Coolant leak

tagscuderia

Member
Realise that I've been quiet on here for a while now but... I'm hoping that somebody might be able to point me in the correct direction before handing the old girl over to a garage blind (I don't have a trusted garage near me).

I have a slow coolant leak, in 3 days it went from Max to Min. There's nothing obvious on the top side of the engine so I had the undertray off last night and whilst I could see the drip, I couldn't trace it as the belts were in the way; I would guess that it's seeping out as the engine bay is "clean" – it's dripping onto the oil sump, see photos:

55105

55106


I don't have a ramp and I broke my back in April (mountaineering accident ?‍♂️) so that's as far as I can take it really.

P.S. I did have the AC regassed last year and it's not working at the moment*, won't go below ambient, I don't know if that could be related... ?
*I rarely use the AC so I don't know when it stopped working, could just be a coincidence.

If anybody can provide some insight, it'd be greatly appreciated!! I won't be able to fix it myself but I'd like to avoid (potentially) getting ripped off by whichever garage I plump with.
Cheers, Tom.
 
Could this be a 'death pipe' failure? https://www.a2oc.net/community/index.php?threads/whats-the-death-pipe.36840/

Tom, it really is a good idea to establish a relationship (if possible) with one of your local independent VAG specialists. If you prefer to do your routine maintenance yourself, at least use them for your MoT.

Perhaps I'm just lucky, but here in Norwich we have two VAG independents, both of whom are trustworthy and entirely honest; both are also familiar with the many vagaries of the FSI.
 
Could this be a 'death pipe' failure? https://www.a2oc.net/community/index.php?threads/whats-the-death-pipe.36840/
Tom, it really is a good idea to establish a relationship (if possible) with one of your local independent VAG specialists. If you prefer to do your routine maintenance yourself, at least use them for your MoT.
Perhaps I'm just lucky, but here in Norwich we have two VAG independents, both of whom are trustworthy and entirely honest; both are also familiar with the many vagaries of the FSI.
? Interesting, thanks for the link.

I've previously used WOM because they're A2 experts and following 2 bad experiences with local garages, peace of mind was worth more than practicality.
Another member has suggested a local VAG specialist so I'm going to call them today and yeah, try and establish a relationship ?
Cheers.
 
if you really want WOM to do the work,for peace of mind, have you considered using a car transporter outfit to move the car to WOM? Maybe worth asking for a few quotes.

Andy
 
It's an option but with insurance, tax, MOT and service all due in August... I'm broke!! I just want to have a clue as to what is on the verge of breaking before taking it to a garage that I don't know and asking them to fix a "coolant leak" :)
Cheers.
P.S. if I didn't have a broken back, I'd also have a go at fixing it myself so there's curiosity at play too.
 
Mine just had a similar leak. It was going from full to empty overnight. It was the water pump so had that and the cambelt done together.
I had been driving it with the leak for quite a while.
Hope you get it sorted soon
T
 
almost certainly the water pump. unfortunately that is a timing off job, so worth changing the belt and tensioners as well as the pump itself, same labour just extra cost of belts and tensioners
It could be the death pipe but I strongly suspect the water pump
 
Try to avoid driving too far as if the water pump is leaking the bearings could fail at any time, that would result in the timing belt jumping and major engine damage (bent valves)
 
If you are trying to find the source and don’t mind a messy engine bay you could put talc all over the area and you should be able to see the highest point in the engine which gets wet and viola.

I imagine that would make some members cry but it should wash off pretty easily.

If it’s just the water pump it shouldn’t be too hard to replace it, specialist or not. Timing belts and pumps should be standard work.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Thanks everyone, that's removed a literal weight from my shoulders; just having an idea as to the problem is a huge relief!

@Andrew, cambelt and pump were changed 7 years ago when I bought the car; I had been wondering when to change them but a visual inspection of the belts made me think... maybe next year? ;)
Guess that I should have stuck to the 5 year rule!!
Edit: and/or considered the water pump.

Cambelt, water pump and alternator belt (probably the original), anything else that I should consider getting done at the same time?
Thanks again, greatly appreciated!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top