AUDI coolant problem

stuckinarut

hi,

recently the coolant light in my 00 a3 beeped quite loudly and flashed red, which means, basically, stop driving.
went straight to garage and bought huge container of the stuff. put it in to above min level and everythig was fine.
that was maybe 2 months ago, and since then i have had to top it up twice more. the red light comes on at least once a week but if i turn off engine and restart it seems fine.
i have been checking for leakages wherever i park and have never seen any.
the engine temp is also normal, has never gone past 90 degrees..

any help much appreciated

geuro

Afraid i don't have the answer to this one - but I will be interested in hearing the answer, because I am having the same issue with a Seat Leon..

Anan1

Could be the head gasket. It might also be that the coolant is leaking from somewhere only when the engine's hot, and evaporating before it has a chance to drip. Last time I had this problem it turned out to be the water pump.

voxpop

What I would do is open the bonnet and run the car until it warms up - ie hits 90. The the thermostat should open and the coolant will circulate. Check for leaks then. It could be water pump or a leak anywhere along the coolant system (temp sender area might be a place to look also)

Also open the oil cap and make sure there is no white gunk

stuckinarut

ye i must check for the gunk thing in the morning, someone else told me that as well..
will also run it for a few mins then check for leaks on coolant container..

will post what i find

Spunj

You should also check that the cooling fans are coming on. Most cars these days have 2 temperature senders, one for the guage and one for the ECU.

I had a similar problem where the temperature shown on the dash was way out of synch with the actual temperature of the engine and the fans never turned on.

I ended up replacing both senders at the same time and it's been fine since. You haven't said if it's at slow traffic speeds or if it happens when you are cruising. If it's when you are at speed then the fan won't matter so it's probably one of the problems posted above

congo_90

If not the HG then it could be your water pump has seized up. This is more common in older/high mile cars.
It could be your thermostat is stuck. how fast after engine start up does it over heat? do you travel less than 3 miles per journey?
do the cooling fans kick in? any signs of major leaks (puddles) on your driveway?
best advice until diagnosed is not to drive unless the mechanics is a stones throw away. you could do some serious damage

Heroditas

I have a similar problem. The temperature gauge was acting erratically and today the engine temperature warning light came on when I was near Mitchelstown. Stopped the car, lifted the bonnet and the coolant was boiling!

Had to get the car towed 90 miles back to Dublin. :rolleyes:

Mechanic reckons it's a faulty engine temperature sensor.

listermint

Sounds like the fans never kicked in! Temp sensor is most likely

Heroditas

listermint wrote: »

Sounds like the fans never kicked in! Temp sensor is most likely

Got the sensor replaced and car appeared to be at the proper temperature.
Brought it for a quick test drive and it overheated again.
Drained excess air from the coolant loop and went out again - again it overheated.

End conclusion - water pump is banjaxed.

Solution - water pump and, due to the location of it, timing belt are being changed tomorrow. My poor wallet.

Heroditas

Final update - car is back in business after getting the water pump and timing belt kit done.

I had a very close call. The impeller was split in half and one of the tensioners for the belt was in a bad way.
The belt itself was also quite worn and starting to fray in several places.