79TA7.6
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 8, 2006
- TDI
- 2003 TDI Jetta, 2002 TDI Golf, 2005 TDI Golf
So I was driving to work this morning when my low coolant light came on. I have had issues in the past with a slow leak at the t-stat housing, which I thought I fixed by adding a bead of silicone to the flange, so I was not too worried. The temp gauge did not move, and yes I know this is just a dummy temp gauge as it does not read true. I did not want to pull over and add and coolant anyway as it was below zero Fahrenheit this morning driving in and the engine would have been too warm to add that cold of coolant. After work I popped the hood and the coolant was not just low, but the entire resivour was empty. I started looking around the engine bay to see if I could find the culprit when I finally realized my thermostat housing was loose. Mind you I have had nearly 50k miles of driving with my “fixed” t-stat housing repair. The bottom bolt was almost completely out. The only thing I can atribibute this to would be all the harsh roads I have been driving this winter. I have been bouncing over some pretty narly drifts getting to work. Especially this last week. The snow has been drifting real bad this year. Is it possible that all the bouncing could have loosened the bolts? I have been driving this car for 250k miles and never had the bolts come loose.
The other question I have is it seems that I only lost about 2 liters of fluid, the best I can figure anyway. I tried to burp the system and get nothing. I drove it until the temp gauge read normal and a little long to make sure the engine was up to temp. Checked the resivour and it had not gone down any. Decided to check the radiator hoses and the hose attached to the t-stat housing is stone cold. Drove it another 10 miles and rechecked. Same thing. I drove all the way home, 65 miles in total, and I have zero heat in the t-stat hose. I hooked up my VCDS to check actual coolant temp and it is sitting at 90c. Is it possible that my car is not heating up enough to open the t-stat? Coming home it was about 20-25f. I have the radiator 2/3 blocked with coroplast if that makes any difference.
The other question I have is it seems that I only lost about 2 liters of fluid, the best I can figure anyway. I tried to burp the system and get nothing. I drove it until the temp gauge read normal and a little long to make sure the engine was up to temp. Checked the resivour and it had not gone down any. Decided to check the radiator hoses and the hose attached to the t-stat housing is stone cold. Drove it another 10 miles and rechecked. Same thing. I drove all the way home, 65 miles in total, and I have zero heat in the t-stat hose. I hooked up my VCDS to check actual coolant temp and it is sitting at 90c. Is it possible that my car is not heating up enough to open the t-stat? Coming home it was about 20-25f. I have the radiator 2/3 blocked with coroplast if that makes any difference.