Low coolant 1.2 TSI

[Black6c]

I have noticed a few weeks ago that the coolant in the coolant reservoir was sitting below minimum. So I went to the local vw shop and got it inspected. They said there were no visible leaks (looks clean underneath) and that everything’s fine. They topped up the coolant to above max, but today I noticed that it had dropped by a significant amount to near minimum. Is this engine known to use coolant? Is this normal?




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[Falconmick]

Is car running as normal?

Check oil level in case cylinder head gasket is worn and allowing water to leak into engine which can mix with oil.


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[RUM4MO]

Losing coolant is not a know issue with this engine, filling the coolant back up to above the MAX level may well mean that some will get forced out at your local temperatures, but my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110 6MT has never ever needed its coolant topped up and the level does not move very much from cold to running with a hot engine.

If the cooling system has been opened up recently, it is possible that trapped air has moved along and into the header tank - and that will drop the indicated level.

[Black6c]

Is car running as normal?

Check oil level in case cylinder head gasket is worn and allowing water to leak into engine which can mix with oil.


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This is the current oil level. Car has sat for about 24 hours. It’s 10,000km after last service (I need to change oil pretty soon). But is this level normal?


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[Black6c]

Losing coolant is not a know issue with this engine, filling the coolant back up to above the MAX level may well mean that some will get forced out at your local temperatures, but my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110 6MT has never ever needed its coolant topped up and the level does not move very much from cold to running with a hot engine.

If the cooling system has been opened up recently, it is possible that trapped air has moved along and into the header tank - and that will drop the indicated level.

I do realize that filling above max will result in it going down, but I was alarmed by it going below min when no one has ever replaced the coolant ever on this car (unless the garage did so without telling\ charging me?). And a few months back I did remember seeing it somewhere between min and max after the last service


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[RUM4MO]

I suppose all you can now do is to keep checking it until you are happy that it is okay or not.

Quite difficult to work out where the oil level is in your picture as the dip stick is black - as long as it is still between the high and low level markings it will be okay.

Edit:- okay I have zoomed that picture out a bit and see that the oil is still in the "hatched" or "marked" area, so okay.

[TheLizardKing]

I have noticed a few weeks ago that the coolant in the coolant reservoir was sitting below minimum. So I went to the local vw shop and got it inspected. They said there were no visible leaks (looks clean underneath) and that everything’s fine. They topped up the coolant to above max, but today I noticed that it had dropped by a significant amount to near minimum. Is this engine known to use coolant? Is this normal?




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Hi. I had the same problem with my 1.2 TSI some time back, and the culprit turned out to be a leaking secondary radiator. There was a hairline crack on the front face of the radiator, and the VW workshop was unable to give a good explanation for how it could have been caused. There was no visible leakage, and the coolant loss was happening when the car was running. I had to get a new secondary radiator, and it is an expensive part.

P.S. I was not able to claim warranty because it was external damage. And to make things worse, they took 3 weeks to procure the part. Not one of my happy memories.

[Black6c]

I have noticed a few weeks ago that the coolant in the coolant reservoir was sitting below minimum. So I went to the local vw shop and got it inspected. They said there were no visible leaks (looks clean underneath) and that everything’s fine. They topped up the coolant to above max, but today I noticed that it had dropped by a significant amount to near minimum. Is this engine known to use coolant? Is this normal?




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Hi. I had the same problem with my 1.2 TSI some time back, and the culprit turned out to be a leaking secondary radiator. There was a hairline crack on the front face of the radiator, and the VW workshop was unable to give a good explanation for how it could have been caused. There was no visible leakage, and the coolant loss was happening when the car was running. I had to get a new secondary radiator, and it is an expensive part.

P.S. I was not able to claim warranty because it was external damage. And to make things worse, they took 3 weeks to procure the part. Not one of my happy memories.

Thanks for the reply, car is due a service in the next month so I’ll point the garage to it when it’ll be there. Warranty is up until February 2020 so it’ll be before that. But anyway I’m going to report this issue again and hope they’ll find the cause. If not, I understand that if a problem occurred and reported before the warranty ended then I’m still covered. Happened to us in a caravelle, a pump had been doing some noises and got replaced after warranty because they couldn’t locate the noise when the van still had warranty


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[TheLizardKing]

Thanks for the reply, car is due a service in the next month so I’ll point the garage to it when it’ll be there. Warranty is up until February 2020 so it’ll be before that.

My car was (and still is) under warranty. The reason my warranty claim for the intercooler was rejected was because it was caused by external damage (stone hit, possibly) and not a manufacturing or material defect.

Good luck with your car.

[RUM4MO]

Thanks for the reply, car is due a service in the next month so I’ll point the garage to it when it’ll be there. Warranty is up until February 2020 so it’ll be before that.

My car was (and still is) under warranty. The reason my warranty claim for the intercooler was rejected was because it was caused by external damage (stone hit, possibly) and not a manufacturing or material defect.

Good luck with your car.

That is okay as it is really "damage caused by an external event" - but VW Group should try to protect these items from stone damage.

[TheLizardKing]

That is okay as it is really "damage caused by an external event" - but VW Group should try to protect these items from stone damage.

An engine guard (which VW fits in Polos sold in many countries) would have prevented the damage, but VW India only provides it as an insanely priced accessory.