Coolant loss and steam from exhaust

[Jord159]

Hi all,

Appreciate this type of thread has come up in the past but I can't seem to find one linking to the symptoms my car has.

So I have an A3 2.0 170 2010 plate and its loosing coolant (5L per week) and has steam/condensation billowing out of the exhaust.

Let me give you some context first:

The car hit just over 80k and decided to get the timing belt and water pump done, went in without any of the above even showing.

Had the car back and after few days noticed that I was loosing coolant and excessive smoke coming from the exhaust, so sent it back into the garage and they suspected it to be the head gasket. They had pressure tested it and blanked off the EGR cooler and found no problem. They only charged me for the gasket kit and no labour (which I found odd) and they would send the head off to get skimmed.

Car back with me, and low and behold went back to its old tricks (after a few days). Called the garage back and was told to drop it back off to inspect. After a few hours, the car was back at the house and the EGR cooler was replaced (no charge) .

All was good until now, where its doing the same thing. Went into Audi for a good inspection on Wednesday, which includes all pressure tests, all the above work has been checked to see if was completed (not removing head) and all looked to be in working order. Went for a drive, and after a few miles was a slight hesitation and heaters went cold, pulled up outside the house where the coolant level was fine, but drained from the tank overnight and started off the steaming out the exhaust when driven (coolant topped back up before driving). Im at a loss now, could anyone shed a light to where I should go from here?

Thanks.

 

[aqibi2000]

Cracked head is very possible


Coolant expands when hot so can appear to be a higher level when engine is warmed up

 

[Jord159]

Cracked head is very possible


Coolant expands when hot so can appear to be a higher level when engine is warmed up

The level is lower in the bottle when I check, even when engine is running. Sometimes though, when the cap is loosened it releases the pressure and bubbles back up.

 

[NHN]

Bad water pump install possibly, check all pipes in bay to see if they're getting warm, hot, if some are cold then I would look at the pump.

 

[abmat]

Cracked head is very possible


Coolant expands when hot so can appear to be a higher level when engine is warmed up

my money is on this judging by all the other work that has been done. (Presuming is has been done correctly.)

if you have access to a borescope have a look at the top of the pistons. If they’re clean coolant is definitely leaking into the cylinders.

 

[Jord159]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I shall let you know how I get on.

 

[abmat]

Cheers. It would be interesting because if it is a cracked/porous head this was only a know issue on the bkd engine.

 

[Jord159]

I’ve only just read about the porous heads, it’s definitely looking like it’s going towards this.

It’s either a huge coincidence that it stared doing it as it had the timing done. Or that has doused it to go, may have been in a weakened state before.

It’s just manning that it was totally fine before.

The joys!

 

[abmat]

Yep. The joys.

when I had a bkd engine it would use a lot of coolant but showed none of the signs of a porous head and had no leaks. Drove me mad.

 

[aqibi2000]

Cheers. It would be interesting because if it is a cracked/porous head this was only a know issue on the bkd engine.

Happens to BMN engine code as well.. just not as much abs the Rev A and B Bkd heads

 

[Jord159]

So it went down to Audi last week, from home to garage and back is about 60+ miles. Used no coolant and they couldn’t find anything wrong.

Took it to a garage yesterday to book in for inspection which is 30 miles in total, and used a little going down but comping home it was as if it was miss firing.

When I got home, with the engine off I checked the coolant tank and it was empty. Undone the cap and it all bubbled up, nearly overflowing. Levelled off to the Max/min line then the tank emptied in a minute or so.

If there was a crack/leak somewhere, wouldn’t it not bubble back up?

 

[aqibi2000]

So it went down to Audi last week, from home to garage and back is about 60+ miles. Used no coolant and they couldn’t find anything wrong.

Took it to a garage yesterday to book in for inspection which is 30 miles in total, and used a little going down but comping home it was as if it was miss firing.

When I got home, with the engine off I checked the coolant tank and it was empty. Undone the cap and it all bubbled up, nearly overflowing. Levelled off to the Max/min line then the tank emptied in a minute or so.

If there was a crack/leak somewhere, wouldn’t it not bubble back up?

coolant expands when hot, removing the cap makes it appear to rise. As it cools it contracts

 

[abmat]

And if the crack/leak is in the head, this seals at the head heats up.