Coolant leak - Investigation ideas

[Wildcamper]

De careful where you get your information, the intercooler IF you have one is air cooled. The Charge Air Cooler is liquid cooled.
Both do the same job, but named differently on Transporters. You won’t have both, depends on enging type.

Thank you. VW Commercials will be making the decision and doing any work and it will be their responsibility and the work will come with VW warranty.

 

[Piwii123]

I've lived the same saga with my van a CXGB engine - and in the end it was a tiny tiny hole in the cylinder head which was only found because originally it got to the point where we were convinced it was the head gasket, (because we had gone through the list of everything else to check/replace EGR, thermostat etc,) and then they opened up the engine and where worried because the head gasket was fine - so they took the head off and submerged it to find that a small hole in cyclinder 3 was there. New cylinder head, water pump and cambelt replaced and 5000 miles later we're all good! No more coolant loss.

 

[Wildcamper]

I've lived the same saga with my van a CXGB engine - and in the end it was a tiny tiny hole in the cylinder head which was only found because originally it got to the point where we were convinced it was the head gasket, (because we had gone through the list of everything else to check/replace EGR, thermostat etc,) and then they opened up the engine and where worried because the head gasket was fine - so they took the head off and submerged it to find that a small hole in cyclinder 3 was there. New cylinder head, water pump and cambelt replaced and 5000 miles later we're all good! No more coolant loss.

Sounds expensive!!

 

[Piwii123]

Very! About £3.5k for the engine rebuild inc parts. Got it done at TK Engineering in Dagenham - highly recommend for this kind of work. In hindsight I wish I went ahead with the suspected head gasket sooner as I would of saved on all the other parts replaced as they were not the culprit. But you get so many different opinions from different mechanics and the reality is you can't tell if its a head gasket until you open it up. We tried compression tests, block tests and all got different answers, so you just have to dig in and see

 

[Wildcamper]

Coolant leak update. After EGR replaced at £2000 the loss of coolant continued. Back to VW. They insist the EGR was faulty and had to be replaced. Now to look for another leak. Now VW say the coolant pump is leaking - another £350!! 'And by the way your front and rear disks and pads need replacing - £1200!!! Inc VAT.

At least the EGR and now coolant pump are covered by my 3rd party extended warranty - well done Warranty Direct. Absolutely no fuss and no questioning.

 

[DXX]

And by the way your front and rear disks and pads need replacing - £1200!!! Inc VAT.

Get a second opinion unless you can see that they clearly do.
Any garage can replace brake parts cheaper than VW labour rates and with pattern parts as good as or better than VW OEM.

 

[Wildcamper]

Coolant leak update. After EGR replaced at £2000 the loss of coolant continued. Back to VW. They insist the EGR was faulty and had to be replaced. Now to look for another leak. Now VW say the coolant pump is leaking - another £350!! 'And by the way your front and rear disks and pads need replacing - £1200!!! Inc VAT.

At least the EGR and now coolant pump are covered by my 3rd party extended warranty - well done Warranty Direct. Absolutely no fuss and no questioning.

Coolant pump replaced, 3rd party warranty paid up - Very pleased. Had third and fourth opinion on brake disc and pad replacement - both said no need to replace as plenty of metal and pad remaining. Kwik fit and ATS expect replacement to be half that quoted by VW!

 

[Jarvie.I]

Coolant leak SOLVED but still not locsted the issue. So its been a while since last post, anyways last thing done was a new EGR cooler which still didnt fix the loss. Recently got the timing belt and water pump renewed and as part of the procedure the coolant was drained and replenished so i got the garage to use the RADIATOR LEAK fluid i got from Halfords.
So i have done about 1000 miles and all good so far. Usually after 400m i needed to top up.
Its a pain still not knowing exactly where the leak is, but if its sorted then thats that.

 

[DXX]

Coolant leak SOLVED but still not locsted the issue. So its been a while since last post, anyways last thing done was a new EGR cooler which still didnt fix the loss. Recently got the timing belt and water pump renewed and as part of the procedure the coolant was drained and replenished so i got the garage to use the RADIATOR LEAK fluid i got from Halfords.
So i have done about 1000 miles and all good so far. Usually after 400m i needed to top up.
Its a pain still not knowing exactly where the leak is, but if its sorted then thats that.

Not really a solution and can cause issues further down the line, best to avoid magic fixes in cans.

 

[Jarvie.I]

Not really a solution and can cause issues further down the line, best to avoid magic fixes in cans.

Pretty much exhautsted options to find the leak other than a full engine and coolant system strip down 4 different garages Still no answer. So appreciate your input but this will do me for now. Out of interest what issues could arise in using the chemical fix. my undrtstanding is the chemical reacts with air at the leak point and solidifiesc like cement.

 

[Phillip Thompson]

Around Christmas I had a bad leak, 350ml per 300miles. After reading all the possible egr issues, I didn’t drive it until it could be investigated further by the local garage and booked in with VW incase of egr, hopefully on all in warranty. Turned out to be a aux radiator with debris damage so probably not covered under warranty anyway. I did manage to get a new rear passenger side spring on all in warranty, happy days.

 

[Phillip Thompson]

Around Christmas I had a bad leak, 350ml per 300miles. After reading all the possible egr issues, I didn’t drive it until it could be investigated further by the local garage and booked in with VW incase of egr, hopefully on all in warranty. Turned out to be a aux radiator with debris damage so probably not covered under warranty anyway. I did manage to get a new rear passenger side spring on all in warranty, happy days.

 

[DXX]

Pretty much exhautsted options to find the leak other than a full engine and coolant system strip down 4 different garages Still no answer. So appreciate your input but this will do me for now. Out of interest what issues could arise in using the chemical fix. my undrtstanding is the chemical reacts with air at the leak point and solidifiesc like cement.

Most of them are silica based and silica is an abrasive. Something you might use on a 15 year old banger to keep it on the road for a little longer.

 

[Jarvie.I]

Most of them are silica based and silica is an abrasive. Something you might use on a 15 year old banger to keep it on the road for a little longer.

Mine is 10yr old so getting to the Old banger stage.