Small amount of coolant loss whist driving and white smoke noticed MK2 Octavia VRS petrol

[trabolgan]

Good day to you all - I have a owned a white 2011 facelift petrol VRS Octavia since new and recently I had the coolant level light come up on my dash and with that I topped up the coolant level to the max level using the correct coolant. 500 miles later I thought I would check coolant levels and it was close to the min line so I got my torch out and started hunting for leaks or evidence or leakage. The only thing I noticed was a bit of residual wetness on top of the plastic pan cover (right of central) and evidence of wetness on and from what looks like the thermostat (hard to see with everything in the way). Coolant is only lost during driving and not whilst parked engine off.   

 

Then yesterday I went for a short drive 2 miles and parked up with engine running, I hit some rev's about 3000rpm and the dreaded white smoke expelled from the exhaust with tiny amount of liquid dripping (mainly the right exhaust pipe) so now I'm fearing the worst. I have ordered some liquid to test for exhaust fumes in the coolant, turns yellow or green from blue if detected, this is due in the next 2 days. She was due a coolant change which I planned to do this weekend so I have 10 litres of G12+ for flushing and filling. So now I am going to wait for the result of the fume test before deciding what to do. 

 

I am considering adding coolant leak repair liquid (one that mixes with coolant) if the result is bad news - worth a try I'm thinking.... she is now parked up waiting for diagnostic stuff to arrive.

 

I am also considering buying a coolant pressure test kit (ebay about £40) for further diagnostic to try and find coolant loss if external but will hold off for now until fume results but we have 5 cars in our house hold now my twin boys are driving so it must come in useful if they work okay and create a good seal.

 

I will add updates as I got as I go and some pictures. Have a good day all

[trabolgan]

Update: so today I done a combustion test all resulted negative which is great news for me! I just still need to find my coolant leak. One thing I did notice was a rather noisy rattle and high vibration from the chain case left of the engine block, I turned engine off and looked at my oil levels which is sitting mid way from min to max so I think I will give that a top up and see if it quietens down. Unless someone can relate that to coolant loss and let me know.

 

Next I will be doing a coolant drain, flush with water and coolant refill then add some Sealit liquid and hope it seals my water leak.

 

Its a shame I can't upload the video I took doing the test, its 1.3GB 

[Paws4Thot]

1 hour ago, trabolgan said:

Its a shame I can't upload the video I took doing the test, its 1.3GB

There's this site called "YouTube" that takes big videos, and then you can link it from here using the link (chain) control.

[siiiim]

1 hour ago, trabolgan said:

add some Sealit liquid and hope it seals my water leak.

Wouldn't recommend using any form of "stop-leak" can cause more harm than good

[trabolgan]

Thanks for that Paws4thot - dude I am not a great tech person and I'm like 50 plus years old but I could give it a go as it's no excuse lol

 

Siiim - i'm not going go use the aggressive stuff you can buy, the one I am looking at has really good reviews. Do you have previous experience? or has anyone else got views on using coolant liquid sealers for leaks?    

[trabolgan]

 

paws4thot  - cheers for the nudge 

[trabolgan]

Ok so the plot thickens - I took off the undertray and there was a nice puddle of coolant waiting for me on the back end 8" in from the centre back tray screw then I noticed a drip off one of the oil sump bolts (see pic) the followed along the sump and up then lost it... back to looking at the front of the engine and spotted a bolt head attached to the front of the engine about 1/3 the way up covered in coolant and the bolt head to the right of that is also wet.. these are really hard to see through the mass of pipes and obstructions but I am now guessing water pump.

 

Anyone seen this or can identify? thanks  

[trabolgan]

See picture of area where coolant can be found, it's on 2 bolt heads bolted into the engine block

[trabolgan]

Given that I am thinking water pump and as its a slow leak and its not showing any other signs other than a small leak can I assume its more likely a seal rather than impellers? I read the impellers are plastic on these pumps and break up over time and other say seals can leak due to heat and warping over time. does anyone have experience in a water pump failure/leaking from a water pump on a 2.0 TSI CCZA and symptoms?    

[trabolgan]

Also VCDS does not show any faults, no over heating, no noise from pump area 

[trabolgan]

So in the event of replacing the water pump which has an integrated thermostat and temp sensor within the housing  what else would be considered worth changing while the chain, belt and shafts are exposed and the oil and coolant drained? The car is 145k and had since new, had the head end of the engine replaced at 76k from chain tensioner failure done by Skoda in 2015.

 

I want to keep it sweet as I want to keep it for years more

[trabolgan]

Update: after being 95% sure the area that the coolant was coming from the waterpump (see pictures above) she went into VW specialist for the change, see parts changed below. During the replacement the tech said the waterpump was leaking and could see no other coolant lose anywhere else.

06H 121 026 ED - waterpump with thermostat and temp sensor

06H 121 131 C - Union 

WHT 006 407 - seal

4E 0121 666 - seal ring

G13 coolant x2 (I am not sure but it could be 6.8l to fill the car) I have also read 4.6l so unsure.

 

I was going to take it into Skoda but my local is 25 miles away and 2 weeks wait and 50 more expensive. Hope this thread helps others.