chrispiec

Hi guys,

Hope you can help or advise! My cayenne has recently started to use coolant! A tiny amount though so doubt it is the pipes. Replaced the water pump recently as it was bad. I am using maybe 500ml of coolant every 2 weeks or so. No water marks under car and no emulsified oil. Expansion tank looks ok also! I was wondering if anyone has had a bad expansion tank cap! I cleaned all around the cap last week and checked it today and there are water marks around where the cap screws on!

What do you guys think?

CaptJim

Pressure test that cap and the system. If the only sign where water is around the cap, its a bad cap or something, like a bad head gasket is over pressurizing the coolant system. Caps do go bad over time. Is this a Diesel?

chrispiec

It's a petrol. Iv read around and doesn't seem to be any head gasket horror stories relating to the cayenne. The car runs fine! It gets used everyday and for 100mile round trips!

deilenberger

Depending on the year/model (you might include this info since it would result in more intelligent answers) - the coolant cap is interchangeable with ones from VW. I bought a spare one for around $3.99 at a local auto parts store.

Deezenuts

I had the same small loss for about a month then figured out the plastic tee behind the tubes was cracked (it did finally let loose and was pouring out when I stepped on the gas)

Good luck I hope you dont have the same problem because its a tough job getting to them

I would sit in the car on the driveway and rev it up briefly then look underneath for a few drips on the ground or if anything underneath looks wet with coolant

JohnnyBahamas

I also had a similar loss quantity with no signs of drips on the floor.

I had changed the pipes but not the T's so I knew where to look first. It was the big T. Turned out that it had a pin hole leak that was spraying coolant onto and across the passenger underside of the car in such a manner that nothing reached the floor.

Now, there is no guarantee of a "Uniformity of Nature" so literally anything is plausibly valid... though some things have a higher probability of validity. Based on that probability, if it were me, I'd pull the mani after preparing to go after the T's.

If the pipes have not been done, then I'd definitely prepare for and tackle the whole project while I've got the mani off.

chrispiec

It's a 2003 4.5 turbo.

mudman2

get it fixed NOW before consequential damage to starter and other expensive equipment occurs. Its pouring stuff over the starter and then running back over the transmission valve body

URGENT it will release all coolant soon

mtnrat

what mudman2 says.