Scum in coolant reservoir

[woofy]

Bugger that's a shame for such a new car, wonder what the cause of that is?

[Spinifex]

No idea as yet.

I can't complain too much though - Skoda Assist has organised a free hire car for the next week - hopefully won't need it that long, but at least I'm not stuck without a vehicle.

[woofy]

That's good to know.

[Spinifex]

So it appears the cause is a broken oil-cooler/radiator - which apparently in the Octy III, is a single-piece unit. Unsure if this is common, but the issue is apparently common in earlier VAG cars, like Passats and Jettas in the early 2000's.
I'm surprised the engineering issue hasn't been rectified in the last 10-15 years or so.

So the replacement has been ordered from Germany - because there's no spares available in Australia.
So could be a few more weeks till it arrives and gets installed.

I asked if Skoda would authorise just removing a radiator/cooler unit from a stock car awaiting sale, to repair mine, and then replace that one when the new item arrives from Germany. I'm not holding out much hope on this, but it would A: get my car back to me quicker, and B: save them another couple of weeks of paying for my hire car.

[99Reza]

Which service centre did you car end up with?

I had the radiator replaced on my car earlier in the year, never spotted any scum on the reservoir but the coolant level was dropping at an alarming level.

Everything was ok after they have replaced the radiator, so I thought. Then I noticed the coolant level starting to drop again, slowly this time, they ran a test and it was something to do with the thermostat sensor, which didn't trigger the fan to switch on. Replaced, noticed coolant dropped again, mentioned this to the service manager during a scheduled service, they say not to worry about it, it was just air pocket. 5000Km later, I noticed the coolant is still dropping slightly...

I have a feeling I might visit the dealership again soon due to coolant loss

I waited two weeks for the radiator related parts to arrive.

It's a shame that a new car is being effected with this issue.

[Spinifex]

Hmmmm, yours isn't that old either.

Wonder if the radiator/cooler assembly on the Skoda's is bespoke, or just VW stuff?

Surprised the engineering hasn't been improved on them though - the oil cooler leaking into the radiator has been a known issue on VWs for years apparently......

[Umai Naa!!]

I would say the suspected faulty parts are 1, 7, 15, and 16.

1 is the main bracket that supports the alternator, the a/c compressor, the oil filter, and the oil cooler. Has engine oil and coolant passing through it.

7 is the seal to the engine block.

15 is the oil cooler. This has engine oil and coolant passing through it.

16 is the seal between the cooler and the bracket.

[Spinifex]

Ahhhh...... so I'm not sure which parts are being ordered from overseas.

All the service agent told me, was the the radiator & oil cooler were one-piece, and that parts had been ordered from germany.
What those parts were, I'm unsure.

[Umai Naa!!]

They may well be ordering a radiator too, as it will be pretty clogged up.

[woofy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this have messed up engine/turbo cooling pretty badly and also cause coolant to get into the engine oil? Or was it just a leak into the radiator, still a messy and pretty bad problem all around.

[Umai Naa!!]

Radiator is just a radiator on these. No internal heat exchanger for oil in them.

Oil in the coolant is more obvious, compared to coolant in the oil. Always best to treat it as if both have occurred.

[woofy]

OK to put it another way, from your diagram, there was a leak in a part that had separate oil and coolant pathways, so they mixed right?

[Umai Naa!!]

Correct.

[woofy]

Geeze it was bad enough when just the headgasket was all you had to think about, when did it become a good idea to make some more points for things to stuff up....

[Umai Naa!!]

At least head gasket failures in VAG stuff are pretty rare these days.