Coolant Loss New Radiator Required?

[Pld118]

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.

[Poached]

That is so typical of a 'warranty' .

You should ask to see the damage first.

[jord91]

i have a mk6 gti 11 plate and i had to have the radiator replaced one week after buying  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 !

[chris1h]

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 

[Pld118]

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?

[jord91]

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

[andygo]

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

[J400uk]

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.

[Pld118]

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.

[andygo]

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?