So, my TT has a coolant leak, but it's intermittent so hard to locate the precise location. It seems to be coming from the passenger side, nearer the firewall. It's not the radiator or any of those hoses. I really only got a noticeable steam escaping after running the heater, which made me instantly think heater core, but there's no puddle of water on the passenger side footwell that other people report when the heater core craps itself - unless mine is in the early stages? There is some white residue on teh passenger side outside the firewall (under teh battery) which suggests coolant has been running down there. Now, I am 99% sure the heater core has never been replaced, and 100% sure the plenum has never been removed, and the car has done 107 000 ks (which I'm 80% sure a genuine k's). It has had a 100 000 k service (timing belt, main rad hoses, temp sender etc) but as I said those little hoses under the plenum weren't replaced, the plenum wasn't taken off. SO... are there any obvious hoses, like heater hoses that tend to break or perish? I don't have a problem removing my dash but don't want to replace the heater core unless I'm fairly sure that's the problem. Any help greatly appreciated. ar
coolant sounds like heater hoses, top up the coolant, run the car till warm, turn lights on and crank the heater on full bore, this should show u exactly where the leak is dude. my bet is heater hose,
hrmm it might be one of the coolant hoses under the plenum...it really could be anywhere....but your saying u can see redsidue near your battery so it could be one of the coolant hoses near....you'd need to have the engine running and heater as suggested and really just inspect the areas.
is your car a tt if so there is a turbo coolant hose that goes behind the engine on the passenger side to the turbo,ive hard to get to and very hard to see,could be that one...hope not for your sake
small leaks quickly become large leaks which can very quickly become BIG problems as in cooked motor .. i would limit/cease driving, do an immediate major search and destroy quickly followed by an upper plenum pull to replace/remove all those nasty hoses ....!!!! ..
Do all heater hoses require heater core/dash removal? Or are there some that are in the engine bay that fail? If it's teh turbo coolant hose, is that an engine out jobby? Bugger. I only just got her back on teh road after not having her registered for ages. Thanks for all the responses. Will start trying to track it down.
Heater hoses are only in engine-bay, no dash out req'd. Turbo cooling hoses are replaced engine in but best to do with plenum pull & bypass.
Dorifticon I think i have the same prob as you, i have a coolent leak somewhere i have steam coming out of the drivers side, but i cant locate the exact position.
I think this could be the same hose... i had the same hose leaking and was stuck in the city one time and had to tow my car home... there was a hose directly below the middle and back of the engine bay.. its almost *almost* impossible to get to from the top.. but try taking out the battery and look down towards the transmisson box... hope that helps...
I had a coolant leak coming from the rear of the engine towards the drivers side. It turned out to be the hard pipe that bolts to the rear of the drivers side cylinder head going to the heater core. This hard pipe had a pin hole in it. To replace this pipe it looks like at least a plenum pull, but I plugged mine with some epoxy metal putty. I'll be removing the engine soon so I'll replace that pipe along with everything else. Hope this helps. Cheers, Dave.
awesome guys, thanks for all those hints. I'm going to try and track this one down, taking out the battery seems like a good idea. Better start assembling components for the plenum pull too...
