Header Tank Silica Bag Fault

[Qualityman]

Hi guys,

 

I don’t want to go over old ground with this and I have learnt much from other threads on this issue but have one unanswered question. As the title suggests I have the heater matrix silica bag bursting issue on my 2014 2.0 TDI, confirmed by my local Skoda dealer. The only issue I have at present is no warm air from the passenger side heating vents, no fluctuations in engine temperature at all, no warning lights. The dealer wants £1200 to replace the matrix and header tank plus flush, eight hours labour. I have contacted Skoda UK (prior to Covid) and they weren’t interested saying they couldn’t answer technical questions and I would have to contact my dealer.

 

My question is, will the silica within the coolant cause other issues eventually or is the worst outcome a crap heater?!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Jonathan.

[Ecomatt]

An independent specialist would do it cheaper. Skoda won't be interested as the car is out of warranty and not "their" problem. 

The silica could cause a blockage in a coolant pipe and block off vital cooling to parts of the engine and cause more damage in the long run.

Is your car on finance or purchased in the last 6 monthsths by any chance?

Hopefully you will get it sorted 👍

Edited 12 April, 2020 by Ecomatt

[Qualityman]

Hi Ecomatt and thanks for your reply. No I’ve had the car 2.5 years, all bought and paid for, 47000 miles and full Skoda history.

[silver1011]

The dealer can still submit a claim to Skoda UK.

 

If you get them onside, convince them it is a weak design and a known fault then Skoda UK should still be looking to offer a goodwill contribution to the cost of repair.

 

Seeing you're in York, then trying to get DM Keith onside isn't going to be easy though.

[Qualityman]

Thanks silver1011. Your right, D.M. Keith (who supplied the car from new and who I bought the car from) were totally uninterested, point blank refused to talk to Skoda UK and said the car was too old. Of all the Skoda’s I have owned this is the first issue I have had like this and did expect a little discount from Skoda UK at least, after all it can only be a design or manufacturing fault! Not sure if the new header tank would have the dodgy silica bag in?!

[allan1888]

The new header tanks don't have the bag anymore, it has been removed 

[Qualityman]

15 minutes ago, allan1888 said:

The new header tanks don't have the bag anymore, it has been removed 

Thanks for that, good to know I won’t be pouring good money after bad!

[PipH]

22 hours ago, allan1888 said:

The new header tanks don't have the bag anymore, it has been removed 

If you have the EA288 engine, they have a silicate repository built into the header tank.

 

Not a bag, but it's still in there.

 

Have a look at page 29 :- http://pics3.tdiclub.com/data/517/820433_EA288.pdf

[octavia5]

Its easy to buy a new header tank without the bag or silicate from Ebay for less than £20 - I bought one to change before my bag split but I was able to removed the bag intact from the existing tank so did not need it.

[Qualityman]

1 hour ago, PipH said:

If you have the EA288 engine, they have a silicate repository built into the header tank.

 

Not a bag, but it's still in there.

 

Have a look at page 29 :- http://pics3.tdiclub.com/data/517/820433_EA288.pdf

Thanks for that.

[foregonereality]

This beauty rares its ugly head again.

 

I have to get a move on and order a new tank. Are they easy to fit ?

Edited 14 April, 2020 by foregonereality

[NikTheGeek]

One assumes it's needed to prevent rust I guess? What's the issue or risk to removing it?

[allan1888]

3 hours ago, PipH said:

If you have the EA288 engine, they have a silicate repository built into the header tank.

 

Not a bag, but it's still in there.

 

Have a look at page 29 :- http://pics3.tdiclub.com/data/517/820433_EA288.pdf

That is from 2014. My Tsi vrs had that tank from Factory, my new replacement tank from my dealer doesn't. They have removed "Mit Silikat" from the tank 

[allan1888]

26 minutes ago, NikTheGeek said:

One assumes it's needed to prevent rust I guess? What's the issue or risk to removing it?

By removing it you would have to introduce a coolant change interval, but it's much better than suffering issues due to the silicate bag/repository leaking and causing issues 

[NikTheGeek]

1 minute ago, allan1888 said:

By removing it you would have to introduce a coolant change interval, but it's much better than suffering issues due to the silicate bag/repository leaking and causing issues 

Oh, right, I assumed I'd be doing a coolant change anyway, so thats no loss. Does the 2015 1.6 diesel have the bag before I go removing the expansion tank?

 

I gather that is the right way to do it: drain the expansion tank, clamp hoses, remove and then get the back out on the drive so if it does split on removal, you can rinse out your expansion tank without it going in to the engine.

 

thanks!

 

Nick

[foregonereality]

Would this be the right part? I'm warey as I've seen so many sites list the tank with the M designation but show photos of the older models.

 

Also - with so many places closed at the moment, including the above site - does anyone have any sites they can recommend buying this? I've called my local dealerships and they're closed too..!

[NikTheGeek]

36 minutes ago, NikTheGeek said:

Oh, right, I assumed I'd be doing a coolant change anyway, so thats no loss. Does the 2015 1.6 diesel have the bag before I go removing the expansion tank?

 

I gather that is the right way to do it: drain the expansion tank, clamp hoses, remove and then get the back out on the drive so if it does split on removal, you can rinse out your expansion tank without it going in to the engine.

 

thanks!

 

Nick

 

Well that was the best 15 minutes I spent on my car!! Clamped hoses, drained expansion tank, removed from car. Fished out silica bag with fingers, re-fitted expansion tank, put coolant back in it and topped off for the extra space caused by the lack of the silica bag.

 

But look! My silica bag had a tiny split in a corner! How lucky am I that I caught that!! Best 15 mins in a while

[foregonereality]

4 minutes ago, NikTheGeek said:

 

Well that was the best 15 minutes I spent on my car!! Clamped hoses, drained expansion tank, removed from car. Fished out silica bag with fingers, re-fitted expansion tank, put coolant back in it and topped off for the extra space caused by the lack of the silica bag.

 

But look! My silica bag had a tiny split in a corner! How lucky am I that I caught that!! Best 15 mins in a while

 

 

 

Whoa! Talk about timing! That's a fair saving given the thousands it's costing people. 

 

What on earth were VAG thinking with this setup?

[allan1888]

1 hour ago, foregonereality said:

Would this be the right part? I'm warey as I've seen so many sites list the tank with the M designation but show photos of the older models.

 

Also - with so many places closed at the moment, including the above site - does anyone have any sites they can recommend buying this? I've called my local dealerships and they're closed too..!

That part number is the same as my new one supplied by my dealer, I wouldn't worry as I would imagine all old stock will be gone now,  when I ordered mine it was on back order but there was one in the dealer network local to me. Euro carparts will have one as will autodoc if you don't mind waiting a bit longer.

 

VW had probably been hoping they failed out of warranty so they can charge £££ to replace parts. 

Edited 14 April, 2020 by allan1888

[Qualityman]

1 hour ago, NikTheGeek said:

 

Well that was the best 15 minutes I spent on my car!! Clamped hoses, drained expansion tank, removed from car. Fished out silica bag with fingers, re-fitted expansion tank, put coolant back in it and topped off for the extra space caused by the lack of the silica bag.

 

But look! My silica bag had a tiny split in a corner! How lucky am I that I caught that!! Best 15 mins in a while

Wow indeed. So, because I alerted you to this issue by starting this thread that means I saved you £1200, so to be fair a contribution of £600 from you towards my bill seems fair!!!

[NikTheGeek]

27 minutes ago, Qualityman said:

Wow indeed. So, because I alerted you to this issue by starting this thread that means I saved you £1200, so to be fair a contribution of £600 from you towards my bill seems fair!!!

 

I'd at least use my pictures and posts as more evidence that Skoda have an issue. I have done 37k miles in a 2015 1.6 Octavia DSG estate. FSH from Skoda. But thank you for the warning.

 

I can see what has happened. The bag is pressed shut along its edges. Presumably heat welded or glued. It was either not manufactured properly, or the weld is failing. And if it was to help, you can have my bag as ammo so they can diagnose any manufacturing issue.

[Qualityman]

9 minutes ago, NikTheGeek said:

 

I'd at least use my pictures and posts as more evidence that Skoda have an issue. I have done 37k miles in a 2015 1.6 Octavia DSG estate. FSH from Skoda. But thank you for the warning.

 

I can see what has happened. The bag is pressed shut along its edges. Presumably heat welded or glued. It was either not manufactured properly, or the weld is failing. And if it was to help, you can have my bag as ammo so they can diagnose any manufacturing issue.

Thank you very much for the offer and I’m glad my woes have at least helped someone. Skoda UK and the dealer are fully aware of the issue with the dealer suggesting that Skoda May contribute for cars up to five years old, mine is six. From my research it does look like Skoda need to do the repair also with stories of independents thinking they have flushed the silicate away but then causing the same heater matrix issue because they didn’t get it all. Looks like Skoda have me over a £1200 barrel!

[bigjohn]

I remember doing repairs years ago when people had clogged their heaters after attempting leaking radiator repairs using "snake oil" remedies that as well as sealing the leak (sort of for a little bit) also seemed to clog the fine heater matrix after a while - especially when they started leaking again and an airlock formed!  I had a reasonable amount of success reverse flushing cooling systems (engine, rad etc)  and heater feeds - you should have seen the stuff that came out! One of the importand things was to remove the thermostat whilst doing this.

 

 

Edited 14 April, 2020 by bigjohn

[Curvy]

Resurrecting this thread . . . . having been scared half to death reading about silica leaks, I went out and checked my expansion tank (2017 Suberb 1.4TSI). Thank goodness, no 'Mit Silika' on the tank and no sign of a bag. The tank is still marked G13.

 

My question is, as I don't have the Silika, how is the protective silicon in my system replenished? Or are there no components on this particular engine that are likely to corrode over time? Or will my service schedule stipulate periodic coolant replacement?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Vahids]

17 minutes ago, Curvy said:

Resurrecting this thread . . . . having been scared half to death reading about silica leaks, I went out and checked my expansion tank (2017 Suberb 1.4TSI). Thank goodness, no 'Mit Silika' on the tank and no sign of a bag. The tank is still marked G13.

 

My question is, as I don't have the Silika, how is the protective silicon in my system replenished? Or are there no components on this particular engine that are likely to corrode over time? Or will my service schedule stipulate periodic coolant replacement?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

In the same situation and had the same question in my mind, I rang Skoda dealer and asked about the service schedule for the coolant and they replied "No regular service is needed for the coolant!" :-0

 

So, I will probably end up doing it myself. Is there "How to do" guide for changing the coolant?

Edited 4 August, 2021 by Vahids