Skoda Octavia coolant reservoir empty

fennor72

Hi Ive a 142 Octavia about 10 weeks now, about 10 mins from home this evening the coolant warning light came on but the temperature never increased, I got it home let it cool and sure enough the coolant reservoir is practically empty. I could see no leak from underneath the car but the plastic guard is wet. So is it the water pump, or a pipe, the car is guaranteed for a year, but I don't want to chance driving it in, so I'll just get it towed.
I was thinking tonight would the warranty include labour, I only have the car a short while and over 2 of those weeks it wasnt used

biko

The warranty includes everything.
Ring the dealer, let them decide on towing and send someone.

cameramonkey

fennor72 wrote: »

Hi Ive a 142 Octavia about 10 weeks now, about 10 mins from home this evening the coolant warning light came on but the temperature never increased, I got it home let it cool and sure enough the coolant reservoir is practically empty. I could see no leak from underneath the car but the plastic guard is wet. So is it the water pump, or a pipe, the car is guaranteed for a year, but I don't want to chance driving it in, so I'll just get it towed.
I was thinking tonight would the warranty include labour, I only have the car a short while and over 2 of those weeks it wasnt used

Same happened to me after I grounded the bottom coming off a kerb. I think the mechanic said I split a pipe under the car with the force. The coolant emptied within about 3KM after.

J Mysterio

Would you not just put some coolant in?

dar_cool

I'd put money on it will be water pump.
I also have a 142 Octavia and changed timing belt few days ago and water pump was weeping and the bearing sounded atrocious

sdanseo

J Mysterio wrote: »

Would you not just put some coolant in?

Worth a try but it sounds like it emptied suddenly. Could be a leak anywhere in the system, radiator, coolant bottle or a hose. OP could get 5km in and be on the hard shoulder again with an overheated engine.

Happened me a few years back (not Skoda), luckily a slow leak but was still topping up daily until it got fixed, ended up being the radiator.

selectamatic

What sort of mileage is on the car?

And is it a 1.6tdi ?

fennor72

J Mysterio wrote:

Would you not just put some coolant in?

There is obviously something wrong with it so with it being under warranty I want it fixed

fennor72

dar_cool wrote:

I'd put money on it will be water pump. I also have a 142 Octavia and changed timing belt few days ago and water pump was weeping and the bearing sounded atrocious

What's the interval for changing the timing belt? I asked the salesman when I bought the car and he said about 120k.
I had forgot I had aa breakdown with home start so they said they will call in the morning and bring it in to the dealer, no charge so that's something.
I'll be asking for some sort of a replacement car for a few days as I need to get to work

fennor72

selectamatic wrote:

What sort of mileage is on the car?

selectamatic wrote:

And is it a 1.6tdi ?

70k and 2l tdi

selectamatic

fennor72 wrote: »

70k and 2l tdi

Could still be the waterpump weeping a bit. Its more common on 1.6tdi's though I believe.

dar_cool

Yeah I think around 120/130k OR 5 years. If it is the waterpump leaking you might aswell get the whole lot done

fennor72

dar_cool wrote:

Yeah I think around 120/130k OR 5 years. If it is the waterpump leaking you might aswell get the whole lot done

I doubt the warranty will cover a timing belt and I was hoping to avoid that expense till next year

listermint

J Mysterio wrote: »

Would you not just put some coolant in?

You don't lose an entire reservoir of coolant on a modern engine without something drastic having occured. It should never happen.

The car needs to be looked at by a competent mechanic asap.

Driving for any period with no coolant can and will destroy an engine . At minimal new gasket but can go into skim and destroyed valves .

listermint

fennor72 wrote: »

I doubt the warranty will cover a timing belt and I was hoping to avoid that expense till next year

If they are fixing something like that pay for the belt at the same time. Mad not to

fennor72

listermint wrote:

If they are fixing something like that pay for the belt at the same time. Mad not to

Yeah if that's the problem I will.

Hedgelayer

Water pump definitely, after a while more warning light's will turn on.
Check under the car for leak's.

There's no other way the coolant will go empty.
I wouldn't drive the car on empty.

It happened to my superb and I suggest you get the timing belt done too under warranty as it's handy to get the whole lot done together.

Because you don't need overlapping between water pumps and timing belts.

Good luck with it

listermint

Hedgelayer wrote: »

Water pump definitely, after a while more light's will turn on.
Check under the car for leak's.

There's no other way the coolant will go empty.
I wouldn't drive the car on empty.

It happened to my superb and I suggest you get the timing belt done too under warranty as it's handy to get the whole lot done together.

Because you don't need overlapping between water pumps and timing belts.

Good luck with it

Erm.... Head gasket can make coolant go empty.

Broken reservoir.

Cracked pipe broke Radiator And so on and so forth

Hedgelayer

fennor72 wrote: »

I doubt the warranty will cover a timing belt and I was hoping to avoid that expense till next year

Get them to cover half the price, 350 euro divided by 2 should be affordable for you and the car dealers

Hedgelayer

listermint wrote: »

Erm.... Head gasket can make coolant go empty.

Broken reservoir.

Cracked pipe broke Radiator And so on and so forth

Ok I was being the devil's advocate here.
Hopefully it'll be a water pump....

Toyotafanboi

Likely the water pump alright. It could be losing coolant in any one of a hundred places though, most warrantable. It could have picked up a stone in the radiator for example, that wouldn't be covered. They are partial to a water pump though, so my money is on that, for now.

The timing belt on those isn't due until 210k kms, no time age limit. That said, if someone is going in and removing the belt to change the water pump, you'd be mad not to get it done while the mechanic is at it, you'll never get it done so cheap again. Generally, in work we offer the customer to just pay for the belt and tensioner parts only as the labour (the most expensive part) is covered in doing the pump.

fennor72

listermint wrote:

Erm.... Head gasket can make coolant go empty.

A jesus stop, hopefully it's just a leak.

fennor72

Toyotafanboi wrote:

The timing belt on those isn't due until 210k kms, no time age limit. That said, if someone is going in and removing the belt to change the water pump, you'd be mad not to get it done while the mechanic is at it, you'll never get it done so cheap again. Generally, in work we offer the customer to just pay for the belt and tensioner parts only as the labour (the most expensive part) is covered in doing the pump.

That would definitely be the best case scenario. I'll contact the dealer tomorrow and get the car in and update you all when I know more. Thanks for all the advice

listermint

fennor72 wrote: »

A jesus stop, hopefully it's just a leak.

I've done mine. It happens

George Dalton

selectamatic wrote: »

Could still be the waterpump weeping a bit. Its more common on 1.6tdi's though I believe.

It’s the same part in both engines.

selectamatic

George Dalton wrote: »

It’s the same part in both engines.

Classic case of me just hearing about it more on 1.6tdi's cos there's more of them around so.

Spook_ie

My Skoda ( yes 1.6 ) had a leaky water pump but drove on for 3000km by topping up every two days before needing to change it.

I'd have topped it up first before worrying about driving it to the dealer.

fennor72

Spook_ie wrote:

I'd have topped it up first before worrying about driving it to the dealer.

When it emptyed the whole reservoir within a few kms I'd rather not worry about it but getting it into the dealer.

Got it towed in this morning with the AA,
the aa mechanic thinks it could be the pump, no garage open today but salesman took it off me, arranged another car and told me they would have a look at it on Mon.

Spook_ie

fennor72 wrote: »

When it emptyed the whole reservoir within a few kms I'd rather not worry about it but getting it into the dealer.

Got it towed in this morning with the AA,
the aa mechanic thinks it could be the pump, no garage open today but salesman took it off me, arranged another car and told me they would have a look at it on Mon.

You never mentioned that you'd topped it up, so I would assume you have no idea how fast it's losing coolant.

chicorytip

listermint wrote:

You don't lose an entire reservoir of coolant on a modern engine without something drastic having occured. It should never happen.

Should the coolant level always be at maximum or near maximum level in the reservoir even when the car is cold? In my own car, which is serviced regularly, it is always at minimum level with no leaks or other issues.

fennor72

Spook_ie wrote:

You never mentioned that you'd topped it up, so I would assume you have no idea how fast it's losing coolant.

It's a funny shaped reservoir, the min and max levels are only about an inch apart, I assumed that once the coolant dropped to the min line the warning came up on the dash, there would still have been a good volume of coolant underneath the min line, that was all gone within a few kms home,

fennor72

Just a quick update it was the water pump in the end, so they replaced it today and changed the timing belt, all under the warranty. So happy days.