umm car got through its MOT just fine 2 days ago..(its an X reg)

but to cut a long story short after a VERY cold night here in Leeds - minus 6, turn car on to get a temperature warning and 3 bings saying something was wrong, presumed it was due to the cold so ignored it

got into leeds...parked car...went to leave uni...light came on flashing permananently.

got to just outside Headingley, stopped at the local bike shop thought i'd better check it.

it'd lost nearly a centimetre of coolant below the min level. so i topped it up with water to just above it.

drove the 1 mile home from there, checked it this morning and its dropped nearly 3 centimeters

obviously theres a leak somewhere but i cannot find/see one anywhere, nor does it appear that anythings pierced the radiator.

Any ideas? rubber likely to have perished anywhere specifically?

in addition to this, despite the car being a 2001, its covered nearly 75k i've looked for the newer improved 'tabbed' headgasket but as yet haven't found the tap...so i presume its still with the original gasket - i bought the car at 55k, there is a MINUTE bit of yellow gunge on the bottom of the oil filler cap is it worth getting the gasket replaced to be on the safe side?

Would prefer to sort the car out myself, i'm pretty technically minded done enough jobs like pads/discs etc before, but more than anything i just simply can't afford a big bill!

Any ideas how to go about the coolant leak thing? presuming its leaking.

Check your engine oil.

Usually if you cant see where its leaking from, its either dripping onto something hot, can you hear a chhhh chhhh sound.

OR (hopefully not this)

The headgasket has gone and the water is leaking into the engine oil.

OR

The heater matrix has gone and its leaking into your interior.

These are the things I would check, I assume you have antifreeze in your engine to the correct mix of water.

Have you checked the cooling fan temp sender in the radiator, apparently it's quite a common failure and causes coolant loss that's not easy to spot.

Hi,

I've had exactly the same problem this week, in my 1.4 8v!

I've been losing oil somewhere for a while (no patches on the ground & no sign of a lot of oil in the engine bay) and generally have to top up with a couple of litres a week.

Then the other day I started it up, and the temperature warning light came on and the beeping started. I had a look under the bonnet, coolant was a few cms below the min line, again no evidence of leaks under the car & no water in the oil.

Of course being easter, no garage will give me the time of day! does anyone here have any idea why this might be happenning? :confused:

cmiiw , but i think the 8v engines have head gasket concerns , you say no water in the oil but what about oil in the coolant ? do you see blue or white smoke from the rear when accelerating ? this could be a sign that its burning oil/coolant

to clear up eventually found the cause of the problem...

after a bout of several below zero nights the radiator fan switch had packed up.

this in turn had led to the engine heating up rapidly working harder than normal due to the cold to keep ticking over.

the coolant had boiled off - albeit it a large percentage of it. hence the coolant loss.

switch now replaced -

to clear up eventually found the cause of the problem...

after a bout of several below zero nights the radiator fan switch had packed up.

this in turn had led to the engine heating up rapidly working harder than normal due to the cold to keep ticking over.

the coolant had boiled off - albeit it a large percentage of it. hence the coolant loss.

switch now replaced -

Hi' date='

I've had exactly the same problem this week, in my 1.4 8v!

I've been losing oil somewhere for a while (no patches on the ground & no sign of a lot of oil in the engine bay) and generally have to top up with a couple of litres a week.

Then the other day I started it up, and the temperature warning light came on and the beeping started. I had a look under the bonnet, coolant was a few cms below the min line, again no evidence of leaks under the car & no water in the oil.

Of course being easter, no garage will give me the time of day! does anyone here have any idea why this might be happenning? :confused:[/quote']

Becky your problem sounds the same as mine - the temperature beep and the coolant loss - run it for ten minutes with the bonnet up and see if the fan kicks in at any point - its mostly likely the problem, but for goodness sake don't go sticking your fingers in it to see if it is.

No ideas about the oil loss i'm afraid, could be that the engine is burning it off for some reason or another.

Garages to reccomend and not to reccomend right! (I'm in Haverhill just outside Cambridge...a poo-hole i know!)

Vindis's - Avoid. Just flat out avoid them. Scum!

If you want a skoda specific garage for warranty issues or what have you then take it to Downham Market Skoda - Very good service.

Local ones that i've always used and who've always been great have been 'Acorn' at Great Abington on the A1307 (Cambridge South) just passed 4-wentways roundabout.

But more recently - but also because they're a tincy bit closer I'd reccomend McKenzie and Haywards at Linton - Just next to the Zoo on the small industrial estate, VERY friendly, seemingly very easy to get a car booked in, had the part ordered on the Wednesday, came on the Monday, squeezed me into fit the switch that afternoon Reasonable labour charges too! Unlikely to try **** you about just for being female, they've got a lovely secretary and they're all very friendly.

Umm give them a ring - 01223 894140 (Mackenzie and Haywards) explain the problems - worth writing them down, let them give it a check over and see whats wrong

If you do end up there then walk up into Linton and down the highstreet get yourself a nice cake from the Bakery

I've been losing oil somewhere for a while (no patches on the ground & no sign of a lot of oil in the engine bay) and generally have to top up with a couple of litres a week.

Any idea if you're getting blueish smoke out of your exhaust?

Then the other day I started it up, and the temperature warning light came on and the beeping started. I had a look under the bonnet, coolant was a few cms below the min line, again no evidence of leaks under the car & no water in the oil.

Possibly unrelated to the oil usage - you can get coolant from any VAG dealer for about