BrakeSnake Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Ok... had something like this happen to my 2.9 Corrie and that was a head gasket, so I'm trying desperately not to jump to conclusion... Mk 5 R32, about 34k miles. Never missed a beat. Over the last 2 months coolant has been disappearing out of the system. There are no visible signs of a leak anywhere. The remaining coolant is always still perfectly clean and pink, the engine oil and filler cap are perfectly clean too. No sludge or white residue. There is no white smoke from the exhaust, even on start up... HELP??! Just to throw a spanner into the works, I hadn't used it for over a week. One week ago coolant ok, started it up today and the coolant had disappeared again?? It hadn't been run?? Car's been pressure tested and is ok, and VW have found nothing wrong with it... Appreciate any ideas guys, i'm flumoxed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted June 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 any ideas guys? anyone out there with similar symptoms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Have a look inside the car, check the carpets and sound proofing stuff are dry in all the footwells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted June 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 thanks, did that, and it's all dry. nothing going through from the air con and heater matrix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme86 Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 The coolant may not show a leak into the car if the heat exchanger is busted inside the unit...there is still the fluid drainhole going through the firewall for the evaporator condensation. In any event, if it was leaking in there you would certainly smell the coolant inside the car. You now need to be looking for any sign of dried coolant anywhere on the engine from top to bottom. There will be that telltale whitish stain. This could just be a tiny weep somewhere (not enough to actually drip on the ground). A guy on vortex had a porous block, but that would be exceedingly unlikely: VWvortex Forums: Finn's -Motor install-due to coolant leak-pourous block Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Hope it's not a pourous block.. Just changed the coolant expansion tank and cap, going to see if that makes a difference. Coolant has still been disappearing when the car has not been in use, so there must be a leak to atmosphere somewhere, just cant find the white marks anywhere. Think im just going to keep running it until something becomes a bit more obvious as it's driving me up the wall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth3 Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 I had exactly the same problem but on a Mk4 GT TDi, turned out to be the thermostat, try that mate, cheap option aswell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdR32 Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 I had the exact same problem for about 6 months with my car. Sent it to APS to find out what the problem was and after some testing found that the coolant was evaporating through a crack in the reservoir cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted September 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 Well, After disappearing coolant and loads of top ups I decided to take the plugs out myself and 'swab' the insides of the cylinders with a coat hanger and tissue... bone dry. Also pressure tested each cylinder and they were all fine. Still no external leaks anywhere. I've changed the coolant res and cap etc... still no joy. Anyways, carried on driving the car in the hope that what ever was wrong would manifest itself. The last week or so, the inside of the car would start to mist up very badly and the air inside would feel very damp and warm. Switching the aircon on to full blast made it lose most of the coolant within 10 mins or so. I then let it idle for ten mins with the aircon on full blast after a coolant top up, with the bonnet up, and could visibly see the coolant level go down. Even though there are no visible leaks on the carpet etc interior, i'm pretty sure it's the heater matrix leaking somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 Heater Matrix - sounds like a PITA. My Audi V8 ate it's heater matrix - My mate and I fixed it, but it was never the same after. It also developed a pin sized hole in a coolant pipe and when hot/under pressure I could see a pin holes sized fountain from the pipe. Have a look in the engine bay again engine on, fulll coolant etc check the all pipe unions at radiator, under blower motor. It must be there somewhere!!!! Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted September 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 I've done this, even to the point of adding a UV additive to the coolant and using a UV lamp. No joy. The dash and carpets have to come up im afraid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amnesia180 Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Hi All, I'm new here, and have found some really useful information. Apologies to hi-jack this thread, but I am also having a similar problem. I have a VW Golf TDI (1998) and about 3-4 months ago I parked the car on a bit of a hill (just a small incline), the oil light came on and gave me all sorts of warnings. Anyway, after about 15 minutes of driving the light went off, I pulled over to check everything and it all seemed fine... no problems since. However, I have noticed that since that incident... the coolant level gradually decreases. Some weeks the coolant can empty by half in 7 days, and other times it will lose half in 2 or 3 weeks. I have been topping it up with water when it has needed it, but now think it is probably best to buy some coolant for it (is there a specific one I need? The stuff already in there is pink right now). The car only does a maximum of 200 miles per week, sometimes only 100... I have checked for sludgey messes, nothing. White marks, nothing. No smell of coolant when the air con is on, and I have driving with aircon on full just to see if I can smell it and I can't. Car doesn't mist up (it used to, but since this problem it doesn't do it). I'm pulling my hair out and am curious as to whether this is going to be an expensive fix? Thanks in advance! Amnesia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdR32 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 Just an update that the cause of my coolant leak was actually a crack in the cylinder head which the coolant was leaking through into the cylinders. Had to have a new cylinder head and head gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted September 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 Did it manifest itself in any way other than the gradual leak of coolant? How was it confirmed? Did it only leak coolant when running, or did the coolant disappear when the car was left stationary as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdR32 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Large clouds of white smoke (only a few times) on start up from the exhausts, incredibly lumpy idle and shuddering engine block from cold start up. Was confirmed by VW sending the entire engine block off to be x rayed after they suspected the crack (bear in mind this took over 13 months for VW to acknowledge). Not sure about when it actually disappeared as I don't use the car very often, but I was filling the coolant up from dry after about 150 miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 What was done about warranty? was your .:R past the 3 years? Mine has none of those symptoms, it would lose the coolant when stationary too. I left it stand for 3 weeks, topping up coolant twice as it went down without it even turning a wheel. Took the plugs out and all cylinders were dry, and nothing had gone in the oil. Then more recently it started steaming up in the cabin with the aircon set to warm/hot. Will find out more on Tuesday when it goes in to APS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdR32 Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Luckily the car was under warranty but I still spent over £600 having APS and VAG Tech look at it to no result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benclayden Posted October 24, 2009 Report Share Posted October 24, 2009 Brakesnake wrote: "Then more recently it started steaming up in the cabin "!!! I bet it did Al!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted October 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Mr Ben, you're a dirty minded fellow.... hope you're not implying i wet myself in the cabin or the steam originated from other activities not in the .:R!! Car's booked in to APS a week on monday, they had probs getting the part. It's defo the matrix because have been driving it around for 2 months with the aircon/blower fans switched off and it hasnt used11 a drop of coolant since. Even with foot down anywhere, so in a few weeks all will be good ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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