Coolant Low

[LeeBB]

Hi,

Got a coolant low error on the car this morning, looked under the bonnet and indeed it was.

VW Group tech turns up an hour later and tops it up. Says this is common due to the hoses stretching a little in first 10k, no leaks found. Says he often has this problem on mk3 Superb diesels after about that sort of mileage after cold mornings.

Anyone else seen / heard of this?

[Lol6]

Mine has covered a little over 2,000 miles and I have noticed a drop in the coolant level. I do check it weekly and it has not changed in the last week so I will continue to monitor.

[MartiniB]

at 15 000km service added 0,3l

[Hozz]

I had exactly the same problem with mine recently.

Garage said that they had contacted Skoda and had been informed that it does happen quite often up to 10,000 miles.

The garage carried out what they called a regeneration of the coolant system to clear any airlocks and it has been fine ever since.

Not sure the regeneration was actually necessary, I think topping up was probably all that was needed.

[MCG1975]

Not sure if mine needed it at the first, 10,000 service but I do recall having to top it up sometime over the summer...can't remember when as I have to admit I don't check very often  :peek:

[nicowalker85]

I've topped up twice in 21k

[James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale]

I find that this can occur if the coolant tank isn't brimmed at PDI.

once topped up you seldom see further issues.

[Simon-R]

Topped up twice in 19,000 miles. 

[r08shaw]

Had the warning before a mega trip to Germany and back.

 

Called Skoda assistance and they sent AA out to investigate who just topped it up with water and all was fine. Level wasn't that far under the minimum level line, but wanted it checked out before our trip.

This was on a Saturday at 5pm, so dealer visit wasn't an option.

 

Car had about 7.5k on it at the time, now of 8.8k and no further warning.

[Bugginbob]

Same for me at about 10k.Topped up with water but now going in to be checked by dealer (after a months wait for an appointment) as has done it again. In fact in a 100 mile ride yesterday had the low coolant warning and three tyre pressure warnings!

[Othen]

I had to top up my 2013 TDI estate with about half a litre at 35,000 miles. I've been keeping an eye on it since and it does not seem to be using any more, and does not seem to have any leaks. The car has done nearly 39,000 miles now and will soon have its 40,000 mile service, so I'll get the dealer to take a look at it then.

 

It sounds like this is nothing much to worry about - or is it?

 

Alan

[James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale]

Some info on this phenomenon:

Apparently there can be an air bubble in the cooling system that the factory bleed procedure does not remove. Once the vehicle is in normal use this air slowly bleeds out and can drop the coolant to a significantly low level requiring several top ups to the tune of around a litre.

This should stop occurring after the vehicle covers over 10,000kms.

[blahde2]

One did this at about 5k'ish so I took it to the dealer. New water pump required so they booked me in 2 weeks later for the work.

No problems since, though at the speed it was dropping I suspect it was more than likely just the air bubble syndrome as it took near on 2k to creep down below the level.

Did the garage just need the warranty money I wonder, they can't charge Skoda if no fault is found? Sneeky!

[Othen]

Thank you for the information, but I can't really see that it would be an air bubble after 35,000 miles. Having topped up the header tank with about 500ml of the pink coolant about 3000 miles ago the problem doesn't seem to have reoccurred. I'm still wondering what might have caused the loss.

 

The car is due its 40,000 mike service in a month or two (it is on the 10,000 mile service regime). I had been temped to take it to an independent garage this time (the King's Lynn VW Centre is most reputable and also covers Skoda and Audi) having been a bit unimpressed by the main dealer at the last two visits (losing the oil filler cap at the first, and pretending the front discs were worn near the service limit, I think in order to generate work as blahde2 suggests the last time). Now I'm a bit torn: I'd like the issue investigated but I don't want the main dealer to escalate the problem to something that may not need doing, on the other hand may I want to hand the car over to a new service agent that has not seen it previously.

 

If the issue is to do with the water pump should I expect any other symptoms (everything seems fine, no funny noises or dashboard indications)?

 

Alan

[James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale]

Thank you for the information, but I can't really see that it would be an air bubble after 35,000 miles. Having topped up the header tank with about 500ml of the pink coolant about 3000 miles ago the problem doesn't seem to have reoccurred. I'm still wondering what might have caused the loss.

The car is due its 40,000 mike service in a month or two (it is on the 10,000 mile service regime). I had been temped to take it to an independent garage this time (the King's Lynn VW Centre is most reputable and also covers Skoda and Audi) having been a bit unimpressed by the main dealer at the last two visits (losing the oil filler cap at the first, and pretending the front discs were worn near the service limit, I think in order to generate work as blahde2 suggests the last time). Now I'm a bit torn: I'd like the issue investigated but I don't want the main dealer to escalate the problem to something that may not need doing, on the other hand may I want to hand the car over to a new service agent that has not seen it previously.

If the issue is to do with the water pump should I expect any other symptoms (everything seems fine, no funny noises or dashboard indications)?

Alan

If it's still occurring past 10,000km then there may very well be an issue that needs addressing. Unless it's had cooling system repairs carried out and the air bubble has reoccurred.

[Penuwchian]

Happened twice on my Superb 1.6 TDI 120bhp and twice on my wife's Golf 2.0 190bhp- both now on 18k miles and both happened fairly recently- not been overly worried- must be a very sensitive sensor or something, as there's never much goes in.

[Othen]

If it's still occurring past 10,000km then there may very well be an issue that needs addressing. Unless it's had cooling system repairs carried out and the air bubble has reoccurred.

Many thanks James,

The cooling system has not been touched, so I don't think it can be trapped air. I've just checked the level again, and can confirm it has not used any coolant since I topped it up on 12 October - so 3 months now. There don't seem to be any other symptoms (I can't see any leaks, there are no unexpected noises and performance seems normal), but I still can't imagine what happened to half a litre of coolant.

I suppose I get whoever services it in a month or two to have a better look.

Alan

[Othen]

The mystery was solved at the 40,000 mile service today: a slight weep from the water pump. The car is 6 months out of warranty, but Skoda has agreed to pay 50% of the cost for the water pump (£195), which seems reasonable. Of course it wold be absurd not to change the cam belt at the same time as that job will be due in 18 months anyway. The cost of the cam belt kit is £203, making a total of £398 to get the belt and water pump fixed at the same time.

 

Does this sound a reasonable cost, and a sensible thing to do?

Edited 9 February, 2017 by Othen
Typing error.

[Norfolkjohn]

My 2017 1.4 TSI (11k miles) just dumped a litre of water on the drive from a leak round the water pump.   It had not required any top up since service last Dec (checked only 5 days ago) so the leak seems to have developed whilst the car was standing on the drive for last 3 days.   AA man pressure tested and then followed me on the 4 mile journey to dealer in Norwich.   I'm currently waiting to hear their verdict.