Little puddle under car!

[Crumpy]

So last night on my way home from work(work in london so commute on a train, car had been stood since Sunday) i noticed a little puddle under my Cupra 280. On closer inspection it appeared to be dripping from the under tray on the drivers side. Stuck my hand under the car to feel the substance and felt a slippery, clear or maybe slightly reddish brown liquid between my fingers. first thought was engine oil but when i smelt it it smelt almost nutty and a little sweet! looking down from the top of the engine there is a couple or small puddles of liquid on top of the under tray and i noticed the sump was a little wet down one side under the car.

Now I've done a little research and from what i have read I'm feeling like its either power steering fluid or maybe coolant, but i really don't know to be honest. In my mind i just feel like the cars too new (2 1/2 yrs old 20000 miles) for it to be seals on the steering rack or seals on the diff or gearbox (DSG).

Im just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this and if so what it was/is and weather i need to worry about it or not?

Paper under the car last night and this morning there wasn't anymore drips from the car so its not a heavy leak, gonna check again tonight.

Could it be coming from a breather pipe on the power steering or gearbox or something? who knows but i think its going to need a trip to the doctors so someone can go underneath it to have a look, top of the engine seems clear with no leaks from any of the pipes!

cheers

 

[DEAN0]

Thermostat housing. Quite common on the 2.0TSI motors.
have a look on the back of the radiator and see if it looks damp

Also check your coolant level.

 

[Crumpy]

Thermostat housing. Quite common on the 2.0TSI motors.
have a look on the back of the radiator and see if it looks damp

Also check your coolant level.

Oh really! ok thats interesting, i didn't really look at the radiator, was more focused on the engine as i was pushed for sunlight last night. I can have a good look at that tonight and see if i can find something.

Could that be something thats only leaking when i drive? have a feeling the no drips over night is because it hasn't moved for a couple a days.

Will let you know if i find anything, thanks for the help

 

[DEAN0]

The golf guys also get the issue.
There is now a redesigned housing but due to the volume of claims it is/was on back order.

Get it reported whilst your warranty is still valid.

 

[Crumpy]

The golf guys also get the issue.
There is now a redesigned housing but due to the volume of claims it is/was on back order.

Get it reported whilst your warranty is still valid.

So last night i had a proper look around for this leak, and basically i cant find anything that appears to be leaking in the engine bay! i mean i am only looking from the top of the engine as i cant get under it but absolutely nothing!! everything was tight and dry, most of it looks still brand new.

Am i right in thinking the Thermostat is the thing i have pointed at in the image attached? if so then this is squeaky clean with no moisture at all! also circled a couple of the puddles down on the under tray. (image taken from the front of the car looking down behind the radiator)

Took the car for a 20 minute blast and parked it on the other side of the road (so leaning to the passenger side slightly, opposite to the way i found it with the puddle under it, drivers side) and have come out this morning to fine a tiny spot of fluid under the drivers side again (the side i found the original puddle and the higher side with how its parked)!

its gonna need a check i think but gonna take it for a 60ish mile blast on Saturday to get it hot and give it a proper drive, maybe the short runs has something to do with it!

 

[zeffania]

Could it be your AC, was it warm when it happened? They usually let some out under heavy use, I forget the technical term, but it isn't anything to worry about.

 

[Crumpy]

Could it be your AC, was it warm when it happened? They usually let some out under heavy use, I forget the technical term, but it isn't anything to worry about.

Yeah it was hot, hot enough for the AC to be on full whack when i got in the car! thing thats troubling me with the AC theory is the liquid i found under the car the other day felt slippery! not like water and its left a bit of a stain on the road from the original puddle! so it cant be the condensation can it? unless the condensation thats dripped down has mixed with something on the under tray and thats why its a bit oily feeling!?

thanks for the help

 

[DEAN0]

 

[Crumpy]

Arh i see, is that buried under the manifold? i'll try have a feel tonight and see if i can get my hand on it, failing that I'm gonna have a mechanic have a look at it.

thanks for the help

 

[LouG]

How full is the coolant overflow tank? They will lose fluid when hot if overfilled.

 

[Copra68]

It's the AC drain. The air con on any car will be forming a pool of water at the moment with the heat. I used to have a truck that formed an ice block under the grill in hot weather with the AC on lol.

 

[Crumpy]

How full is the coolant overflow tank? They will lose fluid when hot if overfilled.

thats not a bad point actually, i do remember seeing look quite full, i'll check that in the morning.

thanks

 

[Crumpy]

It's the AC drain. The air con on any car will be forming a pool of water at the moment with the heat. I used to have a truck that formed an ice block under the grill in hot weather with the AC on lol.

Yeah there was a lot of condensation dripping down after i took it for a short drive the other night, just don't know why the liquid under the car would be a bit oily if it was just condensation though

cheers

 

[Crumpy]

Gonna take the car for a proper drive tomorrow 60 miles or so, get it fully warm etc. gonna clean the liquid off the under tray and then might try driving without the AC on to see if i get anymore puddles.

 

[paddy6789]

I had something similar - mine was the thermostat housing. It's a costly job I believe. I had the front mount intercooler booked into to upgrade and so had it replaced/upgraded to a new aluminium one at the same time - with the front end of the car being off, it was easy to change for the guys at VAG Manchester.

 

[Crumpy]

I had something similar - mine was the thermostat housing. It's a costly job I believe. I had the front mount intercooler booked into to upgrade and so had it replaced/upgraded to a new aluminium one at the same time - with the front end of the car being off, it was easy to change for the guys at VAG Manchester.

Yeah thats come up from a few people! gonna have a poke around tomorrow see if i can get a hand on it to see if leaking. if so it will go back to SEART as its still under warranty.

 

[paddy6789]

Yeah thats come up from a few people! gonna have a poke around tomorrow see if i can get a hand on it to see if leaking. if so it will go back to SEART as its still under warranty.

As long as your car has no engine modifications, it should be ok for Seat to just change it under warranty. Seat blamed all my mods for the failure, despite there being an overwhelming online community of people having the same problems with modified and unmodified cars.

I think the upgraded aluminium housing, plus fitting and VAT was £180 (and that was with the front end already being off).

 

[Crumpy]

As long as your car has no engine modifications, it should be ok for Seat to just change it under warranty. Seat blamed all my mods for the failure, despite there being an overwhelming online community of people having the same problems with modified and unmodified cars.

I think the upgraded aluminium housing, plus fitting and VAT was £180 (and that was with the front end already being off).

Its got an air box and filter and a exhaust back box delete, so yeah will probs try to tell me that the air intake has something to do with the water pump going!!! hahahaha!

thats not bad actually, do you have a link to that?

cheers

 

[paddy6789]

Its got an air box and filter and a exhaust back box delete, so yeah will probs try to tell me that the air intake has something to do with the water pump going!!! hahahaha!

thats not bad actually, do you have a link to that?

cheers

I dont sorry - the car went in for a service with VAG Manchester and they found a suspected coolant leak somewhere. But I already had it booked in for more work a few weeks after that to replace the engine mounts and intercooler, so they only investigated the leak when they got the car back for the intercooler upgrade. They called me and explained it was a common issue with the thermostat housing and they could either replace with the same part or replace with the upgraded aluminium one for a bit more. I went for the upgraded one. The bill was about £180 all in for just that part of the work. But that also included a bit of time for them to trace the leak. I'll see if I can get a part number for you.

 

[Crumpy]

I dont sorry - the car went in for a service with VAG Manchester and they found a suspected coolant leak somewhere. But I already had it booked in for more work a few weeks after that to replace the engine mounts and intercooler, so they only investigated the leak when they got the car back for the intercooler upgrade. They called me and explained it was a common issue with the thermostat housing and they could either replace with the same part or replace with the upgraded aluminium one for a bit more. I went for the upgraded one. The bill was about £180 all in for just that part of the work. But that also included a bit of time for them to trace the leak. I'll see if I can get a part number for you.

Arh ok, yeah cool anything like a part no etc, i know they redesigned the part (as someone on here told me) so hopefully at least it will be the newer version if it needs replacing!

thanks again for the help