MK4 Golf 20yrs old 20,000 miles keeps losing coolant!!
Discussion
CAR GURU HELP NEEDED FOR DAUGHTER WITH TWO LITTLE ONES AND A SICK, OLD BUT VERY TASTY VW GOLF!!!
My daughter has a really low mileage (20,000), very good condition, but 20 year old mk4 Golf. One lady owner from new Really well maintained. Full VW service history. On a run a couple of weeks after buying it, it dropped all its coolant. Green Flag man ‘fixed it’ topped it up. Ran it’s nuts off at kerbside. No problem. Of she went. Couple of days later same thing. Then first garage fixed it. Topped it up. Ran great. Then if happened again. This time went to proper VW garage. Diagnosed it. Repaired it. New water pump and thermostatic valve. New cam belt etc. etc. £700 POUNDS later returned it to her with a clean bill of health and a glowing report.
Today, just days later, same again! Stranded in London traffic with two young children!! Greenflag again. Towed home.
There MUST be someone out there that knows what this is!!!
HELP PLEASE!!!
My daughter has a really low mileage (20,000), very good condition, but 20 year old mk4 Golf. One lady owner from new Really well maintained. Full VW service history. On a run a couple of weeks after buying it, it dropped all its coolant. Green Flag man ‘fixed it’ topped it up. Ran it’s nuts off at kerbside. No problem. Of she went. Couple of days later same thing. Then first garage fixed it. Topped it up. Ran great. Then if happened again. This time went to proper VW garage. Diagnosed it. Repaired it. New water pump and thermostatic valve. New cam belt etc. etc. £700 POUNDS later returned it to her with a clean bill of health and a glowing report.
Today, just days later, same again! Stranded in London traffic with two young children!! Greenflag again. Towed home.
There MUST be someone out there that knows what this is!!!
HELP PLEASE!!!
If its a pd engine then they can suffer from water pump impeller falling off. This means that the coolant will not be circulating and it will overheat.
Sounds like this has happened and that's why you got a bill for the pump and a new timing belt, the pump is belt driven.
They can also get fan trouble, relay, switch even the fan itself.
Failing that then the head gasket I has gone or the head has gone porus and is pressurising the coolant until it comes out the cap.
My mk4 does all of this unless I drive it like miss daisy.
I don't care though as I'm only driving it a few miles a day slowly!
Sounds like this has happened and that's why you got a bill for the pump and a new timing belt, the pump is belt driven.
They can also get fan trouble, relay, switch even the fan itself.
Failing that then the head gasket I has gone or the head has gone porus and is pressurising the coolant until it comes out the cap.
My mk4 does all of this unless I drive it like miss daisy.
I don't care though as I'm only driving it a few miles a day slowly!
[quote=Getragdogleg]If its a pd engine then they can suffer from water pump impeller falling off. This means that the coolant will not be circulating and it will overheat.
Sounds like this has happened and that's why you got a bill for the pump and a new timing belt, the pump is belt driven.
They can also get fan trouble, relay, switch even the fan itself.
Failing that then the head gasket I has gone or the head has gone porus and is pressurising the coolant until it comes out the cap.
My mk4 does all of this unless I drive it like miss daisy.
I don't care though as I'm only driving it a few miles a day slowly!
Thanks for reply. Fan is sounding like a candidate. Loses coolant after a run when parked back at daughters house or in slow traffic. Could it be intermittent though?
Sounds like this has happened and that's why you got a bill for the pump and a new timing belt, the pump is belt driven.
They can also get fan trouble, relay, switch even the fan itself.
Failing that then the head gasket I has gone or the head has gone porus and is pressurising the coolant until it comes out the cap.
My mk4 does all of this unless I drive it like miss daisy.
I don't care though as I'm only driving it a few miles a day slowly!
Thanks for reply. Fan is sounding like a candidate. Loses coolant after a run when parked back at daughters house or in slow traffic. Could it be intermittent though?
Go for a 5 minute drive to get the temperature up then come home and park on the drive with the bonnet up.
Keep an eye on the temperature gauge.
The fan should come on at some point.
If it's not coming on, dodgy fan switch or connection, maybe - IIRC you can test fans by bridging the connections??
If it does overheat / start pissing out coolant, you can see where the water is coming from. (You can also jump in the car and go for a low engine speed / higher vehicle speed run to cool it down.)
Do not open the radiator cap when it is hot, shatever you do.
Keep an eye on the temperature gauge.
The fan should come on at some point.
If it's not coming on, dodgy fan switch or connection, maybe - IIRC you can test fans by bridging the connections??
If it does overheat / start pissing out coolant, you can see where the water is coming from. (You can also jump in the car and go for a low engine speed / higher vehicle speed run to cool it down.)
Do not open the radiator cap when it is hot, shatever you do.
Go for a 5 minute drive to get the temperature up then come home and park on the drive with the bonnet up.
Keep an eye on the temperature gauge.
The fan should come on at some point.
If it's not coming on, dodgy fan switch or connection, maybe - IIRC you can test fans by bridging the connections??
If it does overheat / start pissing out coolant, you can see where the water is coming from. (You can also jump in the car and go for a low engine speed / higher vehicle speed run to cool it down.)
Do not open the radiator cap when it is hot, whatever you do.
Keep an eye on the temperature gauge.
The fan should come on at some point.
If it's not coming on, dodgy fan switch or connection, maybe - IIRC you can test fans by bridging the connections??
If it does overheat / start pissing out coolant, you can see where the water is coming from. (You can also jump in the car and go for a low engine speed / higher vehicle speed run to cool it down.)
Do not open the radiator cap when it is hot, whatever you do.
Drive it, reasonably hard for a bit until its up to temp.
Park it (running) on the drive, open the bonnet and squeeze the top hose to the radiator. If its rock hard and feels pressurised then you have problems with head/head gasket.
If you squeeze it and its firm but has a bit of "give" then its likely just a loose fitting or a fan issue. Take it back to the Garage who did all the work and complain.
Park it (running) on the drive, open the bonnet and squeeze the top hose to the radiator. If its rock hard and feels pressurised then you have problems with head/head gasket.
If you squeeze it and its firm but has a bit of "give" then its likely just a loose fitting or a fan issue. Take it back to the Garage who did all the work and complain.
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