# help! Coolant - where did it go?



## alaskadub (Feb 8, 2008)

My coolant level has dropped below the low line at least twice on my W8 and once on my 8 cyl Treg this winter. It always happens after a long (3 hour) drive in cold conditions. I'm in Alaska, so when I specify cold conditions, I mean -20 F, not C, but F.
I've brought the W8 in once, had it pressure tested, no leaks. Never any obvious leaks anywere, everything always dry. On occasion, I will smell coolant when travelling with the heater on in the W8 (which is always now).
head gsket? heater core leak?
how much will it cost if it is?
Please help - scared


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## fvbean (Aug 7, 2007)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (alaskadub)*

I have had the coolant line from the alternator to the cooler blow out twice. Doesn't really show anything unless it blows while sitting or full and sitting. Driving along and all of a sudden when I stopped, I smelt coolant and the bin was empty. $190 hose, about $100-200 labor at VW. Good luck


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## BlueSteW8 (Jan 27, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (alaskadub)*

Mine did the same before cold weather hit MN - I topped it off, and have been keeping an eye on it.
No drop in the the last 3-4 months.
I too sometimes get a wiff of coolant, and always check the level and carpets when I do. So far, nothing found.
A friend of mine lost coolant on his (small pink puddle in front of passenger side). VW dealer pressure tested, poked, prodded, found nothing initially.
They later found a crack in the radiator, so who knows?


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## alaskadub (Feb 8, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (BlueSteW8)*

All I ask for is something obvious, this myesterious stuff can make a guy crazy. It never happens when you want it to either, so now I have to flush two radiators because (gasp) you cant readily find G12 pink radiator fluid when you're 40 miles from the middle of nowhere. Oh well


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## BlueSteW8 (Jan 27, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (alaskadub)*

I know more than one VW owner that keeps an unopened jug of G12 in the trunk.
In an extreme bind, temperature permitting, put in just enough distilled water to keep the alarm from going off.
Then get your G12, siphom the contents of the reservoir and fill up with G12.
Distilled water is easy to find.
Do you run 50/50 mix of G12/distilled water, or 60/40 mix in AK?


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## Dave928 (Feb 11, 2000)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (BlueSteW8)*


_Quote, originally posted by *BlueSteW8* »_
In an extreme bind


that gets the garden hose...


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## alaskadub (Feb 8, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (Dave928)*

The garden hose was rolled up in Sept, they freeze at -20








Honestly, normally I run what they put in it, but it is a G12 mix which is pre-mixed to 50/50 out of the jug, I think. It was tested at good to -30 during the leak check, so its obviously been diluted since and will get flushed and replaced as soon as we figure out what, if anything is going on. Then I will probably go with 60/40.
On another note- There was a guy in a Dodge 2500 this morning, hood up, steam billowing, and searching for antifreeze at the gas station. He said 'somehow I got a big hole in my radiator.' The station was out of antifreeze - they sold a couple cases worth in a week. I offered to sell him nearly a full bottle for a dollar less than I bought it for 2 days ago (17 bucks for an all makes all model/colors). He was actually pissed at me and thought I was ripping him off. Moron.


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## BlueSteW8 (Jan 27, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (alaskadub)*

They pulled the intake manifold on my W8 today to replace the Bank 1 cam adjuster (blown screen), and found the source of my lost coolant - there was a leak around the thermostat, so it will be getting replaced as well.
The coolant didn't mix internally with the oil, it was just filling a series of depressions on top of the block - I guess when it got hot enough it would start vaporizing enough for me to smell it.
If you are comfortable pulling the manifold, you can check it yourself.
I think the thermostat alone costs 400.00+, and the labor is probably at least twice that.
Same set-up on the W12 engine - there is thread in the Phaeton forum.
I don't think the 4.2 V8 uses the same thermostat set-up, however.


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## Dextrobrick (Mar 25, 2007)

It's worth inspecting the coolant expansion tank for hairline cracks in the tank itself--not the cap--that can leak out coolant over time.


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## alaskadub (Feb 8, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (BlueSteW8)*

That sums up about all of my concerns/fears at once.
how did you spot the problem with the cam adjuster, is there more than one screen? I had been following a couple of cam threads that led to the death of a couple of engines. Supposedly the new screen fixes the problem, so that's good news.
My thought is that if I get as far as checking for a leak around the thermostat I will likely replace the screen (s?). What did it finally cost? Fore-warned is fore-armed.


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## alaskadub (Feb 8, 2008)

*Re: (Dextrobrick)*

will check the resevoir, but the system has been pressurized with nothing found and everything SEEMS dry. It lost more fluid this morning, I smelled a whiff of antifreeze, and am getting nervous.


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## BlueSteW8 (Jan 27, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (alaskadub)*

Cam adjuster(s):
That one you will know about pretty quick - I had a rough idle (like a 1969 Chevelle with a cammed 396), CEL came on, and there was a distinctive "valve train clatter" when the hood was opened.
I went immediately to Checker Auto Parts (for a free OBDII scan) that pulled "P0011 - Intake Cam Over Advanced Bank 1" which is the passenger side. P0012 is the code for Bank 2 - driver's side.
I did a quick oil & filter change - the clatter went away after about 500 miles, but the CEL did not.
Westside VW pulled P0011, which I knew, but also codes for Cam Sensor Implausible Signal - Bank 1, and multiple misfire codes for cylinders 1,2,3, & 4 (all Bank 1/ passenger side).
They found the blown screen (and coolant leak) when they pulled the bad adjuster housing and intake manifolds to get to it.
Waiting to here back from them on everything, as the warranty rep. has to see everything and authorize repairs. I hope he/she authorizes Bank 2 replacement as well - My car is warrantied until 93,450 miles/ 9/2011 (it having 45,050 on it when it went in), so they would fools to risk paying the basic labor twice.
I figure the other adjuster is bound to fail before my warranty expires.


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## BlueSteW8 (Jan 27, 2008)

*Re: help! Coolant - where did it go? (BlueSteW8)*

The screens are built into the adjuster mechanisms - the whole assembly is replaced with the updated parts as far as I have ever heard..
Each adjuster (intake, at least) has two screens - I belive one upstream and one downstream of the oil flow through the adjuster.


_Modified by BlueSteW8 at 2:11 PM 2-18-2008_


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