Coolant level once again

Matt

Matt

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I've tried to find my other thread from a few months ago about this but cant so had to start a new one. Just so people can add their thoughts or comments or even if people are having the same problems. And also for me to vent my anger a bit!

Car is still leaking coolant somewhere, no visible signs like marks on the drive or anything like that. Just every 1500-2000 miles the coolant warning comes on and I check it and it will be low.

Last time it went in to Audi they said they checked the head and its not cracked. Their suggestion was a revised coolant header tank and cap. So they supposedly ordered the parts then I had it booked in to be fitted.

I got there and it turns out it was merely a new filler cap?! Been a bit of a breakdown in communication there as I was told otherwise.

Another problem is it occasionally beeps on start up and for a split second it says "ESP Fault See owner manual" on the DIS. So that needs investigating too as its been doing that for months now. I just want to get to the bottom of these problems before the warranty is up in September.

I've booked it in again for next Wednesday and just taken the Bluefin remap off in preparation so I will get to live without the remap on the car for over a week now and see how it compares....
 
Daft question i know but worth asking are all carpets dry? i know a bloke who had this problem and while he kept looking under the bonnet for traces of lost coolant they were on his carpet from the heater matrix, dont know what else to suggest is there no traces on engine shields if you take them off or even a damp patch on the rad
 
The carpets are dry, never found them to be damp so no problems there. Good suggestion though thanks.

Audi say they cant find any trace of a leak but something isn't right because it shouldn't be doing this!
 
I had a leak when i bought mine, turned out to be the radiator (common problem on mk5 golfs) - corrosion in the bottom corners

This was diagnosed in 1/2 hour by the dealer who did a pressure test
 
Did Audi do the overnight pressure test to check the head?? Mine was so like yours and there was no visible signs but did progressively get a bit harder to start in the mornings, turned out to be a porous head.
 
Yeah they kept it in over night to do the test. They had it in for 2 days over all. Dont have any problems starting it.

There isn't half as much torque without the Bluefin remap on! Going to be fun when I get to put that back on :)
 
Just out of interest what year was your car when the head went? Also how expensive is it to repair? I should imagine warranty companies such as warranty direct should cover this shouldn't they?
 
robby said:
I had a leak when i bought mine, turned out to be the radiator (common problem on mk5 golfs) - corrosion in the bottom corners

This was diagnosed in 1/2 hour by the dealer who did a pressure test
Click to expand...

I have just had a new radiator fitted to my A3, it was nackered, i saw the hole in it and all the red coolant which had leaked out of it over time and stained it pink/orange.. My car is still loosing coolant, i am hoping that it's only leaking out of a recently disturbed pipe from when the new rad was put on.. What year is your car? Mines an 05 and my mechanic used to work for VW in Cross hills (Whiterose). When i asked him whether the head could be at fault he explained that there were faults with heads when the 8P A3 was launched affecting 53/04/54.. he mentioned because mine was an 05 the head will have been revised by this point.

Fingers crossed, it's going back in this Saturday while I'm down in Brentford at a football match.

:icon_thumright:
 
Mine is a 57 plate. I thought it was also only the 140 engine that commonly had problems with the head, not the 170.
 
Seeing this thread Thought i'd add my story so far -
I bought my car nearly a year ago from york audi (55plate A3 2.0tdi DSG) , over the last year its had quite a few problems

- a blown turbo (turbo and intercooler got replaced)
- EGR valve failure (new egr valve got fitted)
- The back seats got wet through when spare wheel well filled with water due to rear wiper hose pinging off !
and its been back a forth to the dealership with loss of coolant issues -

Which not having to do a lot of research - made me think - New cylinder head was gonna be the next thing on the list !

Thank god all of these issues have been delt with under warranty and credit were credit is due the dealership have been great providing me with a curtousy car and giving my car a full valete every toime they've had it in.

They currently have the car at the moment, they have done an overnight preasure test on the car previously and found nothing,
This time they have done another over night preasure test and this morning called back to let me know it has emptyed all its coolant and the fault does not seem to be coolent loss into the engine but it is leaking from a resuvoir attached to th engine above the gearbox ?

They have the part on order and once fitted want to do another overnight preasure test to make sure this has solved the problem

All well and good but my opinion on Audi reliability is that owning one without warranty is a bit of a lottery,
I'm in 2 minds now wether to keep the car when warranty expires in the knowlege that all this work has been done to the car or change cars before i end up with a massive bill for something else going wrong ??

I love the car and all though at first, even tho i got a good deal when i bought the car felt a little ripped paying dealer prices - would have been wounded to have had to pay for all these problems fixing :faint:

Just hoping that this fix is the real problem and that the coolant loss dosent re appear when the warranty expires :sadlike:
 
AidenUK said:
I have just had a new radiator fitted to my A3, it was nackered, i saw the hole in it and all the red coolant which had leaked out of it over time and stained it pink/orange.. My car is still loosing coolant, i am hoping that it's only leaking out of a recently disturbed pipe from when the new rad was put on.. What year is your car? Mines an 05 and my mechanic used to work for VW in Cross hills (Whiterose). When i asked him whether the head could be at fault he explained that there were faults with heads when the 8P A3 was launched affecting 53/04/54.. he mentioned because mine was an 05 the head will have been revised by this point.

Fingers crossed, it's going back in this Saturday while I'm down in Brentford at a football match.

:icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

Hi Aiden

Mine's a 06 plate and the work was done at Huddersfield Audi (£495 total bill but luckily i have a warranty)

I used to deliver to White Rose VW in Otley (now closed down) and last year they were replacing 1-2 radiators a week on mk5 Golfs due to corrosion in the bottom corners, make you wonder if the "special coolant" VAG recommends is maybe too strong?

On my mk5 golf 2.0fsi i had a coolant leak, garage replaced the EGR which didn't fully cure it and then replaced the waterpump which showed signs of leakage - i think this sorted it as it didn't leak for the next 3 weeks before i sold it

Reading various posts the head problems seem to affect 2003 - 2005 mainly but 2006> still have some problems

There are a couple of VAG specialists here in Huddersfield if you still have problems - not too far away for you
 
Matt said:
Mine is a 57 plate. I thought it was also only the 140 engine that commonly had problems with the head, not the 170.
Click to expand...

It was all models that had the 140 engine. from '04 - '05. mine was an '05 that was out of warranty. Cost around £2k to fix...ouch!
 
Last edited:
What did you get for 2K though? How much was the head?

Thanks
 
I got a 3 page bill!!! Was about £1k parts and £1k labour and managed to get a good will gesture of 50% parts prices. But as I said also got the cam belt done too
 
yeh it was, sadly. I had loads of problems with the car (4 turbos etc) so wanted a warranty on the parts as they kept needing replacing!!!!! Car now sold and got some mates in a VW/Audi Independant garage that we use.
 
im putting my money on your head being cracked. Pressure tests dont allways pick this up, mine didnt and mines a late 06 plate A3!! At first Audi changed the EGR cooler but the A3 was losing coolant rapidly. Another trip to Audi and they pressure tested it AGAIN and AGAIN it showed no faults, but they changed the head anyway, since then, no problems with coolant loss.
 
it was all done under warrenty so didnt cost me a penny.
 
Sarah's A3 said:
Are you worried you have a head failure???
Click to expand...

Yep, my car has just had the radiator replaced after there was a leak from the bottom left corner. I saw the pink/red/orange (what ever colour it is) staines around where the hole was, had the rad replaced. Great, i can now crack on with the face lift. Last Monday, got in the car and drove down the hill and bonggg, 'coolant' warning come on so stopped and popped the hood (as vinny d would say) and there you have it, below the min line again.

The car is going back tomorrow/Saturday to have other things checked, it's had a new water pump so i am hoping it's just a loose pipe or something but knowing my luck the head will be nackered.

Loosing patience with the A3 now, it's cost me a fortune in the last 2 months.
 
my moneys on your head being cracked. Such a vastly common problem, sadly. Ive heard of this problem SO SO many times now. The car salesman who is doing me a deal on my Passat has a 140bhp A3 Sline said his head has cracked too, was the size of a pin ***** yet it still kept on losing coolant rapidly.
 
AidenUk, really hope its just a loose pipe and not the head!!! Like Mikey said, there have been loads that have been 'porous' and cost lots to replace unless you can get a cheap replacement but they have no guarantees that they are ok!!!! Fingers crossed for you, after mine was done and numerous other things too, I sold it on!
 
PD170 head ( 030 103 373A ) is the same as the PD140 head but i have never heard of any of them cracking.
 
Sarah's A3 said:
AidenUk, really hope its just a loose pipe and not the head!!! Like Mikey said, there have been loads that have been 'porous' and cost lots to replace unless you can get a cheap replacement but they have no guarantees that they are ok!!!! Fingers crossed for you, after mine was done and numerous other things too, I sold it on!
Click to expand...

Since owning the car from may last year i have done the following:

Front pads
New glow plug
New tyres
Cam belt
Water pump
Auxiliary belt
Auxiliary tensioner
New turbo
New oil feed pipe
New radiator
DSG oil change
Serviced twice
New seat belt catch

My patience is running out pretty fast now, i have just bought most of the face lift parts after changing the rad because i thought that had fixed the leak!

Trouble is, i can't found another car for the same sort of money which is diesel, isn't a shed and been around the world 3 times.

:icon_thumright:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
devonmikeyboy said:
PD170 head ( 030 103 373A ) is the same as the PD140 head but i have never heard of any of them cracking.
Click to expand...

If it is the head i am going to end up buying another one, i have spent far too much money on maintaining/repairing this car to just get shut.

I won't get a new one though as i should imagine they are mental money, I'll chance it with a second hand one with a warranty of some sort, is it possible to get my current one reconditioned? That is of course if it is the head.

Thanks for your help.
 
Wouldnt have thought you can get recon ones esp if they have been porous etc, but sure the lads on here will know better. Has Devonmickeyboy got one?? Or try the salvage yards. Really hope you get sorted and cheaply too! I guess after doing all the repairs it will end up being a good car, so may be worth keeping it after all! Would be awful to change it and get another dog of a car!
 
audi upgrades
Sarah's A3 said:
Wouldnt have thought you can get recon ones esp if they have been porous etc, but sure the lads on here will know better. Has Devonmickeyboy got one?? Or try the salvage yards. Really hope you get sorted and cheaply too! I guess after doing all the repairs it will end up being a good car, so may be worth keeping it after all! Would be awful to change it and get another dog of a car!
Click to expand...

To be fair it's a decent motor, i like it.. I want to face lift it and put my own stamp on it but at the moment i can't seem to get to the point where nothing mechanically needs doing to it.

The turbo went, that was my own fault because it has been mapped, i don't drive it hard but the night it went i did go for a 'blast' in it.

I guess the cam belt is just general maintenance, tyres and pads wear and tear, so really there is only the rad and Auxiliary belt tensioner that have really failed out of the blue.

With regards to the head, I'll end up getting one second hand, hopefully off here and in good nick, but i don't know if the head is nacked or not.

:icon_thumright:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
AidenUK said:
To be fair it's a decent motor, i like it.. I want to face lift it and put my own stamp on it but at the moment i can't seem to get to the point where nothing mechanically needs doing to it.

The turbo went, that was my own fault because it has been mapped, i don't drive it hard but the night it went i did go for a 'blast' in it.

:icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

Feel for you. Hate it when you get to a point to be able to mod it then ...bang...something pops up and costs loads to repair, good bye mod funds!

My turbos went the same way on my previous car, I didnt learn lol. Hence the 3.2 with no turbo! Decided it was better for me!
 
You cannot fix a head if it is cracked.
 
@Sarah. You either drive your car like you stole it or there must have been something wrong with the map or engine for you to blow three turbos. Or are you really that good at blowing things .....:whistle2:
 
devonmikeyboy said:
@Sarah. You either drive your car like you stole it or there must have been something wrong with the map or engine for you to blow three turbos. Or are you really that good at blowing things .....:whistle2:
Click to expand...

Form an orderly queue to find out......................................:yes:
 
devonmikeyboy said:
@Sarah. You either drive your car like you stole it or there must have been something wrong with the map or engine for you to blow three turbos. Or are you really that good at blowing things .....:whistle2:
Click to expand...



Haaahaaa what can I say, can I blow my own trumpet???? lolol :eyebrows:

Yeh I took it back to where I had the map, he tried fobbing me off with all sorts and claimed the boost was within range! I do push cars but not enough to blow that many turbos lol. I've never had to have turbos before and had no probs on my MKIV golf!
 
audi upgrades
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