (IMO) you should go to Skoda UK, before deciding if they've had their chance and muffed it under the Consumer Rights Act.  Might be worth touching base with Trading Standards/Consumer Direct on the basis you don't want to be left with a lemon.

 

Gaz

I guess its skoda uks warrenty i tried the garage there crap it seems the natural step to go above the garage straight to skoda.

I think your both right

Well I've took the advice and sent a rather long email to cusomer services,

I insisted on a like for like car and didn't accept mine back until it was resolved, mine was an Ad-Blue issue but the warranty is supposed to make ownership easier not more difficult!!

There's a set test procedure for checking coolant loss on this engine.

The culprits can be:

Egr cooler internally

Waterpump externally

Charge cooler internally

Head gasket

Cylinder head internally

All dealers have the instructions and the process requires some pretty hefty deconstruction of the engine.

Edited 10 July, 20169 yr by James@RRGRochdale

I literaly have no idea what theyve done except put the water pump on and cap/bottle on

the service dept lass got me to speak to the tech. And she said they spent 3.5 hours looking for it so that suggest some dismantling.

I think the notes said checked egr cooler as i mentioned it looks internal, unless she was just humouring me as she wasnt technical.

I dont even know what a charge cooler is

You are being too nice...

If you are losing money as the car is your job I would park it outside the garage, ask for a equivelant replacement & tell them you dont want it back until its corrected.

Make them aware that you will be doing 500miles a day in their replacement which gives them an extra incentive to get yours back to you quickly.

 

You've given them several chance to correct the issue (they've had the car 4-days if I'm reading correctly) & they've not found the problem.

If you are losing that much coolant in 1-day you are not just looking for some pink spots.

 

Perhaps Skoda won't give you 4-days pay back but they should at least request that the dealer gives you a few free services of something as way of compensation for your lost time.

Hey Skoda guys,

I am from Bulgaria and I have the same problem with my Octavia Vrs 2.0 TDI.

Like Cozza. my car has the same problem, but is out of warranty now and its around 200k km.

Also the car is loosing coolant around 300ml for 300km.

4 times I was in our local Skoda BG and we replaced the following parts:

- Water pump

- EGR coolant

- Changed all the coolant liquid to check for air in the system

- Made a pressure test without effect and they told me that we can continue with the Head.

 

Because I am out of warranty and I wanted to double check with other service not in Skoda, I took the car to other service.

- They checked again for  but there is no indication of leaking on the first view and they replaced the tank cap, but didn't help.

- They made some kind of video look if they can see any of sign of internal leak, but didn't saw.

- Now they will make some test pressure of inter cooler and if the results are low they will replace it, if not, we are going to remove the Head to check it.

 

I will keep in touch for my problem. Hope will give you a hints about this nightmare.

BR,

Vlad