T5 Multivan Cooling - Help needed - brisbane specialist

[Kiels3927]

I've not been able to find a leak in my coolant system since I last posted, but I'm still losing fluid. I had topped it up after it fell the first time (below the minimum back to max line - maybe less than ½litre), but it has dropped again, this time virtually to the bottom of the overflow tank.

There is no change to the oil level & it's still uniformly black as the bottom of a mine and oil like, so I'm as comfortable as one can be that it's not going there.

Can anybody recommend a Brisbane or nearby coolant or VW specialist who doesn't wear a mask who might be able to help me?

[Umai Naa!!]

Need to pressure test the system.

Also, need to know what engine is in the van.

[Kiels3927]

Sorry. 2008 2.5 TDI.

[Umai Naa!!]

Have a sniff of the contents of the expansion bottle.

If it smells of diesel soot, then perhaps the EGR cooler has failed internally?

[Sunny43.5]

On our T5 2.5 it was the water pump , I think because it was such a small amount leaking it did not show up in the oil .

[Kiels3927]

OK I just got the call. Not the pump; it's the bloody radiator & the nearest is two days away in Sydney. Bugger!

Leakage didn't show until pressurized, as you'd expect, but I'd reckoned there was no draining tracks away from anywhere, that in an engine bay that hasn't been cleaned in 100 years..

[Rebuild]

how many k's and is rad original?

[Kiels3927]

140 - original

[Kiels3927]

Look, I've been mulling over this situation I'm in. Everybody who responded to my post(s) suggested it was going to be a coolant pump issue, that that is the norm with the 2.5 TDI. Even one specialist who doesn't handle vans these days made the same diagnosis sight unseen. All this has set me wondering.

Anybody who is running/have run the 2.5 TDI, what is your experience with the coolant pump? Have you had issues or none? At what speedo reading did one fail/ what's your reading now without failure?

I have until Friday it seems to make a call as to whether to have what's been diagnosed as a functional coolant pump replaced or not with the radiator replacement. I'm wondering if they are susceptible to failure about now, I might be better off financially to get both replaced now.

You suggestions, thanks.

Just a reminder: it's a 2007 stamped 2008 model T5 Multivan, with a k or so short of 140000 on the clock and is otherwise driving nicely at around 8 litres/100 kilometers on BP ultimate.

[Bryn23]

i'd be replacing the coolest pump at the same time, as if its known to fail and you plan on keeping the van.

I just see it as preventive maintenance, with a new radiation, new coolant pump and a flushed system, in theory you should have no further issues.

The biggest question is the extra cost of the coolest pump installed?