VW Golf GTi 2013 - MK7 - DSG - Coolant Leak

[vaibhavob]

Hi All,

I see there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum. I was hoping if someone would be able to guide me on how best to approach this situation.

I have a Golf GTI which I have owned since 2014. Last year, I had to get the Water Pump changed as there was a problem with it. This repair was done by North Shore Volkswagen in Artarmon Sydney. The car has always been serviced by them.Cost me roughly $600 or $700 including parts and labour.

However, since the last couple of weeks the coolant is again leaking. I am scheduled to go to them again for a cost of $250 for a diagnosis to determine where the leak is occurring. I am sort of suspicious of their behaviour as even without seeing they are saying it must be the thermostat which they say wasn't replaced the last time. Also, in my recent car service everything came clean.

From what I can observe the coolant is definitely leaking however the leak appears to be from the passenger side. I have been topping up the coolant. Purchased a bottle of coolant from North Shore Volkswagen recently and been using that since. The car is booked with them on the 18.12.2023 as that was the earliest date available.

If anyone could possibly give me advise on how best to approach this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Vaibhav Oberoi

[MIG]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

You might have better luck posting this info in the Golf sub-forum.

There are a few locations where a coolant leak could be coming from; the dealer is probably presuming thermostat housing.

If you have a look around the engine, you should be able to see signs of a coolant leak, it goes whitish when it dries.

[Lucas_R]

Hi and welcome. Usually the waterpump and thermostat are replaced at the same time on these engines, but it seems when VW cover it under warranty they only replace the known faulty part and re-use the other part - no doubt to save money on the warranty repair. But generally, if you are paying to have this job done by a mechanic, they will replace the waterpump and thermostat as they are both prone to failure and are bolted together essentially making a single part.

If you are saying that the leak is coming from the passenger side, then its possible that the leak is coming from elsewhere else though. All the cooling system connections are made of plastic which becomes weak and brittle over time - so you might have a leak coming from a cracked pipe or similar.

[adey88]

I had a very similar experience (water pump replaced but still a leak somewhere). As others have mentioned the pipes become brittle and leak so see if you can trace the source.

Assuming it's not the recently replaced waterpump I would be included to find an independent workshop especially if VW want $250 just to look at it.

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