Coolant leak

[Jr_golden]

Is there anyone that has an idea of how to solve this common s3 issue for coolant. Mine has a message saying “switch off engine, coolant level too low”

 

[92683]

check to see if its the common waterpump housing issue. if it is, then just replace that.
always scan it first tho. see if the ecu may have picked up anything else.

its the most super common issue you'll see for these cars.

i have replaced mine through the dealership and myself. when i did it myself, it never came back. with the dealership it came back sooner than later. stupid really, they cut corners when they install them. take the time to do it right and you'll be fine for a longer time frame.

dealership is about 30k before it happen again. mine, still going strong.

 

[Jr_golden]

Sorry for the late reply, but yes everything you’re saying sounds exactly like whats been goin mg on with my car. 3 mechanics juat cut corners and said its the water pump and i replaced it twice. So after that the same issue came back and i went to a different mechanic who took time with it. Cleaned the whole coolant system and sealed the water pump and housing properly. Now no leaks or engine overheat

 

[92683]

good to hear.
i thought this was an audi issue but apparently, not all issues should be repeat offenders.

i know that audi only pays them on a limited per-hour basis which is why they cut corners. oh well. the takeaway is, that dealership work is not only expensive but the work is just below par.

what baffles me, why does it crack and leak on the second, third, or even a fourth replacement unit?
that makes no sense. what i mean is the units are brand new when they replace them. so whats the cause of the crack since its not even that many miles between issues.

my assumptions:
1. they reuse some of the parts.
2. they forced the new unit into the slot.
3. did we ever really visually get to inspect it to see if there was a crack for ourselves. i mean we trusted them.

when i did mine, i dont think i ever saw a crack. it was just more of a leak and i just replaced it. i had a lot of work to do and i didn't care to inspect it. in hindsight, i think i should have.

a major issue besides the crack which could be true on the first unit, but there is a banjo tube that, if installed incorrectly will cause a leak. it just needs to be off alignment by a little and it can cause a leak right where the water pump sits. the way this banjo tube sits, its right in a tight area. with warranty work, the mechanic never takes off all the parts to install the whole unit back. which i can see where there would be an issue with the alignment of the tube.
but so far, no more issues on my w.p.



....wait did you overheat at any point?

 

[Jr_golden]

Oh okay yea now i see, i must admit i wasnt a ttal audi fan until 5 years ago when i got an s3 which was older shape than what i got now. But only recently i been hearing about the coolant leak common faults.
So basically the major issue for me was the overheating part of the engine. It would literally tell me to switch off the engine. If I continued, i would have major issues like blown head gasket. Which at least 4 mechanic told me i already have a blown head gasket just from me describing the overheating issue.
turned out they were all wrong because found a good mechanic that checked everything over and said my head gasket is fine. Was yours only the water pump and housing issue?

 

[92683]

"Was yours only the water pump and housing issue? "



lolzzzz

 

[92683]

i will tell you this, the s3 is my first audi.

i found out that the car is the most heavy maintenance / repair required brand i have ever had.

i recently talked to an audi / vw specialist shop owner and i was told these cars are amazing.... at needing repairs and maintenance attention.

even if the car sits in your garage for a year without being driven, it will still need attention.


if you saw the shop, it only does audi and vw cars. has a staff of 5-8 full-time mechanics. has a book-out date for any work at an average of 3-5 days. there is enough work that he doesn't need to do any other brands.


we talked about how he has to now fix his daughter's vw car. its newer than mine at 2018. it has broken valve springs. which blew up the engine. he showed me the valve spring. i did ask what is his recommendation on not having that. he said vw doesn't have a solution at the moment. its just a crappy OEM part. i told him an aftermarket one would be better than. he agreed.

you can imagine the repairs he has to do. this is when, last week, i had to install a new mechatronic unit cause mine was defective and finally gave out after the warranty was over. its expensive but i did the whole job myself which saved me a ton of money. i just didn't have access to ODIS (program coding required).

cost for it be repaired, the cheapest i found is about $4k, but can go higher. i would say even at $4k wouldn't touch it. the work that is involved wont justify the amount you make on it. i would say at a minimum, $5k. dealerships are known to charge about $6-$8k.
i bring this up because mech units go out at an average of 150k miles or so. expect it!

ahh but i digress, yes other things have broken besides the waterpump.

 

[Jr_golden]

Ahh yea i see, and i been hearing a lot about the maintenance part from various sources. I had vw golf r before this s3 and i must say they are durable. And after i got the s3 and was told my head gasket was gone i was considering getting a vw golf r engine on the audi. Thats if i listened to those mechanics but glad i ended up taking another route 😅. Buying a whole engine aint so different from buying another car, that would have been very expensive 💰