has anyone experienced this? the winter that we just had here in the midwest were doing some strange things to my coolant overflow tank. there were numerous times that when temps were low ( 20degerees or below) the coolant was reading below minimum. at one point it was so low it triggered a message on my dash when i was driving. altogether, i almost went thru two gallons worth of the g12 that i bought from the dealership.

now that the weather has gotten warmer, the coolant in the overflow tank has been consistantly fine. what gives?!

my car never overheated, no smoke was visible nor were there any puddles on the floor. when i got my oil and filter changed, i told the mechanic about the situation but he couldnt find any leaks either when the car was hoisted.

i want to remedy this problem because i plan to do a 6hr drive soon and im afraid i may end up getting stuck in the highway with an overheated engine.

if anyone can explain or tell me that this is common in cold weather i would really appreciate anyones advice.

thanks in advance.

 

First off, that's not the overflow, it's the resevoir; it needs to be full at all times. The only way you would go through 2 gallons is by having a leak. The whole system only holds about 2 gallons. It's possible you don't see smoke bc it only leaks at high rpm and at high rpm your car is moving so the steam blows behind you. I didn't see any steam when my thermostat was leaking or when my flange was leaking.

Look at the rear pass. side of your motor and at the pass. side of your trans. If there's orangey gunky build up your flange is leaking. I'd bet that's what the prob is. It doesn't do it as much now bc you're not using the heater. Did you ever have probs with the heater?

 

have u ever seen smoke come outta ur engine bay? cuz it could be the coolant flange?

 

One way to check it is open your hood and rev it to 4k for a few seconds. That should force it to leak at any weak spots.

 

as a matter of fact... i did have issues with not having any heat when it was really-really cold. nothing but cold air was blowing out thru the vents, but after 1/2 hour of driving i was finally getting warm air. i didnt think much of it. but your right, each time i had the heat on and when i was done driving for the day, i would check on the resevoir and it was below minimum again.

thank you for telling me about the flange!! i will look for this part and see if thats where the leak is coming from. its gotta be there cause i cannot find it anywhere else.

once again...this site has helped me out!

 

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=189137

 

i just added g12 to the ride not a month ago. i was having some of the same issues in this thread. is this a common issue with this car?

 

flange is very common, thermostat is somewhat common.

 

what temp t-stat is in the B6? any benefits to lowering it?

 

the thermostat is electronically controlled.