Hi guys,
I have a bit of an issue! I've recently changed my cambelt + water pump for my car as it got to the 5-year mark. Got the car from the service Weds, drove it home for like 30 miles, all fine. The car sat on the drive until Friday morning when my wife had to go to work. She called me that the low coolant level light came on but disappeared after she turned off and started the engine again. I thought that maybe there was an airlock on the system after filling with the new coolant post w/p change. When she started the car to leave work on Friday evening, the light was on again and won't go this time. Guided her through video call (don't laugh!) to open the bonnet and show me the coolant level which was way under the minimum mark (in fact there was just a cup full on the bottom). Because of this I've told her to wait and went there with some distilled water to top up. I had to fill the tank with roughly 150 mls, so not much, but I had another surprise by opening it!!! On the bottom of the tank there were now some flakes of brown dirt and on the surface of the coolant were some droplets of a clear oily substance. Pls see pics.
I'm so disappointed now as I chose to do this service, despite being much more expensive, to the main Audi dealer rather than an independent garage thinking that I pay more for better workmanship. I'm sure the tank was clean before as I had a look in it a couple of months back after finding out about the silica bag issue so I would have noticed the gunk and the oil for sure. What I'm thinking is that the mechanic saved the old coolant in a dirty pan or something and reused it so that's what contaminated it. I'm sure (I hope) it's not engine oil as it's clear as water not brown or black.
Now I'm waiting to see if the level is holding or going down which might mean I have a coolant leak.
Do you think I have a leg to stand on to ask Audi to flush the coolant system for free? Is the oil in the coolant harmful for the engine? What about the gunk?
Thanks for reading.
Dan
I have a bit of an issue! I've recently changed my cambelt + water pump for my car as it got to the 5-year mark. Got the car from the service Weds, drove it home for like 30 miles, all fine. The car sat on the drive until Friday morning when my wife had to go to work. She called me that the low coolant level light came on but disappeared after she turned off and started the engine again. I thought that maybe there was an airlock on the system after filling with the new coolant post w/p change. When she started the car to leave work on Friday evening, the light was on again and won't go this time. Guided her through video call (don't laugh!) to open the bonnet and show me the coolant level which was way under the minimum mark (in fact there was just a cup full on the bottom). Because of this I've told her to wait and went there with some distilled water to top up. I had to fill the tank with roughly 150 mls, so not much, but I had another surprise by opening it!!! On the bottom of the tank there were now some flakes of brown dirt and on the surface of the coolant were some droplets of a clear oily substance. Pls see pics.
I'm so disappointed now as I chose to do this service, despite being much more expensive, to the main Audi dealer rather than an independent garage thinking that I pay more for better workmanship. I'm sure the tank was clean before as I had a look in it a couple of months back after finding out about the silica bag issue so I would have noticed the gunk and the oil for sure. What I'm thinking is that the mechanic saved the old coolant in a dirty pan or something and reused it so that's what contaminated it. I'm sure (I hope) it's not engine oil as it's clear as water not brown or black.
Now I'm waiting to see if the level is holding or going down which might mean I have a coolant leak.
Do you think I have a leg to stand on to ask Audi to flush the coolant system for free? Is the oil in the coolant harmful for the engine? What about the gunk?
Thanks for reading.
Dan