VW T5 1.9 2006 desperately need help. Coolant loss

Hi mate.
You seem to be having an identical nightmare with it.
I'm no mech but the final time I got it seen to they put on a genuine VW gasket and said BGR are rubbish. He named it before I told him that's what had been used.

They did their own checks too and found the rad was rotten inside and had collapased. This knackered the flow etc. The 2nd and then final time the head didn't need a skim. The BGR gasket had clearly let go.

So combination of a new rad a and proper gasket solved my issue. I am 13k miles down the line now and no issues again.

I could clearly see under the bottle there was a load of light brown/red residue all over the place. Have a good look right underneath the bottle.

I did a lot of asking around and a quite a few people have been spot on with diagnoses.

Get the van up to temp. Park it up to go stone cold overnight ideally. Go back to it and open the coolant cap. If there is a hiss/pressure release its a good indication of the head, head gasket or block holding that pressure.

I was lucky it was gasket only but had a few mechanics and few K to find that out. The BGR gasket might have worked with a properly working rad but for peace if mind I would get a genuine part.

Sounds like you have changed everything else I was directed to.

If you're planning on seeing it through and having the van for a long time it might be worth chucking a new rad on??? The front end has to come off to sort the head anyway I think.
The symptoms did improve with a new rad but the gasket had gone.

I'm just kind of summarising the advice I was given on here and what finally worked. I'm not talking from any kind of mechanical background. (await shots fired by people in the know)

Keep the thread posted mate. It's good to know what solved the problems.

Cheers

Neil

Hi mate, sounds like exactly the same thing is happening to me. Losing water, but no evidence of where it goes. The more pressure it gets under ie down the motorway it loses water, but using it round town at low speeds was fine in comparison. Then you hear the suction when you cut the engine & check the coolant & it reappears. Various mechanics have looked at it, worked on in & had there own opinion. Had numerous gas leak tests( if that’s what they’re called ) with the dye not changing colour so apparently not Head gasket. So had new water pump, new radiator, new thermostat but was advised to leave it out as to get more water flow. Still had problems doing exactly the same thing . Then was advised to have new head bolts wound in sequence as it might be head lift from stretched bolts, so got some 150 head bolts from dark side developments & had a mech do the job & thought it had solved it but after a week back to same problems. I then agreed for the guy to get the head off & tested but kept me hanging for months to do the work rather than telling me he can’t/won’t do it.
So had some local mechanics look at it last week, they of course have to do there prolimerary checks despite any previous history & they seem to think it’s a blockage so flushed system through & gradually got more & more shit out, the heater matrix was clogged up too apparently also with a hose clip not connected so could be letting air in I was told. They refitted the new stat & said just try it! had it back for 4 days now took it to work local, everything fine. Haven’t had to fill the bottle but not had a chance to push the van yet, so today with no weight in the back had it up to 75-80 for about 30 secs looked down & saw the temp gauge up to 120 so immediately backed it off & the temp gauge returned to 90. It got me home another 3 miles then checked the coolant & the bottle was empty. The coolant warning light hadn’t come in though. So I’m guessing after reading your similar experiences that I need the head off & skimmed if necessary & a new gasket but not a BGR one? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

The guy at IVC remembers you, just from the BGA reference!amyway could you remind me, were you getting any issues with overhearing? If so was this from the start of your van playing up or a later issue that developed? Cheers

Sounds very similar.

I can't remember the price but they did confirm the guys who did my HG he first time had done it all properly just used a rubbish BGA gasket.
They re skimmed to the max level but their engineers said it was still flat. Then they put the thickest Gaskets made for this engine. They did tell me they would only use genuine VW parts when doing the work.
It was still a bit of a gamble because they only did a bit of a visual check of the block. (That was another mechanics trail of thought). They were confident of the radiator and gasket combination being the issue.

I'm out at minute but I'll dig out the receipt later/tomorrow.

2200 inclusive springs to mind. They are a proper specialist place not back street. That MOT in that too though.

Yes it holds pressure until cap is released then bubbles up violently.. gonna give em a call. Cheers

Great news. I’m suffering coolant loss to the point of refilling every 300 Miles or so. No overheating. Coolant system over pressurising and spitting coolant all over engine bay. Coolant hoses going rock hard and staying that way after turning everything off. Everything says head gasket but my garage have replaced HG before only for problem to return, so reluctant to take my cash for the HG job. Sounds very similar to your issue. My garage claimed that the 1.9 head doesn’t take well to being skimmed and this affects the ability for the replacement gasket to sit properly. Three options....HG replacement, donor engine or recon’d engine......????

Hi
One year on was the problem solved once and for all? I am having the same exact issue now.
Regards

Thanks for getting back to us with an update.    I hope you have many miles of trouble-free motoring ahead of you.

Edited by gregozedobe - 14 Jan 17 at 19:38

Ps I've tried steel seal and use ultraviolet to work out it was blowing out the bottom of the header tank.
Thanks paul

Hi mate.
No update at minute. Ive sent it into a VW specialist they are going to run some tests and assuming they dont find anything obvious the other garage has missed they are going to swap my lump for a recon one.

They are quite busy I took it in Friday and they will start looking at it tomorrow or Thursday.
I will be ringing them Monday to see what script is with it.

Its not gonna be cheap I dont think mate.

I will add something on here when I have an update. So many threads dont come to a conclusion. I wont be one of those.

Watch this space....