Coolant Loss

[benGT]

My 2001 GOLF GT TDI is losing coolant very quickly.

I did have a problem with power loss too, but this seems to be solved by changing the turbo boost valve. Coming from London to Birmingham yesterday I had to stop 3 times because of coolant level.

When I pulled over noticed pools of coolant on the floor, obviously 8pm on the hard shoulder of M40 is not the best place to be crawling under the car.........Temperature never went above 90 previoulsy when coolant got low, yesterday it soared up to 120??

I've had tests done on head gasket, this showed nothing! All hoses have been replaced!! So I'm kinda at a loss, do I get it re-checked for head gasket.

Any thoughts would be appreciated :beerchug:

[thefoolmccool]

You say pools of coolant on the floor. Is this the floor of the car or the ground underneath the car? If there are pools of coolant you have a leak. Check for split hoses or broken plastic pipe connections. Even check for cracks in the block. If the coolant is inside, it could well be a leaking heater matrix. Try turning the blower to cold and see if it still happens.

Try not and let the engine overheat. If it was only at a high temp for a short time you may be ok and have got away with it. But I would not suspect the head gasket.

[benGT]

Yeah the leaks are under the car rather than in it. When I took it to the garage they said the'd replaced the hoses as well as the expansion tank, this was a VW specialist is it worth taking to VW dealer, and paying the extra to get it sorted??

It only seems to occur on long journeys don't have any problems in the week when I'm only doing trips to work and back. But then it doens't really have chance to heat up that much.

Thanks for your reply

[Simon.Barrand]

I have excatly the same problem with my mk4 tdi golf. I took it to my local garage, they put water through the engine block and found that there was a slight blockage which meant the water wasn't circulating properly. They then took the thermostat off as apprently this will increase the pressure of the water abd will remove any debrey in the block. This was over a week ago and it seems ok now.

[Eshrules]

this sounds similar to my brothers mk3, same kind of symptoms, turned out to to be the heater matrix as suggested. would check all hoses for splits etc before replacing parts, as this is possibly the cheapest fix.

im concerned about the above? did they not put the thermo back on then??!!

[Simon.Barrand]

They are going to put the thermostat back, just wanted to see how the car ran without it!!

[RickT]

Check the Water pump... these rust over time time and leak real bad!!!

Cheers

RickT

[benGT]

took it dealership over xmas and they did pressure tests etc and stil couldn't find anything wrong with. They want to take head gasket off and send away for further investigation at £600 and having 3 tests done on the head already and showing nothing I'm somewhat reluctant to do this!!

I had the water pump changed when the cam was done 2 months ago so it can't be that either

[dc2447]

Hate to me too on your thread but I am having a similar issue.

I have a 1999 2tlr Golf Gti and recently I keep getting the message STOP and check coolant. If I top up the coolant a little then the problem is fine.

I can't see any leaks.

I'm concerned that a car worth about 2.5k iks going to cost many hundreds to get fixed.

Any thoughts

[Boardboy]

There is a problem I've had with both MKII & MKIII golfs. The plastic hose adapter that sits over the thermostat cracks as does the one on the front of the engine (the one with temp sensors in it). My local VW specailist says they sell alot as they are made from re-cycled plastic. I've changed about three of these over the years. They crack from where the bolt hole is in to where the o-ring sits.
Regards Boardboy

[RickT]

I know this should of been checked... however on the A4 TDi theres a hose at the back/bottom of the lump which is a common part to fail and leaks when under load to start with...

you can only see it from under the car tho..

Cheers

RicKT

[dc2447]

There is a problem I've had with both MKII & MKIII golfs. The plastic hose adapter that sits over the thermostat cracks as does the one on the front of the engine (the one with temp sensors in it). My local VW specailist says they sell alot as they are made from re-cycled plastic. I've changed about three of these over the years. They crack from where the bolt hole is in to where the o-ring sits.
Regards Boardboy

Thanks

Have had a good look and all all hones look OK.

Will see how things go but could be one for the mechanic

[avantdi]

Ben GT I have a 02 Audi a4 tdi130 that started to lose coolant last week. You should have a look for the hose that Rick T mentioned in this thread. I had a good look at mine this morning and found there is a half-inch hose that runs from around the thermostat back around the head and under what looks to be the vacuum pump at the rear of the head. This hose had failed. There is hose coming up from the fuel filter and it looks like some diesel has being weeping from the vac pump (very little u would barely notice it) on to the hose and broke it down to a soft mush over a period of time

I did not have to get under the car though Rick T. Just used the wife's compact mirror (unknown to her let keep it that way) and a torch to spot the trouble. Remove the engine cover. Find the hose coming out of the break servo unit left hand side engine bay follow it back to the vac pump and directly below is the coolant hose it comes from the right hand side.
Thanks to all on this site for the good knowledge base an particularly Rick T for your suggestion. You were bang on in this case.:beerchug:
I'm off for a brew now. Oh yeah cheap fix too original Audi part only €13+vat:D