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Loss of coolant

159K views 100 replies 33 participants last post by  Roadblock321  
#1 ·
Hi all - an original member but since lost my login details.

My from new 63 plate Mokka had the water pump recently replaced, identified as primary source for coolant leak. However, coolant still leaking and now traced to coolant hose behind the turbo (1.4T engine). Vauxhall want £799 to replace as "not under warranty". Anyone else had the coolant hose replaced under warranty or at time the water pump was replaced?

Thanks,
MJ
 
#2 ·
Thanks for response Flash - The dealership accidentally passed me the advisory note with labour costs only at first... this was £683! Just for the labour!.. the remainder is for the part. when challenged they stated they would have to remove the turbo. How big a job this is I don't know.

Petrol 1.4 Turbo engine.

Could the current issue be related to the previous coolant issues where the water pump had warped? I'll have another garage look into the problem, present my findings to Vauxhall if they differ.
 
#3 ·
As you have a 100,000 lifetime warranty I would be inclined to seek information from VCS regarding the repair.
 
#4 ·
I've just had repairs done not covered by lifetime warranty. However they say as I'm a good customer and the car has full service history Vauxhall cover 30% and the dealer 10% of the costs. I hope this applies in your situation
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
We have been without our Chevrolet Trax 1.4T for 4 weeks now, with the same issue. The dealer has confirmed that it is losing coolant, but cant find where from. They are saying that they want £300, just to further investigate it. They think it might be leaking into the timing chain housing ??

I am currently in dispute with them as the car was booked in 2 weeks before the warranty expired. Chevrolet (Vauxhall) did not want to know, but have since they said they will allow the dealer to do some work ???

I did tell them about leaking from the pump, turbo pipes etc. The dealer just keeps saying that you will see noticeable staining if this was the case ?
 
#11 ·
Took our Mokka X to all saints garage Bromsgrove. It's slowly loosing coolant, They did a pressure test and reported all was well, its not loosing coolant. I asked why the coolant was currently low and was told it was nearly up to the mark with the engine hot so when cold it would be right, I begged to differ, the person on the service desk called over a passing mechanic who then agreed the water will rise as the engine cools I was SHOCKED. another customer had appeared so we went over to my car so he didn't have to listen to the disagreement, opening the bonnet the smell of coolant was apparent I asked why it smelled of coolant unfortunately I was alone in being able to smell it, pointing at the header tank I was told the level looks fine, I said yes it is only a few mill low but the engine is hot when cold it will be low, trying to cover his grin I was told when the system is under pressure the level drops so when its cold it will be right. I asked him to put it in writing and wager on it but no luck!Any comments will be forwarded to the garage.

Edited to add, was told "drive it till the warning light comes on then bring it back"


Edited by: MokkTheWeek
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well, we got our Trax back after 6 weeks. Still not repaired. The dealer has now added a dye to the coolant. The car has been back twice now for them to inspect, each time no leak visible. On both occasions I have to top up the coolant with 200ml of coolant.

The dealer is now talking to Vauxhall to see if they will authorize taking bits off the engine, to look inside!

I just hope the dealer gets the go ahead from Vauxhall. The annoying thing is, I reported the coolant loss at each service and was always told not fault found!
 
#15 ·
Hopefully yours will be found now! The day after my post above when cold it required 250 mi of coolant having only driven back from the dealership and being told no leak and coolant level correct! now booked in to be left with the other dealership owned by the same company, next week
 
#16 ·
Sadly, no fault found ! Even after having to top up by 200ml again.

The coolant dripping, was where they had done a pressure test at the last visit and coolant had escaped out of the header tank when they released the cap. The coolant had then collected in the tray and started to drip from there.

It has been left that we will continue to monitor it and the case has been left open with Vauxhall.

I am now going to let it drop and see if it levels out. This seems to be the case on some of the American Chevrolet Forums which use the identical 1.4 Turbo GM Petrol Engine.

Best Regards
 
#17 ·
QUESTION, How many Vauxhall trained technicians does it take to correctly top up an expansion tank?

After the experience in my posts above a case was opened with Vauxhall and our Mokka went in for "further diagnostics" no fault was found, the case is left open and I was asked to keep a record of coolant needed to top up, before leaving the dealership I checked the coolant level, the engine was cold, it has been filled to the seam in the tank, so will need to consume a considerable amount to reach the level mark, either the technician was pretty thick or they deliberately set out to reduce the record of coolant used.

ANSWER, Two failed, so three to infinity it is!
 
#19 ·
Hi to all, i have just registered on behalf of my wife. She has a 2015 1.4 Turbo Auto, she loves the car but i am concerned as its losing water, somewhere ? . having had an Astra 1.8 auto which emptied the radiator into the gearbox via the oil cooler, i am concerned. can anyone enlighted me to where the gearbox dipstick is as i for the life of me cant find it and want to check for contamination,Thanks in advance, Andy
 
#22 ·
MokkTheWeek said:
nickm said:
On a positive note, the dealership did give me a spare bottle of coolant
Image

Mine was less confident, they just put the extra in and to hell with expansion space!

Hi, have you been able to get your coolant loss sorted ?

We are still losing coolant and I am waiting for the dealer to respond.

Having dug around the internet, I am getting the feeling that these particular engines are not that good reliability wise. Honest John, goes onto say that he expects to see a high number of failures !

Best Regards
 
#24 ·
Hi, losing about 200 - 300 ml per 500 miles. Car stinks of burning coolant when hot.Been in and out of the dealers since April this year. They agree its dropping but cant see where from ?
Has dye in the coolant, but they still cant see any visible leaks.

The dealer had the car for 6 weeks at one point.

The problem is that the warranty ran out in April, but fault booked into dealer prior to this, there is an open case with Vauxhall. Not sure where I stand now, but have emailed the service manager.

He did kindly give ,me a bottle of coolant last time ????????????
 
#26 ·
nickm said:
MokkTheWeek said:
nickm said:
On a positive note, the dealership did give me a spare bottle of coolant
Image

Mine was less confident, they just put the extra in and to hell with expansion space!

Hi, have you been able to get your coolant loss sorted ?

We are still losing coolant and I am waiting for the dealer to respond.

Having dug around the internet, I am getting the feeling that these particular engines are not that good reliability wise. Honest John, goes onto say that he expects to see a high number of failures !

Best Regards
Nope! our car only covers about 50 miles a week, I marked the level in pencil on the expansion tank when cold and for the first 3 weeks it dropped 1 mm per week, so 3 mm in just under 150 miles, prepared an email ready to send, then checked the level and it had not dropped for a week so left it till this week, (checking day has been Wednesday). Together with the other issues, no "lights on" indicator and no heater illumination from time to time, and the continuing saga of being warned by the infotainment that using the touch screen while driving can be distracting, despite never using the touch screen while driving except to clear the warning, sometimes several times on a short journey, although overall I like the Mokka owning it has turned pretty damn sour!