My wife just called and said that when she started her car, she got the low coolant warning light that told her to shut the car down immediately (I think she got the red light). She opened the hood and said that the coolant reservoir was very low. She said that it doesn't look like it's leaking anywhere and there are no puddles under or around the car anywhere.

The engine temps have been normal too. I am going to add coolant to it when I get home and keep an eye on it. I need to change the oil too so I'll check the oil for anything as well.

Any ideas on what is going on? Anything else to check?

*All of the posts I found when I searched had to do with the sensor being bad and the reservoir still being completely full.

Edit: The car is a 2005 w/ the 1.8T

 

my cooling fans dont work properly so i have to add coolant once every month or so...

 

once running check to see that radiator is warm upper and less warm lower to show water pump is pumping and thermostat is open. Don't stick fingers in where fan can lop the off it it kicks in.

check for puddle under car overnight. Check for smoke out exhaust when starting that smells sweet.

Check for fan working once car is hot. I had to replace fan module and am doing water pump (and TB) this weekend.

 

Odds are its your coolant flange. And you probably wont see any water or anything under the car because it evaporates before it reaches the floor. Look for crusty white crap on the rear of your engine before the firewall.

 

There are a few known coolant leaks on the 1.8t... the belly pan actually does a pretty good job of puddling it up and the wind blows it off when driving so actually seeing it leak is misleading

 

I don't think it's the thermostat or the water pump. Once the car gets up to operating temps the needle doesn't move from where it's supposed to be. As for the exhaust, there is no smoke at startup or while driving and the exhaust doesn't smell any different than it normally does. It smells the same as my truck just from when I was comparing the smells of the two.

Does anybody have a picture of where the coolant might be leaking at the coolant flange or the belly pan?