Passat (B5) :: Boiling Coolant - Engine Compartment Getting Really Warm
May 25, 2009
I have an 03 Passat Wagon, 2.8L V6. My wife is getting ready for a big drive tomorrow, about 13 hours. Right now after reaching the operating temperature and then shutting off the coolant is boiling. The temp gauge never goes beyond 190 so it is not overheating but it is getting really warm in the engine compartment.
History: I noticed a couple of days ago that the expansion tank was badly discolored and had some corrosion inside. I know it was because I inadvertently mixed the green stuff with it about 2 months ago. I know it was stupid, but that was before I realized how stupid. Yesterday I drained the coolant and flushed it about 4 times. I couldn't flush it completely because I couldn't get at the drain next to the transmission fluid pan. I just drained it from the front outlet.
I refilled the system by disconnecting the expansion tank and holding it up until fluid came out of the hole on the hose going into the firewall. Then I was going to bleed it from the bleeder screw in the rear coolant pipe (as listed in Haynes manual) but could not find it. I even have the photo in the book to guide me and it is not there. Since I couldn't find it I skipped to the bleeder valve by the serpentine belt. I bleed that and hooked it all back up.
Now my fluid boils. I know it isn't the expansion tank cap because I took the one from my Jetta and put it in and it does the same thing. I put the cap from the Passat in the Jetta and it doesn't cause that coolant to boil. After driving today for a half hour the engine compartment felt superheated. Even the fenders were hot to the touch. It is almost 90 outside but it still felt unusually hot in the engine compartment. I would like for my wife to drive this on her road trip instead of the Jetta, but I can't let her do that with this problem.
I think I must not have bleed the system very well. The heater works and the temp gauge never goes above 190.
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Acquired a 1997 Subaru Legacy a few weeks ago. Drive it for a prolonged time in the heat, at speed, and you can smell warm coolant from the engine compartment. And the temperature gauge hovers in the middle of the dial, no matter what.
My wife explained the smell away by guessing she'd spilled coolant when she topped it up. But it's been weeks since she did that. Also - this sucker drinks coolant. I'm guessing every 2-3 days I'm adding another gallon.
It occurs to me that ... maybe .. a leak on top of a pipe so the coolant doesn't drip out, but the loss of pressure (from the hole) causes the fluid to boil and flash out? This might explain the 'higher than I'd like to see' operating temperature.
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Long story short, I got a 2001.5 1.8t M5 Passat with 63k miles 2 weeks ago.
This weekend I was driving around and pulled into the driveway and noticed the coolant was boiling in the coolant reservoir. It also looked like there was some oil in the reservoir. Take it to the shop, turns out that the plastic impeller on the water pump broke at 64k miles. This is wierd because the car never actually overheated. The mechanic doesn't think that the head gasket is blown or i have a cracked/warped head because the car still runs fine. He suggests I replace the water pump, timing belt, coolant reservoir, thermostat and obviously flush the coolant. I go ahead with the repair since its almost time for the TB anyway.
After bending over and taking it from the shop on a timing belt and water pump repair, I think I am all good. Today I open everything up after a few days of driving around just to check up on stuff. I open the coolant reservoir and there is telltale signs of oil in the coolant. Now i think this was an issue before the water pump went. Searching the archives I see that the oil cooler is a common failure. This could have also contributed to the failure of the water pump and maybe the thermostat, I don't know.
So instead of bending over for the mechanic for a second time in a week , I think I'm going to replace the oil cooler and flush the coolant system again and change the oil myself. Poked around looking at the oil cooler and it seems as if there is the slightest sign of an oil leak on the outside, which could mean there is a leak inside. I don't have compressed air so I'm not sure how I can test the oil cooler for leaks.
I am thinking i need:
-Oil cooler (some suggest S4, some suggest TDI one?)
-Oil cooler gasket
-Feed and return lines
-Hose clamps
-g12 coolant
-Oil filter
-Synthetic oil
Should I replace the upper and lower radiator hoses while I've got the coolant out? What else should I replace while the coolant is out. I see people suggest flushing the system several times. Should i use G12 everytime or can I just use water to flush until its clean and fill with G12?
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been working on my passat for the last year oil cooler went bad and also my CCM fried. Anyways got the car running good or so i thought drove the car up the road today and my coolant sounds like it's boiling inside the reservoir.
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VW Golf 2000 2.0 GLS engine auto. 158,000 km
Observation 1: The coolant flange broken 3 times, which appear to be caused by pressure inside.
Observation 2: I drove it today to see the problem. During normal driving upper hill, the temperature turned to be higher than normal. 1 or 2 minutes later after red light, I turned off the engine. And then driving for 2 minutes after the green light, the temperature read appeared to go back to normal (a tiny bit higher than normal). Further driving 5-7 minutes, the temperature reading went to the high end again. So I stopped, opened the engine cover and can hear water boiling sound inside the engine. The coolant in the expansion tank was much higher than normal (above the maximum). The coolant is Prestone (not G12).
I would guess that coolant is not flowing inside. But the problem appears to occur randomly. A water pump issue? (replaced at 90,000km) Or could be the thermostat? Why cannot the pressure be released automatically?
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My son has a 94 Escort LX and this weekend he noticed that when he'd stop the car he could hear the coolant boiling. The car temp gauge never registered too hot, and it never lost coolant. We checked the oil and it is not milky.
About 2 years ago it got a new water pump. Last summer a new thermostat, and then earlier this year a new radiator.
Last weekend he was stuck in a huge traffic jam. (4.5 hours for a normally 45 min. drive). I'm wondering if that could have weakened the radiator cap. He's picking up a new one today, but wonder if there is something else we should check?
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I recently purchased a 2005 Elantra GLS. It is super clean and runs great. The dealer replaced the original radiator and hoses because they said the original radiator had a hole in it. After driving the car, the engine compartment has a coolant smell. No smell in the cabin. I looked everywhere but don't see any signs of a leak. There is no smoke coming from the exhaust and the oil is clean. Coolant levels in the over flow tank and radiator are good. The car is only driven short distances (maybe 100 miles per week). What could be causing the coolant smell in the engine compartment?
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I have a 1992 Toyota Celica I think I may have overheating problems every time i stop after driving a little while i can hear a boiling noise from where you put your coolant in and when i open it there is steam coming from the black hose that goes in it.
The funny thing is when i am driving the temperature gauge stays at 1/2 way and never passes it, also sometimes when i stop green and a bit clear liquid leaks on the ground on the side where the battery is.
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When the car has been running awhile the coolant reservior and radiator make a boiling sound. It really only does it when it's been at idle for a bit. Radiator is full. Fan doesn't seem to come on after it has been running awhile but does when you turn on air. At what temp should it come on? The temp gauge never goes above the middle point so it stays in normal range, even when the tank are radiator are gurgling.
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I have a '99 E350 that sat for a winter. When I started it up, it appeared to be overheating and boiling over. I didn't have time to mess with it, and it sat for another year. Today I tried to figure out the issue and determined that I have trains fluid in the coolant. Pulling the trans dipstick revealed a white milkiness on the dipstick, so I'm guessing the trans cooler/radiator failed and the two fluids have mixed.
My question is, is the transmission salvageable? The van has not been driven in this condition, so I'm hoping there is hope. Obviously, flushing both systems (multiple times) is in order, along with a new radiator. But is there any hope for the transmission? I'd hate to spend the money flushing it all multiple times if it is a lost cause.
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2000 Chrysler 300M with 142K miles. Was a very reliable car until recently.
Problem began with boiling coolant in the reservoir tank. Then began to lose coolant at a high rate. I tried stop leak products and replaced the coolant frequently for a couple months. Some of it kind of worked, but the problem always returned. The car drives fine for about 10 highway miles then begins to steam out from under the hood on the passenger side. It gets about half way up the temp gauge, but does not really overheat. I usually stop when it steams out, let it cool, replace the antifreeze, then do it all over again. I've also tried a bunch of other things too, e.g., radiator flush. None of it worked.
The mechanic wants to replace the radiator. Says the system does not have pressure so there's no real way to determine if there are leaks in the engine. But he does know that the radiator is no good. I'm okay to replace radiator, but don't want to do it just to find out ten minutes later that I have a blown head gasket, which I would opt not to fix. I have read the tell tale signs of a blown head gasket, such as coolant in the oil, but there is none. My exhaust is white, but it's 5 degrees outside and it doesn't look whiter. I have seen some coolant on the ground at times.
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My 2003 GTI 24V VR6 is leaking coolant pretty quickly from the passenger side of the engine compartment. I have a new water pump in hand. If I'm replacing the water pump, would it be smart to go ahead and order a thermostat and metal crack-pipe to replace at the same time that I'm having the water pump installed? I'd hate to get the water pump installed, and find out that the leak is at the crack pipe.
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Today on a little road trip about 250 miles everything was going well then towards the end i was about to arrive when the temp gauge rose about a quarter inch from where it normally runs and i stopped at a gas station and all my coolant started rushing and boiling out of the top of my reservoir, I let the truck cool down and removed the cap and i lost all the coolant in the reservoir i bought two jugs and filled it back up and fired her up and the temp is back to normal and was not leaking from anywhere.
Hit the road again for the rest of the roughly 35 miles of the trip to my camp no smoking or lack of power then through a little sand and mud and she stayed cool. I was towing a small single axle utility trailer with a atv and was going 65-70 whole way. Truck has never had a problem with anything in the year and a half i have had it. Just hit 250k. What could this have been? Its holding all the coolant its been in there for a couple hours now without leaking. Thermostat maybe stuck for a second? Or a air bubble?
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Alright, my dad taken it to a mechanic, and guess what, it's still there. Only happens when the engine's warmed up. This is pretty much all I know, but it comes in through the a.c. and seems to come out of the engine compartment on the passengers side.
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I have a 2006 2.0t 6mt w/ 60k miles which I bought new. Ever since I can remember when I am stopped at stop lights or driving slowly (less than 10mph), i sometimes hear a knock knock knock coming from under the hood. It normally happens 8 times in a row, perfectly spaced (probably 1 thunk every second). It almost sounds like an electric valve or pump cycling/priming/purging. I would say that this 8 knock cycle happens just a few times a week. I have tried to capture the sound with my blackberry, but it is pretty quiet.
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Yesterday right after driving over a speed bump my car started smoking and the engine light flashed. it seemed of burning plastic. The part smoking is under the engine cover of the passenger side . it is a metal box with a plastic plug and looked to have "fins" the car also threw codes P301 and P2300. The car is a 2006 is this a coil.
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Routing a wire from near footwell lighting to engine compartment?
This thing is tight. No easy obvious places to get there.
Wiring under lighting to footwell as I did on my Tundra. Attached link. Want to mimic on the B7.
[URL] ....
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After changing the timing belt and water pump I want to change the coolant. Stupid to have no temp gauge so I got a scan tool connected. Been idling 20 minutes and it hasn't gone above 189 degrees. Assume it has a 195 degree thermostat. I put fresh water in the radiator but still don't see it mixing with coolant in the block as if the thermostat has opened.
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I can hear a drone at freeway speeds coming from the engine compartment of my 99 Passat 1.8. I don't know whether this is normal, but it seems like the down pipe has a resonance/vibration. How to reduce this? Test pipe? Header wrap? Or is there something wrong that I have this buzzing?
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My loaner 2014, 2.5 developed a massive fuel leak when trying to start it yesterday, and it did not start.
I had just done a short 1-mile trip and parked for 2 hrs, came out to start it and it turned over fine with no start, tried it again and smelled raw gas. Thought it flooded so I let it sit for 5 min and tried again, same result. Popped the hood and saw fuel on passenger side frame area and it was dripping a lot when I looked under it.
The car had 5400 miles on it and I had just put 1000 of those on over the week and the car was flawless. Dealer towed it and I am in another loaner while they finish my TDI. I could not see the cause and I wasn't going to trouble shoot as it was a loaner. The 2.5 has been bullet proof overall and this seemed more like a fuel line popped and not an engine issue.
Just wanted to throw an FYI out in case you get a no start and smell gas from an otherwise flawless engine. Nothing dramatic happened in this case as the engine was cold, but if happened while driving it had great potential for fire. Also, would hate to have this happen in my garage in the morning.
If I can get more details from the dealer I will post an update. This would clearly be a recall if they find defective design in failed part. I would not cry wolf on this yet, just a concern...again this car had been on the road for 5 months and 5400 miles.
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There is a loud ticking noise coming from an undetermined location in the engine compartment (sounds more like behind the motor). It starts on cold-start, lasts approximately a minute or so until the engine heats up. Driveability doesn't seem to be affected, and the engine doesn't have any additional weird symptoms. Some other VW owners have suggested changing the cam belt and tensioner to fix this problem, but the car has only just turned 45K miles and can't imagine that it would fail so quickly.
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