Urgent - garage can't find coolant leak on 1.8 TSI

[HopefullyJOllyRoger]

Three weeks ago I noticed a small puddle under my 61 plate Superb estate 1.8 TSI.

 

The next day, the red coolant light came on. It coincided with me getting new tyres fitted, so the fitters advised to just top the coolant up, which they did.

 

A couple of days ago, the red coolant light came on again. I parked up immediately and flipped the bonnet. It was 1.5cm below the min level, so yes, definitely a sudden leakage during the day when it had been parked up from 9am til 5pm.

 

Over that three week period, all I'd done was driven a few miles per day, with no motorway driving.

 

A recommended garage has thoroughly inspected the car, telling me they checked every little component from hoses and the thermostat bolts and other stuff, but they can't find anything.

 

Their investigation included pressure testing and again no leaks were found, not even after running the car to temperature for enough time, then letting it cool with some cardboard under it. Literally everything is bone dry.

 

All they can suggest is an internal leak into the head gasket perhaps, but they don't have the tools to fix it, meaning a dealer job (or another indie garage with the tools?). Bummer.

 

I've not had the car long so this is a bit gutting and I don't hold much hope for the Autoguard warranty, which is the maximum the dealer could offer me at the point of sale.

 

Any ideas, comments, experiences?

[CWARD]

Sounds like head gasket but should be able to confirm with inspecting coolant and oil for contamination. Oil, check in the filler cap for mayonnaise like build up and oil level increase.  Oil in coolant will float on the surface and stick around the header tank. 

 

How long have you had the car and had you seen any white smoke from the exhaust?  

Edited 17 August, 2017 by CWARD

[Rooted]

The 'Autoguard Warranty' is what you should hold out hope on IMO.

 

Otherwise what does it cover, read the T&C's.     Do you not suspect the water pump as being the problem, or does whoever is looking at and doing tests suspect that.

 

Best follow the requirements of the 'Warranty' & hop[e using the 'Recommended Garage' to diagnose has not ruined that,

usually there are requirements on who does the diagnosis and report and Warranty Work.

[HopefullyJOllyRoger]

Two garages have inspected the coolant and oil and say nothing looks contaminated, and the engine bay and all other parts look dry with no caked-on residue, etc. One garage said the 1.8 doesn't have a water pump, which doesn't inspire me.

 

The main dealer is 25 miles away and I'm tired of the sight of them, as I've already had 2 minor repairs under warranty since I bought it in December, plus the DSG was replaced at the dealer's expense just two months' ago. Any more expense is the last thing I can face.

[bigjohn]

See:-

 

 

 

Edited 17 August, 2017 by bigjohn

[Nathanio]

Waterpump went on our 1.2TSI Fabia and it was out of the waterpump. It wasn't till it was up on the ramp and a really close inspection could you see the residue from the pump. 

The pump on my 1.8TSI twindoor was starting to leak when I sold it. I never got it done as it was traded in.

[jafo]

Isn't DSG cooled together with engine - with the same fluid ?

[Defenderben]

A mechanic friend of mine uses a hydrometer looking thing to confirm if the head gasket has gone, not 100% sure how or what it does to get the result but remember him using it over 10 years ago.

 

Think he took a sample of the coolant at a certain temperature. It was especially handy on the not so obvious head gasket failures,  not sure if this is a bum steer as it was many years ago now.

[rayx]

Find another garage, 99% water pump - lip seal on the shaft and coolant getting out through drainage hole - , but mechanics still do not know these beasts ...

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/435324-2012-octavia-vrs-20tsi-fl-water-pump-on-the-way-out/

 

[Taximark]

I had the bang same issue on mine mate, it kept losing coolant but no sign on water , luckily my mate is a Skoda technician and took him a few minutes to say the water pump had failed, fortunately I was due to replace the cam belt so did it together.

On close inspection the water leak was like a fine mist/spray and could only be seen under the car on ramps .

[Ju1ian1001]

Can i suggest a small crack in coolant bottle, they tend to only open up when then bottle is hot, if the vehicle is only doing a few miles a day then it won't get hot enough to see any cracks leaking fluid. doing a pressure test when cold will not show this up nor will leaving the vehicle at tick over for a while, it needs to be driven and got really hot; and it's a cheaper repair then the water pump will be.

[Rooted]

^^^ 

Beauty of the Warranty, and using that Warranty on something like a Water Pump.

 

The OP does not say what the other 2 Warranty Jobs were that got done, but that they were minor, 

this is worth the 25 mile effort seeing as those checking the car up to now seem not much use at the diagnosis.

[HopefullyJOllyRoger]

Thanks very much to everyone for the responses so far.

 

I will strongly consider taking it the longer distance to the supplying dealer to see if anything can be done under warranty.

 

It's just there are lots of major things going on in my life this year and when I bought the car after a terrible experience with a Citroen, I said I would give it three changes. This is the 4th and it's potentially something big and expensive. Either way, I've lost confidence in the car, sadly.

 

Julian1001, great suggestion and sorry for being a numpty but how could this be arranged, as mechanics from experience don't like waiting on standby for a customer to turn up when their car has warmed up?

[Taximark]

52 minutes ago, HopefullyJOllyRoger said:

Thanks very much to everyone for the responses so far.

 

I will strongly consider taking it the longer distance to the supplying dealer to see if anything can be done under warranty.

 

It's just there are lots of major things going on in my life this year and when I bought the car after a terrible experience with a Citroen, I said I would give it three changes. This is the 4th and it's potentially something big and expensive. Either way, I've lost confidence in the car, sadly.

 

Julian1001, great suggestion and sorry for being a numpty but how could this be arranged, as mechanics from experience don't like waiting on standby for a customer to turn up when their car has warmed up?

Don't give up on skodas mate mine has done 200k and I've had very little issues so far .

[HopefullyJOllyRoger]

I've had quite a few things go wrong already though :-(

[Taximark]

35 minutes ago, HopefullyJOllyRoger said:

I've had quite a few things go wrong already though :-(

Like what ?

[brad1.8T]

Its probably the water pump.  It's underneath the inlet manifold and hard to see.

 

I've had 2 fail.  

One at ~90,000km was the o-ring on the drive shaft.  The O-ring actually re-sealed itself for 6 months when we did the pressure test.

The 2nd time was at 175,000km (Dec 2016) and the housing (which was replaced at the previous change) had cracked.  The housing must be done with a torque wrench to the correct specification as it's quite fragile.

 

On the first occasion I paid  an independent specialist AUD1300 inc parts and consumables and they didn't clean the inlets (too busy apparently).  The 2nd time I DIY'd the job with a chinese sourced pump & housing.  Total cost including consumables was AUD200 and about 18 hours of my time but I did the inlet clean and some other stuff while I had it apart.  The pump itself takes 8-10 hours if you've never done it before and your tool kit is lacking.  If I did it again, I'd bank on 6-8 hours.

 

I'm hoping I'll be onto a new car by the next failure.

 

[valv1866]

I had a coolant issue with my 1.8 TSi, turned out to be the water pump under the manifold. My Skoda Dealer did the work and my Car Care Plan warranty picked up the bill.

 

It went to a different dealer previously who tightened a few hose clamps, topped it up and pronounced it fit for the road!

 

By the way, mine is also a 61 Plate

Edited 18 August, 2017 by valv1866

[Taximark]

15 hours ago, brad1.8T said:

Its probably the water pump.  It's underneath the inlet manifold and hard to see.

 

I've had 2 fail.  

One at ~90,000km was the o-ring on the drive shaft.  The O-ring actually re-sealed itself for 6 months when we did the pressure test.

The 2nd time was at 175,000km (Dec 2016) and the housing (which was replaced at the previous change) had cracked.  The housing must be done with a torque wrench to the correct specification as it's quite fragile.

 

On the first occasion I paid  an independent specialist AUD1300 inc parts and consumables and they didn't clean the inlets (too busy apparently).  The 2nd time I DIY'd the job with a chinese sourced pump & housing.  Total cost including consumables was AUD200 and about 18 hours of my time but I did the inlet clean and some other stuff while I had it apart.  The pump itself takes 8-10 hours if you've never done it before and your tool kit is lacking.  If I did it again, I'd bank on 6-8 hours.

 

I'm hoping I'll be onto a new car by the next failure.

 

6 hr job tops with cambelt change.

 

[HopefullyJOllyRoger]

Any local dealers can't fit in a diagnostic session for around a week. After that, once diagnosed, I will see what the score is with what needs repairing and if the warranty will cover most of it, so that I can make a decision. I said to myself that if too many fairly big things go wrong with my next (this) car only half a dozen months after buying it, it's not a keeper.

[Rooted]

?

You have not said that i have spotted how many miles it has done?

[Ju1ian1001]

23 hours ago, HopefullyJOllyRoger said:

Thanks very much to everyone for the responses so far.

 

I will strongly consider taking it the longer distance to the supplying dealer to see if anything can be done under warranty.

 

It's just there are lots of major things going on in my life this year and when I bought the car after a terrible experience with a Citroen, I said I would give it three changes. This is the 4th and it's potentially something big and expensive. Either way, I've lost confidence in the car, sadly.

 

Julian1001, great suggestion and sorry for being a numpty but how could this be arranged, as mechanics from experience don't like waiting on standby for a customer to turn up when their car has warmed up?

The way i have done it is arrange a later drop off time with a customer, and told the customer to take the vehicle on a 30-45 minute drive before drop off and to "work" the engine, it has worked a couple of times.  

 

It worked for me on a P reg audi A6, we thought it was losing coolant but could not find it, drove from where i live (south east london) to norfolk opened the bonnet and the leak was from a small crack in the seam of the coolant tank.

[HopefullyJOllyRoger]

17 hours ago, Awayoffski said:

?

You have not said that i have spotted how many miles it has done?

 

65,000

[brad1.8T]

On 8/19/2017 at 03:23, Taximark said:

6 hr job tops with cambelt change.

 

The OP appears to have a 1.8tsi.  They have a cam chain and the water pump is under the inlet manifold.  It's not like the belt drive diesel or the old TFSI where you did the cam belt & pump at the same time.

[SuperbRaj09]

I own a 2012 Skoda Superb 1.8 TSI MT. It has done 71000kms . My coolant light was blinking on the odo so i topped up the coolant and it was gone but after a week it came on again and as i checked the water pump i saw that coolant has leaked and solidified all over the water pump and the belt cover. Is this a 100% water pump failure or some seals are broken?? Kindly help.