GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: Pld118 on 02 February 2015, 19:47
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Hi,
Put the car into main dealer for annual service today and reported to them that I'd noticed a slight drop in coolant between the range fill markers that I'd since topped up with approved coolant. got the car back to be told the radiator is leaking, needs to be replaced, will take 3 hours and the total cost is £452.
Pointed out the car has Das Welt approved used all component warranty and queried surely this should be covered under warranty. Reply was that it could bewear and tear caused by a stone chip etc, therefore they won't know until they strip it down which will take 1.5 hours to do.
Haven't noticed any coolant on ground underneath car and car has only travelled 4k miles since buying it 10 months ago.
Has any MK6 owner experienced this (are the radiators known to go on these)?
Thanks.
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That is so typical of a 'warranty' :rolleyes:.
You should ask to see the damage first.
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i have a mk6 gti 11 plate and i had to have the radiator replaced one week after buying :angry: yours sounds like a small leak but mine completely went i could drive no further than a few miles before it was out of coolant !
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where you finding liquid leaking from very centre front of car. went out to mine this morning and seen a patch. hope its not the radiator leaking :shocked:
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Chris,
That's the point, there has been no external evidence at all of an obvious/ visible leak. The car is garaged at night and it has a smooth, clean floor that is always bone dry each time the car is moved.
I simply noticed that the coolant level had dropped between the range fill markers on the coolant expansion tank (during my regular fluid/ checks) and so - being diligent - went to my local VW Parts Dept, bought approved coolant and topped it up immediately (not much top up needed at all).
This morning, before setting off to the further away servicing dealership, I checked the coolant level and noticed it had dropped again but not below the minimum level. When arriving for the service, I asked them to please look into the issue and they came back after the service to say it needed a new radiator because it was leaking.
However, when I questioned where it was actually leaking from, they couldn't be specific citing that until stripping things down, they wouldn't know. My question then was well how can you be so specific that it does actually need a new radiator?
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It may well be the radiator as mine didn't start to leak until I turned on engine then it will start because of the pressure build up in engine
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Could just as easily be the water pump, probably the 'O' ring. have a peep at down the front of the engine in the middle and see if you can see any evidence of fluid on the drip tray.
That's how I solved my very gradual coolant loss mystery a while ago. The coolant was dripping out and evaporating/spreading out before it got to the floor.
Failure of the water pump is definitely a warranty job, so get the buggers to look there first!
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=263153.msg2419001#msg2419001
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Rare problem but not completely unheard of. Seemed to affect the Mk5 too.
I had this on my old SEAT Ibiza about a week out of warranty, dealer wanted about £400 to fix. Managed to get a decent goodwill contribution from VW UK which brought the bill down to £170, but still annoying.
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Thanks for the really helpful replies.
Car has been really well looked after and mollycoddled by us since buying it and not driven much or hard at all.
Did a timeline yesterday and in the 10 months since buying it, it has covered only 4,003 miles. During that period it will have spent months out of commission pending repairs and has never managed to exceed 2,000 miles before requiring serious fault repairs by the selling dealership.
Whether the radiator or water pump, the ongoing Das Welt Approved Used 'All Component' Warranty should, by definition, cover it.
Aside to that though, for the dealer to suggest that it could be as a result of 'a stone chip' or 'wear and tear' by us does not inspire confidence and is not acceptable.
Also, any coolant loss there is, is very very slow.
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I would have thought that a rad should be able to withstand the odd stone chip without giving up. Several instances of my sons formula ford taking trips through a gravel trap at >100mph with no leaky radiators afterwards. And those gravel traps typically have stones larger than peas.
Not fit for purpose?
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Hi Pld, really sorry to hear you are still having issues with your car :sad:
Are you sure it's not the water pump, a common issue with some mk6's which is failrly well documented. Early on in my mk6 ownership I was getting slow coolant loss and did a bit of reading about it. Turns out wasn't an issue and no further loss since.
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The water pump is a well known issue. I wouldn't be suprised if it is that. It may well be a radiator but far more common for the water pump to fail.
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Thanks for more helpful replies.
The dealer has since said that it's definitely believed to be the Rad and not the water pump as coolant was seen 'pouring down' into the tray.
They say if the warranty doesn't cover this repair cost, then they will, but not if the radiator needs to be replaced due to stone chip or other damage.
They have said the radiator foils are aluminium, fragile and therefore vulnerable to stone damage.
It has been a battle to reach this offer.
The manager I spoke with says he feels it less likely that damage will be the cause.
Given the car should have a plastic protective under cover then it seems the only obvious way damage could have been caused would be a stone flying through the small and undamaged honeycomb front grille but the manager said a stone could have flown up from underneath and into the non visible aspects of the Rad.
Maybe I should feel relieved. However, after this overall after sales experience I can't help feeling cynical.
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So a small loss, which you can't see, manifests itself in the VW workshop as 'pouring' onto the drip tray. Hmm, yeah, right. Ask them to show you...
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Glad it's not only me who is sceptical.
They've offered to send video footage of the radiator being removed. Tempted to wait as they do it but they've quoted 3 hours. Perhaps I can wait until they've at least removed it. However, if they insist it's 'damaged' 1.5 hours into a 3 hour job, a £452 bill will have my name on it.
A really cynical person might be concerned that the damage is already done!
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After all the hassle you've had from the off, I think you've every right to be sceptical. No doubt it will be a very clever and nimble stone that's caused the damage, a bit like the 'Kennedy magic bullet :wink: :grin:
I think you need to carry out a watching brief.
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:rolleyes:
Yes 'Booth', hassle indeed. No way we've caused 'damage' to that radiator. The car is driven by Miss Daisy!
It's their random educated guesses that concern me because they're having so many more guesses at what might be unwarranted coolant loss as to what might be causing warrantied coolant loss.
Time will tell!
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Well it goes without saying that I hope the outcome is favourable for you and your wife Keep us updated :smiley:
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Thanks. Only seem to come on here with tails of woe... Superb, fine looking car when behaving :wink:
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Could just as easily be the water pump...
Andygo, I've just had a thought. I read back the through the timing chain tensioner replacement thread, recalling that you've done this recently and I was looking for your 'how to' to determine if any coolant components need to be or could be damaged or disturbed during the process because our timing chain tensioner was only replaced by the dealer a few months ago.
You're post shows that at least the coolant reservoir gets disconnected and moved to do the job. Hose left not watertight and/ or otherwise damaged, for example:
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=262793.270
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Covered under warranty. Reportedly a failed Rad seam weld. No corrosion, no damage.
Dealership delighted and untimely expenditure rightly averted.
Do not understand why they made such great play on the possibility of this being stone chip damage!
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Could just as easily be the water pump...
Andygo, I've just had a thought. I read back the through the timing chain tensioner replacement thread, recalling that you've done this recently and I was looking for your 'how to' to determine if any coolant components need to be or could be damaged or disturbed during the process because our timing chain tensioner was only replaced by the dealer a few months ago.
You're post shows that at least the coolant reservoir gets disconnected and moved to do the job. Hose left not watertight and/ or otherwise damaged, for example:
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=262793.270
Good to see its all sorted for you, but in answer to your question, no, the coolant reservoir doesn't need to be disconnected, nor do any other water pipes. The reservoir just has a small pipe connected, and its long and flexible enough to move the whole unit out of the way.
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Glad it's getting sorted at vw's expense.
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Cheers Booth and Andygo.
In contemplation of "what could have occurred to cause some slight coolant loss?" it actually did no harm before they started the work to be able to also email them pictures of a coolant reservoir displaced and upside down in the engine bay during the timing chain tensioner replacement process, a job they recently did. Along with other things pointed out to them, it set a reasonable 'fighting my corner' scene, should that later become necessary.
It's all about trust. Due to the negative experience at a different garage in the months after the initial buying process, unfortunately it takes some doing to get that trust back.
For anyone's future reference:
If you have a warranty and coolant loss and you intend to take the car to an authorised warranty repair garage, then beforehand, take good close up photographs of the front honeycomb grille on the car being intact and undamaged (if that is the case) so that you can challenge any suggestions that stone chip damage is the cause of radiator failure, ie how likely is it that a stone would get through those small holes without also contacting/ damaging the plastic honeycomb grille surrounding the hole?
Likewise, if you can, photograph the intact and undamaged protective tray underneath the engine bay (if that is the case) to be able to further challenge the probability of a stone finding its way up to the radiator to damage it.