A6 2.5 tdi Radiator leaking & Coolant lightt

[raf_man]

Other day noticed that my coolant light came on and flashed when i inserted the key in the ignition first thing in the morning before i even started the car.

However this didnt appear again and the temp guage was fine, That afternoon it appeared again, noticed water low in reservoir, topped up by 1.5 litres, booked in garage next day, quoted me £385 for rad change labour, and inc 4 litres of coolant at £30.00

Anyway havent had it changed yet, the garage said it felt damp at the bottom of the radiator, I just forked out £275 to have the door seal changed due to water ingress, most of that was labour, although i can get the rad changed cheaper elsewhere, this is an trusted efficient and respected garage.

Anyway I was wondering if I should put Rad Seal in the RAD as over the last 2 days i have barely lost any water, so it must be a very slow dripp leak but some garages say rad seal can also be bad as it can block other passageways.

Your thoughts are welcome.

[MikkiJayne]

I can recommend 'Seal Up': http://www.motorshop1.co.uk/sealup.htm

I've used that on a couple of cars (including my A6 2.5TDI) to fix leaky head gaskets and its worked really well. Once I stripped them and repaired them properly there was no trace of the stuff in coolant passages, so it doesn't clog anything up.

Tip if you do use it though - don't flush it out immediately. Flush the system completely, then put it in with fresh water and drive about with it in for a week or so. Once it's sealed you can then flush the system and put coolant back in.