Antifreeze/Coolant Leaking from 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit

[ksauce]

Hi everyone,

Back in October 2020 I bought a used 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit from my friend, currently has around 150k miles and I've been driving it around like a charm. It came with some issues already (valve oil cover needs to be replaced still, tire rods need to be replaced), but near the beginning of March I started getting the coolant low signal popping up on the dashboard. I temporarily got around it by just adding antifreeze to the coolant reservoir to buy me some time until i figured out where the coolant leak was coming from.

Initially, I thought the very top hose that connects to the top of the reservoir was the issue because I had seen coolant dripping out of it after turning off my car whenever I went out for a drive, but today I replaced that hose with a friend and pour more coolant into the reservoir tank, only to see all of that coolant leak out the bottom of the car. There is some coolant still in the reservoir now so it's not completely empty, but this leak is substantial. The leak also is coming out pretty much directly under the reservoir. Before I hadn't seen this kind of leaking occur, so not sure if it just got worse over time or I was just oblivious to it happening.

After inspecting it with my friend, there seemed to be no cracks in the reservoir tank itself, and from what we can see near the top and the bottom of the reservoir we didn't see any leaks from any of the visible hoses, so I'm not sure where the leak is coming from. Does anyone have any tips on what other sources the leak could be coming from, and what I can do about it? We're wondering if it's another hose, but wanted to get some more info. Thanks!

(See attached photo for where the leak is, that's the front passenger side)

 

[GTI's]

So your pouring it in the reservoir and its just flowing out from the bottom area of reservoir. As you know you only have those two coolant hoses in that area so it got to be there. Don't really need a pressure tester if its flowing like that.

 

[ksauce]

So your pouring it in the reservoir and its just flowing out from the bottom area of reservoir. As you know you only have those two coolant hoses in that area so it got to be there. Don't really need a pressure tester if its flowing like that.

What's really weird is so after I checked the car with my friend, I drove it around the block to another street to avoid street sweeping restrictions for the following day. Just now, I went back out to see if I can get a better look at where the leak was coming from, and try to see the hoses from the bottom area of the reservoir as you mentioned, but this time when I put some coolant in again I expected it to gush out the bottom, but this time it didn't at all. It was very strange, any idea as to why that may be?

 

[GTI's]

Find a coolant pressure tester and test the system, pressurize the system to 1bar/14.5psi and see if you can find the leak. Do this both with the system cold and warm( just be careful when removing the cap on a warm system)

The coolant reservoir / expansion tank is held by 2 screws and can be moved to get a look at the bottom area

Take note that if you do not pour the coolant directly into the expansion tank hole but let it some spill into the threaded section overflow area you will see below the expansion tank.