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This is a first for me, new water pump at 12k

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
I'm at 29K miles. Will keep a weekly eye on my coolant levels to see if there's a noticeable drop. If not, it may just be that the coolant simply... disappears over time?! similarly to how engines consume oil to varying degrees... i have an extremely surface level understanding of the inner workings of engines so excuse my ignorance if this is not remotely correct.

Coolant isn't supposed to be consumed. Ours, and probably every other car made in the past 15+ years have a closed system. There's a pressure release built into the cap but coolant shouldn't leach out of it. It's more likely there's a leak somewhere. If you see coolant leaking out of the overflow bottle your thermostat is stuck closed.

Let me see if I remember everything. Oil can burn and be vaporized. If it's because you have a leaking piston ring it can make it's way into the combustion chamber on the down stroke and be burned. Solid blue smoke on acceleration is a symptom if bad enough. You can also have leaking valve seals. Oil can drip into the cylinder and burn up, also causing blue smoke out the exhaust, but it usually manifests itself as a puff of blue smoke when you punch the gas, at least early on. Drip enough and it will turn solid. When bearings burn up, the oil can vaporize and wind up in the PCV system, then introduced into the intake manifold, then out the exhaust. Since it's already vaporized you probably won't see blue smoke. But eventually you'll hear crankcase noise. And your O2 sensors, cat and turbo won't be happy. Fortunately, the processes usually happen slowly unless you have a catastrophic part failure. Using the proper oil and changing the oil and filter regularly usually is all you need to do.

In prehistoric times I saw where people thought you only needed to add oil, and never change it. Not a pretty sight.
 

Npdogg

Ready to race!
Location
Boston
I constantly smell coolant outside my car but I've never had it go low over 12k miles yet. I suspect its the system venting or something however I never experienced anything from my mk6 GTI or R so idk. fingers crossed haha

I had the coolant light come on my car 2 weeks ago I am at 23k, the level was well below the minimum while warm. I happened to be at the dealership anyways to get my headlight fixed so I asked about the light. The service advisor told me that these cars GTI/R have some sort of venting system that expels the coolant during certain situations. So I had to buy a $30 bottle of VW coolant and fill it back up to normal. The service advisor is someone I have worked with at another job for almost 10 years so I don't think he would lie to me about it. He told me to monitor it over the next couple of months and if I have it happen again they will do a leak test on it. And worst case replace the water pump. So hopefully it's not an issue because I love my car and plan on getting an R in the next year or two.
 
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LeoA86

Ready to race!
Location
San Antonio
I always smell coolant when I park the car after my daily commute, yet my coolant level does not show low. Idk, who knows, it has close to 9000 miles, no issues so far.
 

elamothe15

Ready to race!
I'm at 29K miles. Will keep a weekly eye on my coolant levels to see if there's a noticeable drop. If not, it may just be that the coolant simply... disappears over time?! similarly to how engines consume oil to varying degrees... i have an extremely surface level understanding of the inner workings of engines so excuse my ignorance if this is not remotely correct.

I had the coolant light come on my car 2 weeks ago I am at 23k, the level was well below the minimum while warm. I happened to be at the dealership anyways to get my headlight fixed so I asked about the light. The service advisor told me that these cars GTI/R have some sort of venting system that expels the coolant during certain situations. So I had to buy a $30 bottle of VW coolant and fill it back up to normal. The service advisor is someone I have worked with at another job for almost 10 years so I don't think he would lie to me about it. He told me to monitor it over the next couple of months and if I have it happen again they will do a leak test on it. And worst case replace the water pump. So hopefully it's not an issue because I love my car and plan on getting an R in the next year or two.

I have 28k miles on mine. A few months ago (at about 26k) I got a low coolant warning at very cold temps when I was starting my car after snowboarding all day. Never noticed any puddling or anything sense of coolant burning. The level was just at the min and when it expanded upon warming up, the coolant light went off. I topped it off and have been keeping an eye on it over the last few months. I need to bring my car in for the recall at some point (waiting until I hit 30K) and I may ask them to pressure test the line and check it out if I notice the level dropping. I believe the water pump should be covered under the 60k powertrain warranty? ...for the US people
 

Oryx R

Ready to race!
Location
SE Michigan
I've had to top off the coolant in my 2015 R 2 times. once each winter I've had it. Sometimes I smell coolant as well like I did in my 2012 gti (3 water pumps)

Haven't taken it in yet though as the top seems to do it. My dealers are not mod friendly so it's a pain in the arse
 

VINNY1

Ready to race!
Location
Chicago
Thermostat housing changed today.
Hope it ain't an issue like MK6 pump.

I never saw a leak, or loss of fluid, but I smelled the burnt coolant every time I parked. Could be a common issue, but it's ignored because you don't see a leak.


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