Skoda Octavia Estate TDI 2014. Been told at local garage coolant bag has burst. Heater matrix not working.

Advised expensive repair potentially. Any advice of can it be resolved. Only had used car 3 months.

Garage bought from not willing to replace car but want to repair.

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Is it still in warranty - If so, who with? T&Cs likely will allow repair instead of replacement.

They will probably attempt to flush the whole system first.

If flushing is unsuccessful (likely) the only alternative will probably replacement of the matrix as a minimum.

AFAIK, you are only obliged to allow one attempt to repair - is rejection a possibility if repair fails?

Be aware that contamination sufficient to completely block the heater matrix has possibly affected other components in the cooling system as well - oil cooler, intercooler, etc.

If they do claim that flushing the system has been successful, be very sure to check that the heating is working correctly - and that the engine isn't running hot. Request written proof of remedial work carried out.

Garage is a local used car dealer which sells other makes and models. They are part of AA Gold Standard garages.

They were unaware Skodas had this coolant bag system and had to look it up.

Not sure what they will attempt to do but no talk of returning my monies and insisted on trying to repair vehicle.

It is going to cost them. Just as well they have insurance.

The technician has some learning to do then. Parts and consumables to get, and if they need Skoda's help they best get it.

Fairly sure i saw some where its in the £1000 ish area.

Is there a guarantee this will resolve the problem if fixed or will it have affected the engine going forward.

The cooling system needs to be flushed, its a very expensive job. There is a risk that the new matrix gets glogged up etc. if the flushing is not done correctly. There is also some pipes that needs to be replaced. Unlucky

This happened to my Dad's 13 plate 2.0TDI combi. He ended up having to have the head off, as the coolant channels were absolutely gummed up. Same initial symptoms of heater not working. Head issues were caused by the system over pressurising due to blockages. He went through 3 water pumps as each one started leaking, until the head work was done.

Needless to say, the first job I did on my 17plate Scout was to replace the coolant bottle with a silica free one.

& for anyone reading, then use the correct Antifreeze / summer coolant / rust inhibitor AKA Coolant for a no 'Silica bag' system.

15 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

& for anyone reading, then use the correct Antifreeze / summer coolant / rust inhibitor AKA Coolant for a no 'Silica bag' system.

Which is ???

Further info would be gratefully received

G12 EVO

1 minute ago, ords said:

G12 EVO

Cheers

I've just acquired a 67 plate Superb diesel estate 2.0 DSG...is there any way of checking whether this "Silica Bag" item is still installed in car. Mileage 85k. Thanks and my commiserations to anyone having to deal with such a mess. What on earth is it doing in there?

The bottle will have "mit silikat" written on its side

Aforementioned label.

8 minutes ago, wibidee said:

I've just acquired a 67 plate Superb diesel estate 2.0 DSG...is there any way of checking whether this "Silica Bag" item is still installed in car. Mileage 85k. Thanks and my commiserations to anyone having to deal with such a mess. What on earth is it doing in there?

Addition of the 'Mit Silicat' bag was intended to prolong the service life of the coolant by slowly leaching silicates into it.

Like so many things, it appears to create more issues than prevent.

Again, make sure the G13 is swapped for G12 EVO. I would personally just get a new resevoir too - they can be had for £40.

21 hours ago, OccyVRS said:

Again, make sure the G13 is swapped for G12 EVO. I would personally just get a new resevoir too - they can be had for £40.

Why is that?

I got my bag out a few years ago and still run G13 without ant issues.

The car has been drinking my collant since I got it new, I am now 12000km so refilling it once a year changes the collant 😁

2 minutes ago, nickytheshaft said:

Why is that?

I got my bag out a few years ago and still run G13 without ant issues.

The car has been drinking my collant since I got it new, I am now 12000km so refilling it once a year changes the collant 😁

No issues with it - I was meaning more that you can just drop a new resevoir in it, without fiddling around with pulling the bag out. I'm not sure what the design is like on the Octavia as mine doesnt have it, however the double walled design on my Leon was a right pain to get the bag from.

The pics above are from my 2017 2.0tdi where I could access the bag fairly easily. But I went the new header tank route anyway. As i didnt want to risk bursting the bag trying to remove it.

2 hours ago, OccyVRS said:

No issues with it - I was meaning more that you can just drop a new resevoir in it, without fiddling around with pulling the bag out. I'm not sure what the design is like on the Octavia as mine doesnt have it, however the double walled design on my Leon was a right pain to get the bag from.

I imagine, on the 2014 model it is a straight forward operation. On the double walls I don't think you can even get it out

1 hour ago, wildcard106 said:

The pics above are from my 2017 2.0tdi where I could access the bag fairly easily. But I went the new header tank route anyway. As i didnt want to risk bursting the bag trying to remove it.

You could have juste removed the tank from the car so that if the bag burst you would just have had to flush it and wash it clean.

When I did mine, I drained the tank so that uf it burst, it wouldn't go into the system

I could have... But when I can get the part for £15 trade I now have a spare and a nicer looking engine bay.

8 minutes ago, wildcard106 said:

I could have... But when I can get the part for £15 trade I now have a spare and a nicer looking engine bay.

True

Agree with both. Nothing to stop you removing it, but for the price you may as well just rip the old one out.

I think on the double walled ones you can get them out, but it's a bit more of a job. There's nothing wrong with the silicone in theory - it's just the crappy bag.