Hey guys!

 

Nearly 2 years on from buying my Octavia, and the big bills are starting to come in (Timing belt/etc due August).

 

I've noticed over the past 12 months i've had to top the coolant up as was just below the min line - topped up to mid-way between min-max and it was then good again for another 6-9 months. We're back below the min line again. Probably covered 7-8000 miles in that time.

I can't see any *obvious* leaks, although I did realise the cap wasn't fully screwed on (had another 3/4 turn before it clicked shut). I've also got the silicate bag so that is going to be removed first thing Sunday morning when I have some coolant to replace what i'll lose removing the tank - the bag looks intact, and coolant a clear pink colour.

Is there anywhere in particular that tends to leak? The heaters are warm, the engine warms up and runs fine, no error codes, etc. Or does this just sound like a bit of loss to atmosphere (through cap)? My previous car never needed topping up, although had it's coolant replaced fairly regularly I believe by the garage doing the servicing. 

Edited 7 May, 20215 yr by micro

7 hours ago, micro said:

Hey guys!

 

Nearly 2 years on from buying my Octavia, and the big bills are starting to come in (Timing belt/etc due August).

 

I've noticed over the past 12 months i've had to top the coolant up as was just below the min line - topped up to mid-way between min-max and it was then good again for another 6-9 months. We're back below the min line again. Probably covered 7-8000 miles in that time.

I can't see any *obvious* leaks, although I did realise the cap wasn't fully screwed on (had another 3/4 turn before it clicked shut). I've also got the silicate bag so that is going to be removed first thing Sunday morning when I have some coolant to replace what i'll lose removing the tank - the bag looks intact, and coolant a clear pink colour.

Is there anywhere in particular that tends to leak? The heaters are warm, the engine warms up and runs fine, no error codes, etc. Or does this just sound like a bit of loss to atmosphere (through cap)? My previous car never needed topping up, although had it's coolant replaced fairly regularly I believe by the garage doing the servicing. 

There are a few threads ref TDI waterpumps. You may have the same issue. 

9 hours ago, Redboy said:

There are a few threads ref TDI waterpumps. You may have the same issue. 

 

I'll have a good look around tonight and tomorrow, if nothing i'll monitor and ask the garage to inspect the water pump when they do the timing belt. Cheers!

Don't have them inspect the waterpump, have them replace it. They aren't in there for life and best practice dictates that you always replace the water pump when doing a timing belt.

 

In fact, if it were me with coolant loss and there was ANY chance it could be the water pump, I'd be bringing forward the timing belt change to now and having the water pump replaced before it dies completely causing an overheat.

 

HTH

 

Nick

11 minutes ago, NikTheGeek said:

Don't have them inspect the waterpump, have them replace it. They aren't in there for life and best practice dictates that you always replace the water pump when doing a timing belt.

 

In fact, if it were me with coolant loss and there was ANY chance it could be the water pump, I'd be bringing forward the timing belt change to now and having the water pump replaced before it dies completely causing an overheat.

 

HTH

 

Nick

 

Hi Nick,

 

Haven't topped up the coolant since I checked on Thursday, and although I was sure the ground was relatively level, i've checked it again and it's back half-way between the min/max, and looks fairly level in the reservoir (this time on the drive at home, which is level). The only difference is today i've checked it whilst the engine is warm, and the engine would have been cold on Thursday.

 

I've had a look round the engine bay, and aside from a bit of water/dirt on the undertray (believed from todays rain and driving), there are no telltale skid marks anywhere on the engine.

 

Coolant reservoir off tomorrow to remove the bag and then will top-up with diluted G13 (which is surprisingly purple compared to the coolant already in the reservoir...). 

 

 

Edited 8 May, 20215 yr by micro

Bag removal went really without a hitch (so far!), removed the reservoir from the car and tipped it as I removed the two hoses, then proceeded to tip it the other way and douse myself and the drive in coolant  Only damage caused to the bag was by me on removal (although there is an orange scale that i've managed to remove some of inside the reservoir on cleaning it).

 

Having had the bonnet open and running the engine, i've noticed a weird "grumbly" noise coming from the drivers side. It's a bit weird, and doesn't seem to overly change at increasing rpms. You might be able to hear it in the video behind the normal engine noise. Something that was a bit un-nerving was that putting even slight pressure on one of the side covers (the cover physically moves in a small amount) causes a rubbing sound (like a pulley rubbing on the cover).

Water pump suggestion immediately springs to mind :(
 

Edited 9 May, 20215 yr by micro

" Something that was a bit un-nerving was that putting even slight pressure on one of the side covers (the cover physically moves in a small amount) causes a rubbing sound (like a pulley rubbing on the cover)." 

 

I can't imagine that you could do it but are you sure you are not pushing the cam belt cover onto the pulley or belt? If you continue to lose coolant,  a water pump leak maybe drying on the block, so as Nick suggests, bring forward the belt change and change the pump if you find no other leaks. A dealer or garage can do a pressure test before you waste time effort and more driveway cleaner. 

5 hours ago, Redboy said:

" Something that was a bit un-nerving was that putting even slight pressure on one of the side covers (the cover physically moves in a small amount) causes a rubbing sound (like a pulley rubbing on the cover)." 

 

I can't imagine that you could do it but are you sure you are not pushing the cam belt cover onto the pulley or belt? If you continue to lose coolant,  a water pump leak maybe drying on the block, so as Nick suggests, bring forward the belt change and change the pump if you find no other leaks. A dealer or garage can do a pressure test before you waste time effort and more driveway cleaner. 

 

Well, that's exactly what I thought I was doing. Which in my mind should not be possible... I've noted the coolant level and will keep an eye on it

 

I've inquired with some local garages as to cost and availability!

Edited 10 May, 20215 yr by micro

Just had my RS flag up coolant low, which is a surprise as it was only serviced 3 months ago. 

 

Still I was lucky enough to be nearly home when it happened and left it for 90 mins and checked the expansion bottle, sure enough it was virtually empty. So filled it up to the bottom of the filler as I can't see where the water level is on the bottle and had a little drive and waited again and it took some more (about ½ ltr in total) and its been fine so far.

 

Just hope that I'm not going to have an issue with it as I can't afford another big bill at the moment. 

Same here. It is loosing it very very little, but still loosing.

 

They have replaced thermostat valve, entire unit, and it is still loosing a little in the same place. Maybe they've missed some rubber joint or whatever there, or maybe this joint or pipe end was the issue in the first place, who knows. Not urgent, but will be reported before last official service within warranty.

 

Funnily enough a flyer through the door today, code CAM10 with Skoda and 10% off cambelt and waterpump.

 

Unfortunately with the service and MOT, we're still hitting £7-800... looks like lots of overtime is going to need to be done for next month!

Micro, I had a similar noise (although not whilst pushing on the covers). Turned out to be the air con pulley which requires a new air con compressor.

On 13/05/2021 at 19:10, MeteorOcty said:

Micro, I had a similar noise (although not whilst pushing on the covers). Turned out to be the air con pulley which requires a new air con compressor.

Hi mate,

 

I've had a good push/pull of the aircon pulley and nothing seems out of place.

It's gone in to have the belt/water pump done at a VW dealer, and i've asked for the water pump to be retained so I can see it. A good deal on it really too, they beat the fixed price of Skoda/VW even after Skoda's "you need to do this" discount of £60.

 

And for some more good news, since refilling the coolant i've lost none, so hopefully just lost some to evaporation because the cap wasn't fully shut. 

 

- micro

Edited 15 June, 20214 yr by micro

And finally closure, job finished, had an extra crank seal that needed replacing also as mine was leaking. 

 

The verdict is: The old water pump appears to be faulty, looking at resources online. Took the solenoid off, and the diverter sleeve appeared to be stuck at a slight angle (with the impeller and metal surfaces covered in that orange scale I found inside my coolant reservoir). A bit of prying with a screwdriver and it popped back by itself, but always sticking back towards the top of it's travel.

Had my scrap heap ask for water again today. 3rd time in as many weeks.

 

It goes in on the 29th for the ever recurring oil sensor failure fault and now loss of coolant.

 

I've told them that it's had a new sump and another full load of new oil, but the coolant fault is another new fault, I'm expecting that they'll try and palm me off with some excuse to screw me for money.

 

I just wish I could get rid of this [censored] car. I just haven't got the money to pay it off and put a deposit down on a Jag or BMW.

On 16/06/2021 at 19:16, TheWanderer said:

Had my scrap heap ask for water again today. 3rd time in as many weeks.

 

It goes in on the 29th for the ever recurring oil sensor failure fault and now loss of coolant.

 

I've told them that it's had a new sump and another full load of new oil, but the coolant fault is another new fault, I'm expecting that they'll try and palm me off with some excuse to screw me for money.

 

I just wish I could get rid of this [censored] car. I just haven't got the money to pay it off and put a deposit down on a Jag or BMW.

 

Have you checked everywhere coolant can commonly leak? Think footwells (especially passenger iirc, due to location of heater matrix pipes), rad, engine bay around the coolant res, including the reservoir itself - it will pressurise when hot so you may find you can see where it's leaking easier when warm.

Alternatively have a garage pressure test the cooling system to see exactly if it's got any leaks elsewhere?

I'll have to wait until 29th. 

 

What I do know is that when I park up when I comes back it's not uncommon to find that there's a small pool of water under the engine.

 

Now whether that's condensate from the air conditioning or water leaking from the coolant system I don't know, but I'm checking it every couple of days. 

7 minutes ago, TheWanderer said:

What I do know is that when I park up when I comes back it's not uncommon to find that there's a small pool of water under the engine.

 

Now whether that's condensate from the air conditioning or water leaking from the coolant system I don't know, but I'm checking it every couple of days. 

 

Aircon drain water vs Coolant should be fairly easily distinguishable by smell/colour - maybe not so if you're putting plain water into the cooling system.

If you're able to, i'd turn the AC off in the car (just run blowers) - although I believe that in some newer cars this isn't technically possible as the car will run the AC when it feels like it.