Low coolant warning

Apr 12, 2010
635
1
Had the low coolant warning pop up last night on the way home. Went to check the level and top up to find that a level wasn't easily readable on the reservoir! The coolant inside isn't pink or indeed purple but a weird brownish colour (it isn't sludgy and doesn't appear to contain oil) the bottle also looks like there's quite a bit of scale on the inside of it all too, especially on the level sensor as well as minor sediment particles. The car has done 13k miles and hasn't really seen any abuse in my ownership (from 2k miles). The car is booked in for investigation with the dealers under warranty. Has anyone else had this issue or heard of anything similar? Car is totally stock, it hasn't ever to my knowledge overheated and the oil is spotless and on level.
 

g_berserk

Smartass in training
Oct 15, 2014
164
24
Monterrey, Mexico
Have you taken the car to any garage other than the dealership?

That happened to me once on a Honda Civic due to mixing different coolants to top out the reservoir during a routine service on a quick oil service garage.
 

MIKEDAVIDN

Active Member
Dec 3, 2016
21
10
My 2015 cupra needs its coolant topping up every month, it drops by about an inch each time but I can't see any leaks, the coolant is still pink in colour though.
My car is going in to dealers next week to have it investigated.
 

Blad

Active Member
Apr 5, 2015
3
0
Wroclaw / Poland
In my car there was same issue. I went to dealer, and they said there was a problem with water pump. Oil and coolant were mixing each other + leaking. They put new water pump (guarantee ofc) and, everything is fine now.
 

Bam

Active Member
Jul 1, 2017
12
0
Glasgow, Scotland
It seems common to have coolant issues with the EA888 engine used across the VW group and it usually turns out to be the water pump or the thermostat.
 

sixysix

Active Member
Jan 27, 2014
346
3
London
Could have been topped up with the regular blue coolant which will turn the color brown and not good for the system.

Will need flushing if that is the case and then refill with the correct pink/purple G13 coolant.
 

BigARG

Active Member
Mar 24, 2015
75
0
Essex
Just had mine serviced and they noticed the thermostat leaking. Quoted £607 for new thermostat and housing. Not happy.
 
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MIKEDAVIDN

Active Member
Dec 3, 2016
21
10
My 2015 Cupra been to dealers today with coolant loss ( looses 1” of coolant every 4 weeks or so), needs a new water pump that’s leaking, luckily going to be done under warranty.
 
Apr 12, 2010
635
1
Just to update this, the car is in on Thursday... Not impressed with the delay so I've had it parked up and pressed my bike into daily service. Briefly used it on Sunday and the leak has gone from being relatively minor to really really bad. Header bottle empty in 2 miles, small ocean on the undertray front centre!
 
Apr 12, 2010
635
1
Car is having water pump, thermostat housing, pipes and header tank. Cant be worked on until wednesday at the earliest... On the plus side i have an audi s5 s line courtesy car until its done!
 
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