Hey everyone, this is my first post here. Just got an 05 Audi A4 1.8 a couple weeks ago. I know this question will sound elementary, I apologize. I've looked around the forums and I think I've found my answer but I wanted to post and see if there was anything else.

Since I got the car I was doubtful the timing belt has been changed by the previous owner and it's been 96,700 miles. So I immediately went to have it changed. After the work was done the mechanic took the car for a quick drive and came back and turned off the engine, left the hood open for what he said would be 10 minutes and then he would either check coolant or fill coolant, I don't remember. The coolant level was near the bottom (before repairs, coolant was at correct level), just above the connecting hose. 10 minutes later he told me all was done and I took the car home. The next morning I notice the coolant level was just as I had saw it when the mechanic said he would check/fill coolant after 10 minutes. I've checked the engine as much as I could, couldn't find any signs of leaks, can't smell anything, the engine temp is normal, everything seems to be fine. Checked around passenger side floor for moisture as I've heard coolant can leak in that area.

Since I'm such a noob, I can't really think of any other kind of info to divulge. Does anyone know what could have happened?

 

such as the water pump was also changed, the tensioner, drive belt, and cam seal and crank seal.

 

the system is just bleeding. keep topping it off.

 

Any other possibilities? That much couldn't have evaporated could it?

 

Naw.. you'll prolly see that 2-3 times... He did one, you just saw #2..fill it back to MAX. Check it every morning until the level holds.

 

Yikes I wish my mechanic would have said something about this to me.

When I top it off do I need to worry about mixing the G12 with water?

 

The bottle of G12 I bought a while back had instructions on its label for what the water/G12 mix is supposed to be depending on your expected temperatures - it ranged from 40/60 G12/Water for higher temps down to 60/40 G12/Water for really cold (I think that was for below -25 F, but check what the bottle says to be sure).

I would guess that your mechanic did it 50/50, as I think that's sort of the default mix, and covers a pretty wide range of operating temperatures. If you just pour in straight G12, you'd be changing the percentage toward the recommendations for colder weather. When I had to top mine off, I mixed it approximately 50/50, and that seems to have worked fine for me. (I live in Minnesota, so it does get pretty cold here - if you're in California or somewhere else that's warm all year round, you could probably go with the higher water ratio.)

 

Thanks for the good info. I took my car back to the mechanic today and told him about the low coolant level and he said he didn't add extra coolant after he test drove the car after the maintenance was done because he didn't have time to let the car cool down. So he topped it off today. He basically filled the expansion tank to the brim which I thought was weird. I thought that would be too much and I've heard that can cause problems. But when I got home and checked the tank again, the level was at mid so I'm hoping he did the right thing. He also used Prestone 50/50 and I don't know what coolant was in there before. Say it was G12, would that mixed with Prestone 50/50 be an issue? I'll see what happens with my car in the next few days.

 

What color was the coolant before?

 

our cars can only have g12 coolant which can be found at vw or audi dealers. you need to have him flush the system and do it over with g12. if he didnt know that he probably should be working on your car...