Advice needed!!

 

Ive had my Fabia MKII Monte Carlo 1.2 TSI for over a year now, and honestly it’s been nothing but issues. If it’s not failing drivers and passenger windows and electronics in general its something under the bonnet.

Over two weeks ago my engine management light came on, my car was due a service so I booked it in to my local garage who I’ve used for years. I had to take the car in the night before it was due as it started going into limp mode and the battery light kept flicking on. 
Next morning mechanic phones me and say the car won’t start and has had to be pushed in. Hour or so later (camshaft position sensor changed) no joy. He eventually diagnoses a timing chain replacement £900+ and a week and a half later I get the car back.

Everything is perfect cars runs smoothly then suddenly an hour ago Temperature warning light flashes red telling me to check coolant, I check and the coolant level has dropped quite abit. 
I’ve topped it up with what I had in the car but I’ve purchased more and I’m waiting on the engine to cool down first before applying more.

 

is this something that can be related to the timing chain/head gasket replacement etc? Because I really don’t want to have to fork out more money they did say is something happens that is related to the work done they will fix it.

 

Cheers 

I would hope that if they did the chain etc that they replaced the water pump at the same time as well.....if they did, the coolant would have been drained and it may just be that there was an airlock when it was all refilled (or done in a rush) and since then the car has got rid of that air, hence the coolant has dropped.

 

If there is no visible leaks / under car etc, then wait till it is fully cold, remove cap and top up to max, then run the car for a few days and keep an eye on it, if it continues to drop then obviously there is a def problem and I would run it back to where they did the timing chain.

Edited 15 December, 20196 yr by UrbanPanzer

I’ve refilled the coolant to the top, drove around tonight did around 10/15 miles and the coolant has dropped well below the “Min” line again. There is no visible signs of leak anywhere in the engine bay and I’ve checked the oil dipstick and cover cap for any signs of calcification to see if water is mixing with the oil but it was all fine.

If it was a possible airlock is this something that can take a couple refills to clear, or should it happen pretty much straight away? 

Looking at the list of things they replaced the water pump wasn’t one of them, should I question them on it? 
 

I’ll be ringing them tomorrow to tell them the issue anyway. Hopefully it’s something can be fixed quickly and effectively.

 

Cheers 

It will be fairly straight forward, slow fill, run, check and fill until no more drop page, UNLESS there is a leak. It could be a small hole in a hose or a joint leaking, etc if not going into the oil/out the tailpipe. You are, of course, filling it with coolant? Plain water will boil away quicker and so drop quicker too.

UPDATE 

 

The car went back into the garage Tuesday morning was told that they’d bled the car and re-filled and all levels stayed at what they should be a things are running fine.

But yesterday evening after driving the car around 6 miles the temperature warning light flashed on red again telling me to check the coolant. Pulling over and inspecting the level had dropped below the minimum again by about an inch or two (the expansion bottle is not empty) there is still quite abit in coolant in the bottle.

I wasn’t able to get hold of the recommended coolant for the car (Pinky colour) and had to top it up with a generic clear coolant/antifreeze.

 

This morning on driving to my work colleagues house he had a look over it as he knows abit about cars. The level was on the minimum (car was at 90 degrees which is the constant running level) upon having a look and feel around the pipe going into the radiator was warm but the pipe leaving it was freezing cold, so was were the pipes leaving the back of the engine.

 

He believes it’s either a massive airlock (again) or the thermostat isn’t working properly. No visible leaks or water around the oil cap/dipstick. Has anyone else had this issue before? 
Going to have to get it back in the garage again so hopefully they’ll find the fault and fix it properly.

 

This car seems to be issue after issue I love it but Jesus it’s costing me some money!!