FSI Coolant Loss

B

Ben A

Member
The low coolant alarm has been going off on my FSI, at first I thought this was just because it was being started on a slope but when I checked recently the coolant was slightly below the min so I topped it up by about half a litre. This was fine for a week or so but yesterday the alert came on again and when I checked the level had fallen below the minimum.

there appears to be signs that the coolant is coming from the tank itself in some way as there is a white residue which looks like evaporated coolant.

The engine looks very clean othersie and has done less than 60k.

I rather fear the head gasket may have blown - any other ideas?
 
This morning theres a clearly leak from somewhere, coolant dripping out from below, so no blown head gasket at least.
 
I've just investigated this on valmirs car as he was loosing coolant.. Turns out its the thermostat housing.. Leaking badly... Big black block on the right of the engine above gearbox.. Below all the pipe work.. Run you hand underneath it
 
Also had crystals all round the coolant bottle where it was blasting back up the engine bay when moving
 
It was the thermostat housing and apparently the radiator cap - now posting further question in general about how many hours the repair should take. Garage quoted two and is now saying four.
 
Ben A said:
It was the thermostat housing and apparently the radiator cap - now posting further question in general about how many hours the repair should take. Garage quoted two and is now saying four.
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Hi, being really cheeky and asking you whether you got this sorted and an idea of how much it cost you please? Mine is doing exactly the same. It takes a while (about a month) for it to dip below minimum but it seems to be coming from around the header tank itself.
Thank you
 
The garage first quoted 2 hours labour but then said it actually took eleven, inc labour vat the housing and another pipe that was cracked the cost was about £660 but it is now fixed!
 
Ben A said:
The garage first quoted 2 hours labour but then said it actually took eleven, inc labour vat the housing and another pipe that was cracked the cost was about £660 but it is now fixed!
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Thank you. Eek (at the cost). Glad you got it sorted though
 
We have had exactly the same issue last year...I think we had the expansion tank and various pipes replaced....and then we had the thermostat replaced etc and all seems ok for now :)So basically we replaced almost all the cooling pipes and tank and thermostat and it worked :)

If I had it again I would just replace the lot again just to be safe and save 3 trips over a period of months to the garage.....not a cheap fix, but a reliable one.

It is always a bit disconcerting when you realise the FSi's run hot, but this seems to be normal for them, and knowing the pipes etc are going to be ok is a bit of mind saver.

Good luck
 
Thank you. Mine does appear to be a very slow loss at the moment -There is nothing visibly dripping and it takes about 6 weeks from topping up to it going below minimum, so I am going to hold fire for a little while and spend a bit more time checking pipes. The temperature is spot on in the middle once it has warmed up so it doesn't seem to be running too hot. I am slightly worried that it might be a head gasket on its way out but the oil is very clear. She needs her Nox sensor changed first so hopefully the coolant will hold out.
 
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