Coolant Loss

[BerndRos]

Warning light has come on, evidence of water behind the radiator and system empty. Lucky it was within the last 10 miles of a 250 mile drive, pity is I was at a VW dealer only this morning having brake pads fitted !

Any thoughts on a likely cause ?

Could a stone get through the front grille, if so would this be covered under warranty ?

Thanks

 

[BerndRos]

Does any one know the litres capacity of the coolant system re facelift 2lt 4 cyl 180BHP ?

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

If it is a 2.5 then possible water pump failure. Have also seen where radiators have been damaged from stones etc...hitting them

cheers

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Just noticed your second post that says you have a 2.0 litre.

Be interested to know the outcome.

cheers

 

[BerndRos]

Panic as nearest VW dealer 200 miles distant and noticed that Turkey appears not to be on the list of countries re the Road assistance scheme...I chucked some water in and due to how quickly it leaked was hoping maybe a loose pipe was the reason. Drove slowly ( no water ) and found a desperate downmarket little workshop, totally filthy. No English spoken so google translate was the only semi clear indication of what was going on. The guy raised the van a little then lay under it for almost two hours fiddling about and cursing, he did not want to attempt to remove the front valance. During this time a small group gathered from the adjoining workshops to see the foreign van ( Cali's not sold out here ) Cay ' tea ' offered around in small glasses.....finally he pronounced it fixed. An off duty cop let me have a play with his handgun, no idea if it was loaded......

Repairer wanted to know if the valance had ever been off and the engine worked on.......as the loose or flopping pipe did not have a ........bloody circlip. VW dealer in Czech had the whole thing apart when I broke down a few months ago, shoddy or what ?

Now to find a VW dealer on my route and get some anti freeze put in.

Cost of work today 150TL ( £53 ) and a very reliefed me.

 

[calikev]

Glad you got sorted mate and the cost not to bad.bloody useful things jubilee clips. :lol:

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Glad you got it fixed, which part of Turkey were you in? Roadside should cover to the European side, but not the Asian side.

cheers

 

[John]

One more thing to talk about when you get home Kevin and one more memory it certainly has been an adventure.

When you get back home your local UK VW dealership will be boring in comparison, you certainly won’t be given a gun to play with while you are waiting for your Cali to be fixed.

 

[BerndRos]

Asian side....

John, the other morning ( day or the later coolant problem ) I pulled into a VW dealership selling cars & vans inc all VAG vehicles plus I noticed they were servicing NON VAG cars as well. Manager and staff started coming out to greet me as they had never seen a Cali as they are not sold here, got me to give them a full demo of its features and a little drive around, I had a spare brochure to give them and it was passed round the garage. Cali had celeb status for a couple of hours. They all took lots of photos.

Garage had a resident cook, they plied me with the lovely tea they drink out here from little glasses then dragged me to the staff canteen for a very nice hot lunch. 3 rather yummy Turkish lassies shared a table with me, no English of course so had to communicate with my eyes !!.

On the spot they attended to my pads, fronts changed but warning light still on so checked rears and they needed changing, £197 inc for all. Their labour charge is £32 an hour which I guess must be locally competitive or else older non VAG cars would not have been in for work. Clearly a different business model to VW UK due to local conditions.

Got a forecourt send off from about a dozen staff.

As for free camping the only trouble I get from cops is them wanting to nose in for a look see. Had a car full this morning having a good look.

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Certainly a good price for front and rear pads, and very good service too!

 

[zoki]

We have been losing coolant over the past few months, I am possibly topping up around one litre every 7 days/150 miles.

We are travelling down to Spain next week so currently a bit worried as we can't get the van booked in prior to our trip.

 

[motacyclist]

3 rather yummy Turkish lassies shared a table with me, no English of course so had to communicate with my eyes !!.

A la Benny Hill? Yakkety Sax playing in the background ...

 

[WelshGas]

We have been losing coolant over the past few months, I am possibly topping up around one litre every 7 days/150 miles.

We are travelling down to Spain next week so currently a bit worried as we can't get the van booked in prior to our trip.

Possible causes -
1. Radiator Pressure Cap failed, with coolant on the floor - replace
2. Leak from pipes, radiator or coolant header tank. Should be coolant on the floor. Identify and relighted pipe clamps or replace.
3. EGR cooler or Cylinder Head. Steamy exhaust. Frothy oil if Cylinder Head, found normally in oil filler cap/tube, also often high pressure in Coolant header tank.

Be aware this could either be something very simple or very expensive. Check the level very frequently and stop ASAP if anything seems off. Hope you have good travel insurance.
I see you have a T6 so probably a loose clamp on a coolant pipe, faulty radiator cap or leaking coolant header tank.
VW Assistance should be your first call. They will get you to a VW garage as they have priority call.