Passat - Volkswagen :: 2003 - Coolant Disappearing / No Leak
Dec 21, 2011
Even though I had head gasket done/timing belt/water pump & other stuff, 3 months, ago, I'm having to check the coolant level weekly & adding about 1 cup of water to pink coolant every 8 - 9 days. The mechanic who did the work tells me that adding that "little" water in "that amount of time is nothing unusual". I know of no one else who keeps a coolant log. I'm obsessed with this problem. I've spent so much on differing repair to this car - it's as if I bought a lemon.Car has 104K mi. Have coolant problem with no coolant winding up on the ground?
VW Passat station wag. 2003 1.8 L Turbo 4 cylinder...
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I was searching for an oil leak forever. In my search for the leak I resealed my hpop, redid oilcooler rings and last week had a friend pull my motor to redo the pan gasket. The leaks were almost down to where I thought we had them beat. Now in the last couple days I'm losing coolant and oil....bad. there is oil on the ground mostly from the cross member. Question is did my oil cooler fix not take? I have read that a nicked of ring can cause this.
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My mothers 95 blazer LS coolant is disappearing. A friend said if it's not on the ground than it's in the engine somewhere. oil pan search looked coffee looking?
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I have coolant disappearing but no signs of a leak anywhere. Oil is fine. Car does not run hot. There is rust in the radiator though. Heater core is not leaking. I have a 2001 Pontiac Gran Prix GT. There was a recall on the cooling system but was not serviced (I didn't own car then). A pressure test was done and it holds pressure. Should I change radiator and thermostat? What else should I have checked?
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on my dads 2012 TDI, he has about 53K miles on it. one day, suddenly coolant light came on, and the tank was low. Took it to the dealer, they topped if off and said they had no idea. it happened again last Friday, I topped it off with distilled water (had nothing else ATM) and took it to the dealer, they said they did a pressure test and everything is good, no leaks and sent me back.
Today, same thing happened. coolant light came on. Its getting dropped off for the 3rd time, but this time I told them I want answers, not just topping it off.
What could cause this? it seems really odd that a whole tank can empty itself without any visible leaks.
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i drive about 12 miles aday...and she has been going through some coolant lately, no puddle under the car or where i can see...doesnt over heat, drives just fine ect...
06 2.0t passat.
Thought maybe its the head gasket..there is some white smoke.
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I have a 2003 Honda Civic and the engine temperature will sporadically raise above normal. Using the heat (even a slight mixture, anything but full cold) seems to worsen the problem.
I've discovered that the coolant is almost always low in these situations, and so I've just been filling the coolant up in the morning before I start the car, but it usually takes about half a liter. There are no puddles or wet spots in the garage or inside the cabin, and I've had the radiator put under pressure for a weekend and it maintained operating pressure, so it seems that there is no leak.
I've had the water pump, timing belt, spark plugs, and O2 sensors replaced. It's been like this for about a year, but it's more frequent in the winter when I use the heat more. Where is my coolant going?
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I recently had a 4-wheel alignment performed on my 2003 VW Passat. A couple days after the procedure I noticed my steering wheel was stiff and a whirring noise when I turned the wheel. Come to find out my power steering fluid is now leaking. Is this just a coincidence, or could the garage have broken something. It was not leaking or making any noises prior to the alignment.
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Here are my questions.
1. What can cause repeated steering rack failures, which I am trying to dianose?
2. I found yellow spots in the snow that would come from the center of the vehicle (as opposed to near the wheels), could this be from the coolant system?
If you got that far, here is the relevant history. My wife drives my 2000 Jetta, its a nice car with repeated problems. One such problem is with the steering rack. 1. The steering rack failed in 2006, it was an expensive fix. It was leaking for a while, but I just topped off the fluid every couple of weeks. 2. Within a year the steering rack failed again, it was still under warranty. 3. 2 years later, the rack failed for a third time. I wrangled with the shop and they agreed to reduce my price for the fix even though the part was no longer under warranty. They had the car for a week trying to diagnose the problem, they said they found nothing out of the ordinary. I took the car to another mechanic a week later for some other issue, and he saw leaking from the fill plug--back to the dealer again. They said they cleaned the washers around the plug to fix the problem. No problems since then. Now its almost two years later and I have found a couple yellow spots in the snow, although near the center of the car and not near the wheels. This makes me think it may actually be a coolant leak, but I don't know right now.
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My troubles began several months ago when while on the Pike the coolant sensor came on with a heart attack-inducing alarm beep on my 2001 Turbo VW Jetta. The billowing steam pretty much gave away the major coolant leak that had decided to erupt in the engine. Brought it to my local mechanic who promptly fixed the problem. About 2 weeks later, the light came on again, so I brought it back to him. He found some additional minor cracks in the engine tubing. Fixed it again. 2 weeks later....yep, you guessed it, the light comes back on. After 3 more visits with pressure testing and dye added, no leak can be found. We then tried the leak repair stuff....that was about 2 weeks ago now....and, yes, the light has come back on again.
The car is in very good shape with just over 100K miles on it and just had a lot of the biggies done on it in the last year (shocks, belts, brakes). I would love to get another year out of it since I just put all this money into it, but I'm getting tired of having to bring it to the shop every couple of weeks. I also don't want to get stranded if something decides to give way in some spectacular fashion.
So, my questions here:
1. Do I try the repair leak stuff again to see if that will work?
2. Is there any other possible causes that wouldn't require an engine rebuild that we should look at?
3. Do I just suck it up and carry around spare coolant with me topping it up as it gets eaten?
4. Do I call it a day and start looking for a new car?
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Bought a 1988 Toyota Celica GT Convertible. I am losing coolant. So far I have done the following: used a leak down pressure tester that shows I have a leak; looked under car for leak and didn't find one, put UV test fluid in radiator, doesn't show any external leaks and doesn't detect any coolant in exhaust; there is not coolant dripping from the heater (passenger side floor); the car does not overheat - the temp gauge shows it in the middle; the car runs great; just had emissions tested and passed with flying colors.
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I have a vw passat '02 w/100k miles the coolant light came on back in early dec. and I purchased a coolant recommended to me -Zerex dex cool and added very little. It was running fine until Monday morning when it was -5. I added some more and the engine light came on after driving for 3 minutes. I did notice that there was 'froth' inside on the cap when I opened the coolant reservoir. Is the engine light on because of the coolant or it it something else?
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I have a 2004 Honda Civic ex coupe. I have changed the thermostat (twice), fan sensor, temp. sensor. The fan works and when doing an oil change the oil looks normal. No white smoke coming out of my exhaust and I got two radiator flushes, no dirty coolant, and I have replaced the cabin filter. The car doesn't overheat as long as I keep my temperature on hot. If I were to change the temp. to cold it seems like the coolant goes into the reservoir, but it seems like it doesn't go back into the engine. The mechanic that did the flush said that the hoses doesn't to be clogged because the coolant that was removed was green. They stuck an air blower in the heater core hoses and to show that was not clogged as well. The AC worked, I haven't checked in about couple of months. Also when the car overheats there is no smoke coming from the engine. radiator has been burped as well.
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I have a volkswagen TDi 1.9 automatic which is using coolant more on short runs than on motorway and produces white smoke/steam on start up even when not cold which disappears after a few seconds. Other symptom is doesn't accelerate though goes OK when once up to speed. Have has cylinder head checked and new gasket so that is not the culprit and also new heat exchanger. There is also a gurgling noise which seems to be coming from the dash board though I am not sure if these things are related. I have read that the automatic has a water cooled EGR, could this be it??
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Pulling out of the driveway my 2004 Passat's computer told me there's an issue with the coolant and that I should STOP, so I pulled back in. My VW dealer has this coolant in stock (G12, red) but considering it is 7 degrees outside (or minus 14 C) I wonder whether I can't ignore the warning and drive the 2 miles rather than get on my bicycle.
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1998 subaru coolant has disappeared 2 times with highway driving last June and November but it exhibited no leaks visibly or under pressure test. Put fluorescent dye in. Found a hairline crack in neck of radiator under hose and replaced in december. End of february with local driving after siting for 5 days it overheated, sucked up reserve tank and needed a quart of coolant in the new radiator.No leaks under pressure test again and tested ok on turnpike. No smells oil ok. Doing tailpipe heat dye test to see if it's burning coolant and needs head gaskets.
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I've owned this car for a year and a half. A few weeks ago, my car stopped running while i was idling. It started back up without a problem. When I got home, I saw that the coolant reservoir was empty and i topped it off. last week, a faint white smoke came from the hood while i was driving. When I got home, I saw that the coolant reservoir was empty again, so i topped it off again. This morning, the faint white smoke appeared from under the hood again. The coolant reservoir was full and there were no visible signs of leaking anywhere.
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The truck has been just terrific, mostly used for towing our travel trailer. Earlier this year i developed a leak and lost 3 quarts of oil before I caught it. I would think with 15 quarts in her this shouldn't have been too big a deal. However, I am now experiencing 10-15 degree swings between ECT and EOT. Before I give the particulars, yes, I have had three new thermostats, two Ford and one brand X.
Anyway, coolant temps are 184-200 depending upon load, terrain, etc. At the same time, oil temps run 205-230. There is no oil cooler to get plugged up. She's got 120K on the clock, doesn't burn oil, no disappearing coolant. I am concerned about blowing a head gasket or other serious damage at these temps, but don't have a clue where to start? Yes, the fan does come on, but still this seems plenty hot.
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1997 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 3.0L. So I've replaced my thermostat thinking that would fix the coolant vanishing problem, turns out it did not. Make tank became dry once again and my temp gauge keeps going back and forth from cold to hot.
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Our Daughter has added a 3rd Jetta to the family, A 2002 2.0 5 Sp with 123K. Runs like a top...looks great and figured a deal @ $2300... The man used it as a daily driver with about 3 mile run to work.... Oil was black, a little low, and the white sludge on the cap....Oil changed with synthetic (not sure what he was using) added thermostat and temp sensor to fix the cold running codes...and 2000K miles without a flaw.....
Until her oil light flashes and chimes....and she is 2 qts low....
Not a single indication of a leak found, overflow tank is clean, no smoke and the exhaust pipe appears normal, so I'm scratching my head now....
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My 2003 VW Jetta TDI has a major problem. The engine has likely been damaged by an oil leak that was not discovered until the oil ran out. I now have much reduced compression (340lbs or less) and the car doesn't like to start in cold weather and when it does it smokes much. I need to know if it is worth rebuilding and, if so, where I might have this work done.
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