99 Jetta Coolant leak due to repair shop mistake

A couple weeks ago I had my wife's early 1999 A3 Jetta towed to a recommended Import repair shop. The car overheated and wouldn't restart due to a coolant leak. Fortunately it turned out to be a cracked fitting and nothing too major. Car even runs fine now once it cooled down and the coolant was filled back up. Unfortunately the repair place did not get the lowest 90 deg elbow fitting (the one you use to drain the system) seated properly. Tonight it finally blew loose and once again the car stalled due to overheating. After much trouble, I reseated the fitting properly and filled the car up with coolant. The trouble is, all I had available was the green stuff. Two questions for you:

1)Should I have the system drained and flushed and the coolant replaced with the proper VW spec coolant

2)Do you think I should insist the repair place do it for me at no cost? (and check this same fitting after he's done?)

I've drained the coolant myself last summer and know that the fitting in question is a nightmare to get back on properly due to the water pump bracket getting in the way. Let me know what you think.

Thanks, EWB

Reply to
ewb4arch
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If they are not confident in putting the fitting back correctly, they always can remove the pump housing for easier access to that fitting (thermostat housing)... al.

Reply to
al

Definitely tell that shop about it and see what they say. Now are you sure that they even touched that lowest 90 deg elbow fitting (the one you use to drain the system)?

You can just do it yourself!

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BTW why is the driver letting it overheat so badly that it stops running? The warning light should come on first when the coolant level drops if it is working correctly. Are you sure that there is not more wrong with the engine like a bad cylinder head gasket or warped cylinder head?

JMHO

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

you got a mess now, should have just used water until you could put the correct stuff in. the issue G12 & G11 coolant don't mix. Get the correct stuff, remove hoses from heater core and flush, along with the rest of the system. And as for the OEM elbow... replace it as they have a habit of leaking once removed.

Reply to
Lost In Space/Woodchuck

Reply to
none2u

OP here with a follow-up.

After speaking with the shop, my confedence in them has slipped further. He basically refused to take responsiblity for the fitting coming loose. That fitting has the "U" shaped metal retaining clip. I can't imagine it working loose had it been installed properly.

I ended up taking saturday to drain and flush the system. After running water through it three times, it no longer came out green. It was sort of a cloudy grey. It didn't appear to be oil, but I don't know what else it might be. Any ideas? Should it be a concern?

Another concern is that the cooling fans didn't kick on until I turned the car off. Is that normal? I let the thing run for almost 30 minutes and the thermostat was pushing 230...still no fan...but the instant I shut the engine off, they immediately kicked on.

My wife's been the driver when it's quit running due to coolant loss/ overheating. She claims it was a sudden failure with no warning from the temp light or thermostat.

EWB

Reply to
ewb4arch

Well if they did not touch that fitting then they might be right! ;-)

I would say disconnect the hoses going into the oil cooler and connect them to each other thereby bypassing the oil cooler. Start up engine after you fill it up the cooling system with water and examine the oil cooler coolant pipes for oil coming out. The oil coolers can internally rupture and leak oil into the coolant system. UGLY and I have pictures to show that it is! ;-)

I think that 'Lost In Space' told me to use Dawn while cleaning out the oil in the cooling system. Water + Dawn + running engine + extra flushings with plain water = Clean system.

It worked fantastically and it has been 2 years so far and that vehicle is doing fine.

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

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