Hi, whenever I start the car first thing in the morning the coolant indicator beeps and then starts flashing - it's done this for a while now but as it goes off after a while I haven't done anything about it. The coolant level is fine. Someone looked at the car yesterday and suggested it might be the head gasket that is on it's way out as the coolant smelt musty. Does anyone agree with this?? Could it be something else? He suggested it would cost £500 to replace the head gasket so I'm loathed to just go ahead with this without asking some advice. If I leave it, could I be asking for trouble?
Also, how freqently should the timing belt be changed? It was replaced at 61500 (2 yrs ago) along with the MAF sensor.
Many thanks!!
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Anything in the handbook to suggest why the coolant indicator beeps?
the coolant smelt musty.
Get the coolant tested properly by a garage that can analyse the coolant for the presence of hydrocarbons - in other words a proper sniff test that doesn't involve someone sticking their nostrils over the header tank.
As fr cambelt change intervals, can't help you on that one. Hopefully someone will be along shortly who can.
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I asked this very question of Skoda UK by email in March of 2007 with regard to my 52 plate Octavia 1.9 TDI Elegance, here's a direct quote from their reply.
"Dear Mr Soupytwist,
Thank you for your email.
I can confirm that your cambelt should be changed at 150,000 km (93,150 miles) or four years old, whichever comes first. As your vehicle is now four years old I would recommend that you change your cambelt as a matter of precaution.
I trust this information will prove to be of some use to you and thank you for taking time to contact us regarding this matter.
Yours sincerely
[Individual's name deleted]
Customer Service Specialist
SkodaAuto Customer Service"
I had the cambelt change done as part of the 80,000 mile service which came to about £450 all in with a new water pump by a local independent VW specialist.
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I had this problem on my old audi A4 usally on colder mornings. It turned out to be the coolent level sensor located in expansion tank. The sensor is apparently integeral with the tank itself but was replaced quite cheeply. I have since found out that this is can be common on VAG engines both petrol and derv and that it can be possible to clean the sensor itself. I cant recall the details but might have been in this forum, a seach might help.
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That is where I would go first. If the antifreeze is old it might be a good idea and flush it all out and replace with fresh. When I do this, (on other cars) I take the opportunity to totally disconnect the expansion bottle and clean it all out. Most level indicators work by a float system or a floating lever system that when the fluid falls, sets off, or breaks, a magnetic link which makes the electrical contact. These units can usually be CAREFULLY disassembled as they are usually very simple. They often have lots of gunge on them, so a good clean up can work wonders. Make a note when you disassemble and replace exactly all the bits in exactly the right order. I recently put a lever unit in upside down, so that when a leak occurred the lever never fell, and the light never came on.
A sniff teast will take 10 minutes and be very accurate.
My MOT station just pop the exhaust tester in and any hydrcarbons present (which should not be) show up easily.
Edited by MW on 25/03/2008 at 18:49
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