I have a MY2016 1.4TSI SEL estate with about 55,000 miles on the clock, and I appear to have a coolant leak (first one ever - and I've owned this car from new). The car has was (major) serviced & MOT'd very recently (early December). Services during warranty were with the Skoda dealer and then subsequent services were with independent local garages. 

 

In the recent cold-snap over christmas break I'd left the car in a multi-storey all day whilst shopping  and on return the red coolant warning light was on. The outside temperature was -5C but felt much colder, and as an aside I'd also noticed that the fuel cover had started failing to open as well. We were in a rush & needed to get home asap with a young baby, and I put it down to the very cold weather & it maybe being sensor issues, and drove cautiously home anticipating that the warning would probably go away once the weather had warmed up. 

 

We used the wife's car mostly over the holidays instead, but did take my car out a few times to drive short trips (<5 miles, 30-40mph max, with a keen eye on the temperature gauge which never went above 90C). One of those trips the heater began blowing cold, and after that I stopped using the car. When I got back after that I checked the expansion tank (it was virtually empty, but looked as though there was coolant still in the outlet pipe from it). As it was xmas break I couldn't get it into the garage I usually use, so left it idle until this week.

 

I topped it up this week with Comma Xstream G40 - it took about 1L to get it to the max line - and then I immediately drove to drop the child off at the childminer's about 2 miles away. Was parked up for 10 mins there and then when I restarted the engine the red warning light was back (it was +9C outside that time). I drove the 2 miles back home again cautiously & again temp gauge just about got to 90C by the time I was home. Noted the heater was now blowing warm again.

 

At home I checked the expansion tank again and the level was back to virtually empty. Looking around the engine compartment I couldn't see evidence of any leaks anywhere. Nothing on or around the reservoir itself.

 

I'm about to take it into either the main dealer or the garage who did the last two services, but just wanted to see if anyone had experienced anything similar or could hazard a guess as to what the the issue is likely to be?

 

Any & all ideas/advice much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Judging by some others on here it could be leaking at the water pump.

 

When did it last have the cambelt + water pump changed? 
 

Personally I’d put a UV dye in the coolant system and go hunting at night with a torch and glasses, as it could be a pipe aswell

1 minute ago, Danoid said:

Judging by some others on here it could be leaking at the water pump.

 

When did it last have the cambelt + water pump changed? 
 

Personally I’d put a UV dye in the coolant system and go hunting at night with a torch and glasses, as it could be a pipe aswell

 

You know I can't actually recall the cambelt + water pump being changed as yet (at least from service paperwork). That would be a significant bill wouldn't it, I'd definitely remember if it was. :S

 

I've read some horror stories of garages changing all sorts of parts in pursuit of leaks, costing multiple thousands in total. Had been assuming taking it to a main dealer might be best bet to avoid that, but perhaps they're just as much a risk of that as any garage?

2 hours ago, tph216 said:

 

You know I can't actually recall the cambelt + water pump being changed as yet (at least from service paperwork). That would be a significant bill wouldn't it, I'd definitely remember if it was. :S

 

I've read some horror stories of garages changing all sorts of parts in pursuit of leaks, costing multiple thousands in total. Had been assuming taking it to a main dealer might be best bet to avoid that, but perhaps they're just as much a risk of that as any garage?

I’m not too familiar with the 1.4tsi but I just found this

 

Have a look round yours and see if you can find it, it’s very obvious on his because of the pink coolant.

 

I’d say aslong as you can see coolant you’ve hit the jackpot and by that I mean it’s not a head gasket or matrix.

 

His accent is funky but sounds like water pump is not belt driven which is good at least

31 minutes ago, Danoid said:

I’m not too familiar with the 1.4tsi but I just found this

 

Have a look round yours and see if you can find it, it’s very obvious on his because of the pink coolant.

 

I’d say aslong as you can see coolant you’ve hit the jackpot and by that I mean it’s not a head gasket or matrix.

 

His accent is funky but sounds like water pump is not belt driven which is good at least

 

Thanks Danoid, that's been really helpful. 

 

At lunch time I refilled the coolant to minimum level & had the engine idling for 15-20 mins whilst I looked for where the leaks were coming from. I came up blank on location, but I could see below the car that there was a slow drip onto the road. The temp had just gotten to 90C by the time I'd finished looking.

 

I've just gone back now and looked more closely (and with a much better torch!!) in these specific locations (with the engine off this time), and found: 

 

- Top right location - there's a small pool of coolant there, obvious its been leaking from there.

- Bottom left location - no evidence of a leak there at all.

 

The reservoir has held much better than this morning, with the level down only perhaps 2-3mm. So I guess the leak is much worse when the car is actually moving.

 

(Unless there are additional leaks elsewhere then) I don't think my leak is as bad/obvious as this one in the video. In the video I can see lots of pink in those two areas and quite a pool on the plate at the bottom of the engine bay, whereas the plate at the bottom of my bay is clean/dry.

Edited 5 January, 20233 yr by tph216

Ah that’s somewhat good to hear you can see it.

 

If you won’t be fixing this yourself, you can at least show a mechanic where you can see it leaking from.

 

Id also now get it booked in, top up before you go there but don’t use the car in the meantime

Edited 5 January, 20233 yr by Danoid

There’s this thread too with a video posted

 

few more angles on that video which you can check and you’ll know if it’s the same issue as you hopefully 

 

20 minutes ago, Danoid said:

Ah that’s somewhat good to hear you can see it.

 

If you won’t be fixing this yourself, you can at least show a mechanic where you can see it leaking from.

 

Id also now get it booked in, top up before you go there but don’t use the car in the meantime

 

Definitely won't be trying to fix it myself. Mostly I just want to get a little clued up about what the issue might be so I at least have some understanding when I take it in to the garage and they try to explain why I need to pay xxx pounds. 

 

Looking online I see it might be around £500 to get the water pump replaced, so I'll brace myself for that kind of hit & cross my fingers that its not more than that! 

 

Will definitely get it booked in somewhere asap. 

11 minutes ago, Danoid said:

There’s this thread too with a video posted

 

few more angles on that video which you can check and you’ll know if it’s the same issue as you hopefully 

 

 

This looks useful too. I somehow missed this thread when I searched here recently.