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Where is coolant leaking??

28K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  Vixen 
#1 ·
I noticed red coolant drippings on ground on the driver side. I went down the car and found this:



I see dripping on the lower radiator hose. But where is it leaking from??
another view:

Maybe it's because of the curb... that day I didn't apply the parking brake tough enough when we left the car (on a slope).. The gravity showed itself when we were going home. So both of us were seated, and I shifted the gear to neutral preparing to start the engine. But then the car slipped forward on the curb.. And the car was barred by the curb so I was not able to back the car. Some people came and help trying to lift the front end a little bit while I giving gas to back up..
Come to think of it, maybe one of the pipes were damaged at that time. Does it have something to do with the thermostat and/or housing, crack pipe..?
I'm going to replace these things next week. It's too bad if they're actually not the source of leakage.
 
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#3 ·
theres no thermostat neck in pic?


well im 99% sure it wont be ur thermostate pipe...obviously if u hit something ur radiator would get damaged/cracked and not ur thermostat housing because that is connected to ur engine followed by a rubber hose..unless its cracked of natural cause.....dont worry about it..take off ur bumper and all the fun stuff behind it for abetter view...i couldnt see where mine was leaking until i uncovered it

radiator + coolant under 200$ =] have fun
 
#5 ·
Thanks men.

@TurboJettaBoy02:
do you mean this hose circled with yellow brush?

I dont know the name of that but someone told me it's the lower radiator hose. also mine is a VR6 gls, not a 1.8T. Yes there're drippings on it, but it does not guarantee this hose is source of leakage, right?

@jedduh:
I'm trying to analyze it... with the iron thing circled with red brush barred by the curb, I have to give more gas engaging the clutch more to back up. Finally I backed up, but apparently something is messed up. As I remember, the driver side outer grille was popped out.. The tab on it was damaged so I had to order a new one.
Well, maybe that iron thing also damaged the radiator, or just the lower radiator hose, maybe and/or top /bottom hose. How do you determine if the radiator is leaking or if a hose is leaking for sure(suppose front bumper and lock assembly moved out of way)? so that I dont need to order all possible parts.
Thanks.
 
#6 ·
easy thing to do it wipe everything dry from b4. jack the front end up and look to see where it starts leaking, after u start the car. then just check the hose or whatever, if u cant see the whole thing, probly take it off and look it over. just make sure u only USE G12 coolant and not anythin else. vw's cooling system will corrode with other coolants.
 
#7 ·
The problem is to take off the lock assembly requires draining the coolant. It's definitely a messy one. I probably need to change the radiator. I have the illustration, but haven't found where it is. It's said to connect to the lock assembly(lock carrier and metal bumper). Probably the radiator was damaged due to the strain of the bottom metal part of the lock carrier because of the barring of the curb..
 
#9 ·
Thanks that makes sense. but could you explain what you heard using a white egg(?) when sticking on the side of highway?
I'll only remove the font bumper and inspect the radiator.
Maybe there's a permanent strain caused shape-change in the radiator core support, in which case the damaged support need to be changed too.
but if you don't take the lock assembly down how can you inspect both sides of the radiator?
to disconnect the lock assembly means to disconnect lower and upper radiator hose, and thus to drain the coolant.. so the engine should be cool?right?
 
#10 ·
to stop a leak in a radiator.... use pepper.... and I've heard that if you put an egg white in your radiator it will stop a leak
 
#12 ·
I think you're right. though I don't know how to apply pepper to stop coolant leakage. not to mention egg white.
If the problem lies solely in a damaged radiator, it's actually easier than the case thermostat, thermostat housing, a/c switch, crack pipe ..need to be replaced. I'll look for a DIY on how to replace the radiator then perform it. It's not creative.. and a radiator is $$$. but any job related to the cooling system is always messy, say, the coolant has to be drained from underneath the car.
 
#13 ·
The pepper trick is simple, you just put it in the top of the radiator, not the reservoir. Sprinkle some in it, someone should verify this for me but its that simple. But there is no way that you could have damaged your radiator by running a curb with the bumper. Have you had your water pump changed? Maybe its something with the waterpump gasket or the plastic impeller.

I dont know about the VRs but i know the 1.8T has a circulatory pump that runs after you shut the car off to circulate coolant, and that will leak everywhere if that gets bad, it basically pisses it out wherever it springs a leak. That pump is just inside the bay right behind the radior. Basically in line with the left side of the grill.

I had a crap tone of coolant issues with my jet, but none of them were out of the ordinary. I just dont forsee that you could do damage by hitting a curb if you only rolled into it, if you were moving pretty good, like across a parking lot and banged into one then maybe. And as they said the other thing could possibly be dryrot.
 
#14 ·
The pudding is only on the driver side. so I thought it was the thermostat, etc.
but the leakage starts two weeks after that running over the curb.. the lock carrier can pop left outer grille out, it might simultaneously damage the radiator..
I got to remove the front bumper and take a look.
btw, do you mean the after-run pump? vr6 should also have one. whenever I shut down the engine, I could hear the coolant is flowing, some fan-like thing is still working.
 
#16 ·
coolant level popped up? you saw coolant level indicator with alarm tones?
that picture posted a year ago corresponds to a rapture in the upper rad nozzle neck.. if you observe exactly the same scene as in the photo, and drippings under the front end, check the rad, hose, gaskets areas.
if drippings are further towards rear end of car, then thermostat housing flange.
i just know these. the story on your car might be different. good luck~
 
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