Coolant Leak...

[J400uk]

Following on from http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=335779 it looks like my car has a coolant leak. Filled it up to the recommended level last night from empty and this seemed to fix the issue with the climate control, but when I left for work this morning it was down to a quarter full. Topped it up but I've just got to work and its down again.

Anyone else had similar problems? Guess its going to be a dealer job, annoying as the warranty has literally just ran out...

 

[BaldyDave]

No sign of any drips or puddles below any area of the engine bay? Any water coming out of the exhaust?

If you are polite but firm and stress that the car is only just out of warranty, you might get some form of "arrangement" regarding any work. Last time I tried this (MK4 Ibiza FR) I got the parts for free and half of the labour charge paid by Seat when front suspension linkages wore out a month beyond warranty expiration....

Had to Call Seat directly to get this settlement (though to be fair to the dealer, the dealer did advise me to do this as there was a bigger chance of success if I complained rather than them).

 

[J400uk]

There where some drips on my drive at home and are now some in the work car park, so it must be escaping somewhere, just not sure where. Topped it up just now to the 'max' marker but if its down some more will have to take it to the dealers tonight.

 

[BaldyDave]

If the drips were under the engine area, it's most probably a faulty coolant hose or perhaps you've had a stone go through your radiator? Don't think the radiator is anywhere near old enough for rust to have got to it! I'd have a look under the bonet and see if there are any cracked/perished hoses or loose hose clamps.

If there is nothing obvious or the issue looks tricky to fix, it'd probably be best to let the dealer have a look, mate.....

 

[J400uk]

Yeah will take a look again later on, really hope its not a new radiator! Also just been reading the owners manual there should have been a warning for the coolant level/ temperature, wonder why it didn't come on? Yesterday it was completely ran dry to the point the heater failed.

 

[BaldyDave]

Makes me wonder if you only get a warning light in the dash when the engine temp is critically high! That gives you absolutely no time to address the problem before it becomes a major issue. You'd think even if Seat were too miserly to fit a temp gauge (then you'd have seen the increase in temp long before the A/C failed) then a two-stage warning light - maybe yellow for abnormally high coolant temp and then red for STOP RIGHT NOW.

Ok now is some smartarse going to tell me that's already the case??? lol

Final thought, when you turn the ignition on does the water temp light come on along with the other warning lights? Just checked mine and the light does come on for a couple of seconds after turning the ignition on.

 

[J400uk]

Think it may have fixed itself - no more leaks since I topped it up 24 hours ago. Have driven 80 miles since then, hopefully its going to be OK...

On the warning lamp, it does flash up when you turn the car on so not really sure why it never got triggered earlier in the week :/

Guess I'll have to continue checking it daily and carrying spare coolant in the boot.

 

[BaldyDave]

Yeah definitely keep a good supply of coolant handy in the boot.... Sometimes a loose hose can temporarily seal itself. TBH I would want to get to the bottom of why the car lost so much coolant sooner rather than later, mate. The consequences if you do get a sudden major coolant leak are darn serious.

***** Sent from my Motorola Defy using Tapatalk. *****

 

[J400uk]

Yeah definitely keep a good supply of coolant handy in the boot.... Sometimes a loose hose can temporarily seal itself. TBH I would want to get to the bottom of why the car lost so much coolant sooner rather than later, mate. The consequences if you do get a sudden major coolant leak are darn serious.

***** Sent from my Motorola Defy using Tapatalk. *****

True, its due its 30k service fairly soon so I'll probably get it looked at then.

 

[J400uk]

Well, it went in for the 30k service today and turns out it needs a new radiator as a result of the coolant leak. To say I'm annoyed is an understatement, this soon after the warranty expiry! Currently waiting for SEAT UK to confirm if they will be covering the cost of this, as it seems totally ridiculous for it to fail this early. If not its probably going to be the final straw for MK5 Ibiza ownership and I'll be swapping it for something else.

Still amiss as to why the warning light didn't come on, its likely that the leak has been there for some time. As far as I see it the fault must have existed prior to the warranty expiring.

 

[BaldyDave]

Well, it went in for the 30k service today and turns out it needs a new radiator as a result of the coolant leak. To say I'm annoyed is an understatement, this soon after the warranty expiry! Currently waiting for SEAT UK to confirm if they will be covering the cost of this, as it seems totally ridiculous for it to fail this early. If not its probably going to be the final straw for MK5 Ibiza ownership and I'll be swapping it for something else.

Still amiss as to why the warning light didn't come on, its likely that the leak has been there for some time. As far as I see it the fault must have existed prior to the warranty expiring.

Sorry to hear this, mate! Hope Seat treats you kindly!

As to why the warning light never came on, possibly although the cooling system had lost a fair amount of coolant, the level hadn't fallen enough for the engine temp to get critically high. The coolant resevoir may have been empty but there was probably still enough fluid in the radiator and engine block to keep the engine temp down just enough. Think the light only comes on just before meltdown and when it does, it means stop the car and turn the engine off RIGHT NOW!

Oh for a proper temperature gauge!

 

[Mantley]

hello people , i need some help here. i have that problem with the expansion vase, as in cold days when i start the car it makes that sound warning and the red light blinking, i heard its the 2 plugs inside the vase that is making assume that the water level is low or something. but the biggest problem now is that i have a g12 leak in a part that a i cant be sure where is leaking, as i havent dismounted some parts to check, it comes from under the throttle body, i suppose its from that plastic piece that joins to the engine block and gathers a lot of tubes were water passes. is it a common fault? just some o-ring or the entire piece?
greetings

PS: sorry for posting on this thread, i havent noticed that is for ibizas, i have a leon mk1 1.4 AHW engine

 

[J400uk]

Just to close this one off, eventually got what worked out to be a 55% goodwill contribution from SEAT UK/ my local dealer. Took a while for the new radiator to come in but its now been fitted and would appear to be fixed.... at last!

Still a bit annoyed it needed replacing on a car so new only just out of warranty though.

 

[BaldyDave]

I would be annoyed too, but at least you got a settlement of sorts. TBH I would have settled for that deal as well...

 

[jrallnutt]

Just had the radiator on my 59 plate Bocanegra fail.
3 and a half years (45k) on from buying new.

The dealer is charging me £430 to fix. I am going to ask SEAT to contribute.

j400uk - what did you say to them to get the 55% back?

Thanks, J

 

[J400uk]

Does seem to be a poor quality part causing this! Mine would have been on about 31k-ish miles and a couple of weeks over 3 years old when it failed, I wasn't impressed.

In terms of getting goodwill to start with you need to call customer services to get a case opened. SEAT wouldn't directly offer me goodwill because the car didn't have a full SEAT service history and it was bought from a non-SEAT dealer, generally you need to be able to meet one of those conditions. I got round that as my dealer offered to make a contribution which SEAT matched, so the combined contribution was 55% of the total bill. I think you'll have a stronger than me since you've owned from new.

Feel free to PM if you need any help

 

[jrallnutt]

Thanks J.

I'll certainly ask - I have full SEAT history and bought from new - so every chance I guess.

J.

 

[J400uk]

No worries. I think you could push for a 75-100% contribution, I'd imagine they've probably had a fair number of these fail by now. Let us know how it goes!

 

[LJA]

Mine failed, replaced under warranty.

Its a common fault. SEAT know it is, whether they choose to help is purely there decision.