Coolant slipping into a different dimension?
#1
08-06-2010, 10:19 PM
Coolant slipping into a different dimension?
Hey all, haven't been around much lately, got me two jobs now so time to play online is severely limited as when I'm not at work I'm generally asleep lol
That said, I have a small issue that has cropped up. Back in April I had the timing belt service all done and while they had the coolant drained for that, I got a new reservoir, checked hoses, and of course, fresh G12. Less than a month after that was done and all my leaks were fixed, I popped the hood to change the oil and noticed my coolant level was down. A lot. I know this wasn't due to improperly burping the system or something like that, I personally watched my mechanic do everything and top of the reservoir. So I topped it off and have been keeping an eye on it and now, less than a month later, the level is well below minimum again and I have yet to see any drips at all nor any smoke coming out of the exhaust so I've ruled out a headgasket by that, so what else might be nommin my G12?
Other points: I do get a faint hint of coolant when I turn on the heater, however with it being summer I haven't been using the heater so am I wrong in thinking that coolant doesn't circulate through the heater core even if its not running? How do I get to the heater core to check for drips and leaks? I know its behind the glove box, if I remember right.
Also, I read on here once that someone had a similar coolant Houdini act going on and discovered that the oil cooler was bad and the coolant was being lost into the oil and I too thought this might be my case but I checked my oil the other day and its certainly nothing but pure oil so I'm leaning away from it being that.
Much thanks in advance
That said, I have a small issue that has cropped up. Back in April I had the timing belt service all done and while they had the coolant drained for that, I got a new reservoir, checked hoses, and of course, fresh G12. Less than a month after that was done and all my leaks were fixed, I popped the hood to change the oil and noticed my coolant level was down. A lot. I know this wasn't due to improperly burping the system or something like that, I personally watched my mechanic do everything and top of the reservoir. So I topped it off and have been keeping an eye on it and now, less than a month later, the level is well below minimum again and I have yet to see any drips at all nor any smoke coming out of the exhaust so I've ruled out a headgasket by that, so what else might be nommin my G12?
Other points: I do get a faint hint of coolant when I turn on the heater, however with it being summer I haven't been using the heater so am I wrong in thinking that coolant doesn't circulate through the heater core even if its not running? How do I get to the heater core to check for drips and leaks? I know its behind the glove box, if I remember right.
Also, I read on here once that someone had a similar coolant Houdini act going on and discovered that the oil cooler was bad and the coolant was being lost into the oil and I too thought this might be my case but I checked my oil the other day and its certainly nothing but pure oil so I'm leaning away from it being that.
Much thanks in advance
#2
08-06-2010, 11:17 PM
Hey, had the same problem as you.
Turned out to be the cylinder head coolant flange, the center plastic ring which grabs the o-ring brakes apart. You'll never see coolant only slightly smell it due to the fact that it trickles down the block and steams away between the engine and the firewall in the utmost-sneaky manner.
Check it out.
Turned out to be the cylinder head coolant flange, the center plastic ring which grabs the o-ring brakes apart. You'll never see coolant only slightly smell it due to the fact that it trickles down the block and steams away between the engine and the firewall in the utmost-sneaky manner.
Check it out.
#3
09-03-2010, 11:14 PM
Hey thanks for the suggestion, I'm planning to finally look at it this weekend.
I came back to this thread when it was a little chillier the other day than normal and some condensation formed on the windshield and I had to regretfully put a jacket on for the first time in 4 months and when I clicked on the heater, the smell of coolant was about on par with sticking my head in a bucket full of it and snorting; it was so strong that running the heater had absolutely no effect because I was gagging so much from the smell that I put the window down for fresh air and had to deal with the cold anyway and not seconds after the water vapor finally dissipated from the windshield from the defogger, a new fog was on the window, that of vaporized coolant. I know it was the coolant cuz it just smeared around rather than wiped off like water vapor would have.
That said, if I run the HVAC at the lowest possible temperature, with or without AC, the smell goes away completely, but as soon as I click the control just one degree off of cold, it comes back in full force, so is it really likely that it could still possibly be this flange leaking or is it almost undeniably a heater core leak?
Thanks for any and all suggestions
I came back to this thread when it was a little chillier the other day than normal and some condensation formed on the windshield and I had to regretfully put a jacket on for the first time in 4 months and when I clicked on the heater, the smell of coolant was about on par with sticking my head in a bucket full of it and snorting; it was so strong that running the heater had absolutely no effect because I was gagging so much from the smell that I put the window down for fresh air and had to deal with the cold anyway and not seconds after the water vapor finally dissipated from the windshield from the defogger, a new fog was on the window, that of vaporized coolant. I know it was the coolant cuz it just smeared around rather than wiped off like water vapor would have.
That said, if I run the HVAC at the lowest possible temperature, with or without AC, the smell goes away completely, but as soon as I click the control just one degree off of cold, it comes back in full force, so is it really likely that it could still possibly be this flange leaking or is it almost undeniably a heater core leak?
Thanks for any and all suggestions
#5
09-04-2010, 12:36 AM
Yea, I saw that in the manual, not looking forward to it, hence trying to determine if it is more likely that it absolutely is that. Being severely limited for time to do something like this, I was actually going to have someone else do it.
Ironic side note to this story, which I have yet to fully wrap my mind around, is that when I called up my usual mechanic about it, he said him n his guys didn't do heater cores for the sake of the hassle involved and referred me to another shop that might, called that guy and he quoted me at it being a 14 hour job so with parts and labor I'd be looking at about $1350 + tax, so for gits n shiggles I called up the dealer and they told me it would only be a 7.5 hour job and for parts and labor, I'd be looking at a grand n some change, maybe less; really blew me away that the dealer of all places would actually be cheaper.
Anyhoo, is there any partial removal of the dash I can do that will at least let me confirm if this is really the problem or not? If I just pull out the glove box, will I be able to just at least see, maybe not necessarily remove, but just see the heater core enough to verify that it is leaking?
Ironic side note to this story, which I have yet to fully wrap my mind around, is that when I called up my usual mechanic about it, he said him n his guys didn't do heater cores for the sake of the hassle involved and referred me to another shop that might, called that guy and he quoted me at it being a 14 hour job so with parts and labor I'd be looking at about $1350 + tax, so for gits n shiggles I called up the dealer and they told me it would only be a 7.5 hour job and for parts and labor, I'd be looking at a grand n some change, maybe less; really blew me away that the dealer of all places would actually be cheaper.
Anyhoo, is there any partial removal of the dash I can do that will at least let me confirm if this is really the problem or not? If I just pull out the glove box, will I be able to just at least see, maybe not necessarily remove, but just see the heater core enough to verify that it is leaking?
#6
09-04-2010, 04:15 PM
no partial removal of dash, I have a manual in german, shows you how to take the whole interior of a b5 apart...it's in german, but has ALL the pictures if you want it, PM me and I'll upload the PDF...it's not a bentley manual, but an audi write up.
Just a question, does it blow hot air when the heater is ON full?
Just a question, does it blow hot air when the heater is ON full?
#7
09-04-2010, 04:19 PM
I would also look at your radiator cores for possible damage, or check the two hoses going to the heater core on the back of the engine on the firewall, ez to get to and they are just held on by two clamps...you can check the flow of the heater core there as well...and 'blow' it out with a hose with some pressure...left is in, right hose is out.
#8
09-04-2010, 05:32 PM
Awesome, thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely look into that. To answer your question, it blows all kinds of hot air, and consistently as well, not dropping off when moving or at idle, it just smells very thickly of coolant and deposits a film of coolant on the windshield if I run the defogger.
With regards to it possibly being a main radiator core, if it were one of those, wouldn't I have visible leaks hitting my driveway? I would think that to smell it THAT strongly, it would have to be leaking pretty good, which it is, I have to top off the reservoir about every 3 weeks from about a half inch below the MIN line yet none of this shows anywhere on the ground.
With regards to it possibly being a main radiator core, if it were one of those, wouldn't I have visible leaks hitting my driveway? I would think that to smell it THAT strongly, it would have to be leaking pretty good, which it is, I have to top off the reservoir about every 3 weeks from about a half inch below the MIN line yet none of this shows anywhere on the ground.
#9
09-04-2010, 05:42 PM
it might just be a small hole in a hose as well, but from what you told me, i'm going to have to lean toward the heater core leaking...if it's leaking really bad, there should be a puddle inside thou....if you want that PDF in german, email me at: alfwalter69@yahoo.com, and I'll send you the PDF...it's too big to upload here it's like 180 pages, its for a 2001 but similar.
#10
09-04-2010, 08:02 PM
Yea, that's the one thing that has me unsure of if it really is the heater core, the fact that I have yet to see any coolant anywhere inside the cabin, but the fact that its not really showing up anywhere else either yet still coming through the vents in a seemingly dense quantity is telltale signs of it being the heater core...
Have you seen the PDF manual linked up in the stickies by chance? I don't know for sure if its the Bentley or not, but it has a lot of diagrams and pictures as well so could it be that its the same PDF you have just in English? Or when you say that German one has lots of pictures, you mean like actual photographs of the teardown process and not just drawings?
Have you seen the PDF manual linked up in the stickies by chance? I don't know for sure if its the Bentley or not, but it has a lot of diagrams and pictures as well so could it be that its the same PDF you have just in English? Or when you say that German one has lots of pictures, you mean like actual photographs of the teardown process and not just drawings?