Coolant worries?

[Mikey]

Just after some info here. Last week my DIS flashed up COOLANT for a brief moment then went off. After my journey I checked the level and it was appx 1cm below the MIN mark on the tank. I went into Audi Macclesfield and spoke to the service manager about it to which he said it is normal for the car to lose some coolant over time, but if it was lots on a regular basis then there would be some cause for concern. Anyway, I bought some VAG G12 PLUS PLUS from them and filled the tank to just under the MAX mark with the coolant and some water. This is the bit which is worrying me but maybe for nothing: This morning after my journey into work I checked the coolant tank and its level was floating just above the MIN mark. I opened the tanks cap (engine had just been switched off) and it let out the hissing pressure noise, but then the coolant level shot back upto where I had filled it upto last week. Is this normal and right? I was just very worried before I opened the cap at seeing the level just above the MIN mark and thought to myself do I have a leak somewhere? But when opening the cap it shot back up.

Should I have any cause for concern here?? I cant see any traces of coolant on the floor at home or anywhere in the engine bay, and ive got no running issues. It's a 2.0TDI 140 56 plate. Thanks.

 

[Twizzler]

You should have cause for concern. Whilst coolant isn't compressible, air is.

 

[Lex]

i have the same problem and its my cylinder head, getting fixed soon but i have only heard this happening on the earlier models, like 2003, 2004.

i always had a small leak on a clip of a hose which i only saw because there was a tiny trace of red coolant residue.

my thoughts would be cylinder head but it may be something smaller like a leaky rad.

get the head pressure tested if you are really concerned however its perfectly safe to drive on seeing that its only just started loosing coolant.

 

[Mikey]

OK, just went out to the car now its cooled down and the coolant level had gone down again. I went for a blast, came back and checked the coolant with the engine running and it was back upto what I filled it upto last week. So its doesnt seem to be losing coolant.

 

[Lex]

just keep your eye on it because mine goes down but it takes long journeys for me to realize it goes down, its a very slow leak on mine.

 

[Mikey]

mines up and then down then back up like a whores knickers. I think im worrying over nowt, but I will be keeping my eye on it. Ive got no running problems and ive had a VERY VERY good look for any leaks or spillage and theres nothing anywhere. Had the plastic engine cover off too and followed the pipes, nowt.

 

[Lex]

if you keep opening your coolant lid without driving to far each time it wont loose any really. but look at it now and drive a fair distance and look at it again and it will be low and once you open it again i should pop up but after a long dove it probs wont pop up to your original level.

i have my car in a garage twice looking for the leak and there was none
untill they found the internal leak (cyl head)

dont shrug it off thinking its fine because in worst case it would be the cylinder head and then you wont be happy. Just keep your eye on it and leave it for while and then you will see if you are loosing any.

mine has that this problem for about 2 months now because it kept being diagnosed wrong but my car still has no running problems and you wont see any problems for awhile with loss of coolant.

my car can sometimes go 2 full days of driving before it loosing any.

as i said just monitor it regularly after long drives

and i hope you are lucky and isnt the same problem as mine

is it still in warranty?

 

[Batt284]

Lex - how did you diagnose your fault to be a cracked cylinder head by the way? I am having the same coolant loss issues as I have mentioned on a couple of other threads, but have never been able to conclusively diagnose the fault to be the cylinder head.

Has anyone else noticed most of the VAG specialists insisting that the cylinder heads are not a problem on these cars?? I was phoning around for a few quotes 'just in case' and seem to have to convince them that the cylinder head is a common problem before they will even entertain the idea!!!

 

[Lex]

Lex - how did you diagnose your fault to be a cracked cylinder head by the way? I am having the same coolant loss issues as I have mentioned on a couple of other threads, but have never been able to conclusively diagnose the fault to be the cylinder head.

Has anyone else noticed most of the VAG specialists insisting that the cylinder heads are not a problem on these cars?? I was phoning around for a few quotes 'just in case' and seem to have to convince them that the cylinder head is a common problem before they will even entertain the idea!!!

where did you take it ?

i took mine to midland vw in cannock and they replaced the head gasket and egr because they were both leaking, and found the small pipe leak.

they didnt think it would be the head gasket so they tackled everything else they found and we just kno that its the cylinder head now because it cant be anything else, the engine is bone dry so much be internal.

however because they have failed to find the main problem sooner they are only charging me for the parts needed, labour free. which i think is great because it would cost around £2000 at audi and is only costing me around £500. i cant fault ther knowledge at midland vw, they are excellent and know me very very very after having endless problems with my first mk4 golf and now this audi. They have got somuch business out of me

 

[Batt284]

Thats cool mate, I would push the car to anyone that would wave the labour charge

I travel quite a bit so have been to garages all over the place: Ron Turnbull and Volkswerk in the Teeside area and David Lees in Alcester (all said the same). Volkswagen are still the only people you can buy these heads from and the local supplier apparently said he had never ever sold one It does make me think that maybe this cylinder head problem is not quite as common as we think, although there is no denying the fact that a few people on here have had theirs replaced.

 

[Khufu]

You should really only check the level when its cold. When hot and under pressure the level does go down a bit.

 

[Batt284]

I think the level actually creeps up a bit when warm, certainly seems to for me anyway.