MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => How to Guides / Troubleshooting => Topic started by: Chris on January 17, 2010, 09:49:12 pm

Title: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Chris on January 17, 2010, 09:49:12 pm
My ccolant level drops for no reason, not all the time but every couple of weeks. cant see any visable leaks so any ideas
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: pako88268 on January 17, 2010, 10:48:52 pm
My ccolant level drops for no reason, not all the time but every couple of weeks. cant see any visable leaks so any ideas

Have a look at your oil? if you can see some slimish liquid in the cover!
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Chris on January 17, 2010, 10:57:41 pm
Oils fine, checked this morning
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Top Cat on January 17, 2010, 11:02:55 pm
This has happened a few times to Mkv's or similar on here Chris. I will try and dig out the related threads for you tomorrow when i get a moment.
There is a chap on here called AlanD who defo has had this same problem if you want to give him a PM.  :happy2:
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Chris on January 18, 2010, 06:27:53 pm
Cheers

Did a head gasket test earlier and everything is hunky dory in that respect. theres no visable signs of leakage anywhere.
level seems to be ok for a week or so then suddenly drop overnight.

leveing paper under the car tonight in the garage to see if anything drips
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: mortygttdi on January 18, 2010, 06:38:58 pm
Dont know if the GTi suffers the same porous head problem has the 2.0tdi but I have the loss of coolant every few weeks??? no visible sign of loss on the floor and no water round or near the header tank :rolleye:

Darren
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: danishmkvgti on January 18, 2010, 06:42:03 pm
I had a leak with the front coolant hose going up between engine and coolerfans comming from the cirkulation pump
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: bigbo on January 18, 2010, 09:19:29 pm
i seem to have the same problem with my GTI. ive got through a bottle from the steelers in the last 6 months by topping up  :confused:
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: AlanD on January 18, 2010, 10:38:41 pm
TC is bang on the money, I indeed had the same problem.

If you are losing coolant and it constantly requires topping up (in my case every 3 - 4 weeks)  this could be because there a leaking flange (tell me you didn't giggle when you read that . .  :grin:) where the coolant goes into the engine and all that (technical description there).

It is covered under warranty or (in the case of VW Croydon) cost £180 inc labour and parts. This has been the case for a few people I know who have had MK5s.

Attached is a copy of the invoice for the works carried out which might be of help:

(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fv92%2Ftwior%2FIMG_0577.jpg&hash=fb753186c1393c48380ec13fb22a16e69694171c)

Any other questions bitches !?
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Top Cat on January 18, 2010, 10:49:23 pm
We might be beatches, but we aint got a leaky flange.  :P
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: mortygttdi on January 19, 2010, 06:09:39 am
 :grin: :grin: :signLOL: My car is at the bl**dy body shop so cant check it, but once I get it back you know after ive fitted my auto levelers for the xenons ill be stripping the front of the car down to see if there is any water crystalising(sp)

Where should i be looking Alan? Cos I could do with ruling out the dreaded porous head problem :happy2:

Darren
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: RedRobin on January 19, 2010, 03:02:46 pm
....

I had the same slow leak problem and also always have dry cardboard under my engine bay on my garage floor to be able to easily see any drop of fluids - No coolant drops evident.

Turned out to be the seal on the engine as AlanD's but my VW dealer didn't charge me as much his and mine had to remove and reinstall my Forge Twintake as well.

Signs of leakage would be on DSG box if you have DSG.

It tends to happen in a cold spell if you don't drive for a while - When the engine is warm it effectively seals the faulty seal by expansion. 
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: TomB on January 19, 2010, 06:12:51 pm
Mne had a phase of losing coolant but found out that was my rad.

My old TDI used to do this, took me months to work out.  Turns out my water pump had gone.
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Chris on January 19, 2010, 06:59:21 pm
No ive goy no drips either, cars manual but had a good look round and cant see s**t lol

but thanks for the info will look into it
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Chris on January 21, 2010, 06:12:33 pm
quick update

had ahead gasket test done yesterday and givern the all clear phew !
anyway today i had a pressure test done on the cooling system, and yes i can now verify that my car has exactly the same problem as ALAND's

part was ordered today and getting it fiited Monday

Many  thanks for all the help  :happy2:
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: ub7rm on January 21, 2010, 06:37:47 pm
TC is bang on the money, I indeed had the same problem.

If you are losing coolant and it constantly requires topping up (in my case every 3 - 4 weeks)  this could be because there a leaking flange (tell me you didn't giggle when you read that . .  :grin:) where the coolant goes into the engine and all that (technical description there).

It is covered under warranty or (in the case of VW Croydon) cost £180 inc labour and parts. This has been the case for a few people I know who have had MK5s.

Attached is a copy of the invoice for the works carried out which might be of help:

(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fv92%2Ftwior%2FIMG_0577.jpg&hash=fb753186c1393c48380ec13fb22a16e69694171c)

Any other questions bitches !?

Might want to blank out your mobile number as well Mr Allan  :wink:
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: AlanD on January 22, 2010, 12:11:26 am
Good work on the heads up, ironically thats no longer my number so try it all you want  :P
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Chris on January 24, 2010, 09:52:08 pm
For those that have a similar problem this is the offending item, fits to the side of the head near the battery

(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi29.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc288%2FGT-Four_%2FDSCF0568.jpg&hash=bc88d4171adf6b4dbbcd1de12247d9228bc82ad1)
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: xxx_mojo_xxx on January 25, 2010, 09:46:25 am
What's the part called and the part no?  Cheers!
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Chris on January 25, 2010, 05:47:29 pm
Called a connection

Part no  06F 121 132 G
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: MPS on January 30, 2011, 12:30:40 am
Called a connection

Part no  06F 121 132 G

Oh how ETKA makes me laugh with its non-descript part descriptions  :grin:

What next, everything in ETKA will be called 'Part', can you just imagine the conversation with the stealers if you rang up to order something?  :grin:
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: seiko on January 30, 2011, 05:47:09 am
had this problem with mine also, it was not so much the flange, it was the o ring that seals it to the engine block, changed it and the flange to be sure in November last year and no more problems  :smiley:
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: M7AXB on January 31, 2011, 03:51:32 pm
Has anyone got a DIY guide on doing this?

Cheers
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: RedRobin on January 31, 2011, 04:26:03 pm

Has anyone got a DIY guide on doing this?


....No, but I'm laughing out loud at your Henry sig!  :signLOL:   :laugh:   :signLOL:
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Sie on February 03, 2011, 04:49:56 am
Anyone know the price of this part?

Thanks

Sie
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: seiko on February 03, 2011, 07:29:22 pm
Anyone know the price of this part?

Thanks

Sie
mine cost £45 only place you wil get it is from the vw dealers
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: no golf clubs at all on May 09, 2011, 11:55:35 am
Sorry for old thread resurrection.

I have suffered slight coolant loss in the winter months only, I just kept an eye on it and topped up regularly. It was nothing drastic so put it down the priority list.

My car is just in the Indie today and they pressure tested and I am pretty sure that this part needs replaced, however they want £170!!! to supply and fit!

I said err no thanks, I think I will get a few other quotes...Does this seem ridiculous to anyone else? I have read it is hard to get to but at £50 per hour they are charging 2 hours work plus vat for this job....is it THAT difficult?
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: AlanD on May 11, 2011, 06:25:44 pm
Are you sure its exactly the flange issue like the one that went on mine? Considering VW only wanted £150 and charge 1 hours labour I would be going back to them and questioning it.
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: no golf clubs at all on May 11, 2011, 08:48:32 pm
Dunno to be honest the tech was a lazy twat, he said it was dripping onto gearbox at the top on right hand side of cylinder head. Is that where the above fits?
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: AlanD on May 13, 2011, 11:10:16 am
Im afraid Im no help as my car was still under warrenty so I just took back to VW and told them to fix it. They did explain to me after but this was nearly 3 years ago now so cant remember what he said.

Might be worth sending Chris who posted the photo on this thread a PM as I think he fitted his himself.
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Richn83 on May 13, 2011, 11:16:39 am
Thats the spot, the black plastic thing above takes a number of hoses and filters them into the engine block at the right hand side above the gearbox, I think I have the same issue but no fluid visible on the gearbox, my Dad had the same connector go on the back of his longditudinal engine on his A4 for its a fairly well known issue.
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Simpy on January 12, 2012, 07:07:56 pm
Sorry to dig this up again! But im having EXACTLY the same problems!  :confused: My car is only smokey when its cold (expected - damp etc) Coolant bottle and cap are fine and theres no horrible gunk in the coolant bottle! And its just been serviced so the oil will look fresh so havent checkd that but was fine last time i checkd it over christmas!! I Did have this problem temparyly fixed i went in to the garage i use after work and they said they think that was the part they replaced, but wernt 100% as it was about 6-7 months and had no record (as i pay cash for my jobs  :happy2: :wink:) I remember at MOT time that the mot.er noticed a drip from near the gear box? As a few of you may know my car is on air ride, am i liklely to have damaged it again when dropping the car??  :ashamed: Please help me out im worried my head gasket is on the way out! So am having a "compression test" next week! Coolants quite expensive when your buying it all the time and im having to constantly carry a little supply in my boot!
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Santaslonecruzer on October 29, 2016, 10:33:23 pm
2006 GT TDi, 153,000 miles and i'm using about 1litre coolant every 7-10days (300-400miles)....It also smokes a bit when cold...There is no evidence of coolant in the oil AND a garage has pressure tested the coolant system (all good) AND there is no sign of coolant leaking under the car.......Is this what others have experienced?  Should I be worried?
Title: Re: Mysterious loss of coolant
Post by: Trekmeister on December 25, 2016, 08:27:51 am
2006 GT TDi, 153,000 miles and i'm using about 1litre coolant every 7-10days (300-400miles)....It also smokes a bit when cold...There is no evidence of coolant in the oil AND a garage has pressure tested the coolant system (all good) AND there is no sign of coolant leaking under the car.......Is this what others have experienced?  Should I be worried?

Im having the same problem but not using as much coolant as you (yet). My heads on a revision C and I can see no evidence of coolant loss but it does seem more smoky on cold.