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VW Passat 1999 Cooling system

Sent to VW Experts May 10 1:04 a.m.

Hi. I have a 1999 VW Passat 2.8L V6 4Motion. I've owned the car for the past 4 years and everytime i turn it off after driving, it used to make a noise in the engine bay, sounding as if the cooling system is circulating the coolant. This is regardless of how long i've been driving or whether the aircon was on or not. I had no problems with the cooling system in that time. Is this normal? Now it doesn't do it anymore. The engine sounds lazy and the fan seems to keep running all the time. Within 4mins, the temparature is at 90 degree from cold start. I've had the temp sensor replaced but still no better. I can smell coolant whenever i park up after driving. What is wrong or different?

Optional Information:
1999 Volkswagen Passat 2.8L

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $9

Answer
May 10 9:58 a.m. (8 hours and 54 minutes later)

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Rick VDUB -- Certifiable VW Mechanic -- 100% Positive Feedback on 60 VW Accepts
20 years VW/Audi Repair, Maintenence, Restoration

Reply
Sent May 10 5:22 p.m. (7 hours and 23 minutes later)

Hi, Can you answer my first question of why for 4 years i could hear the coolant or something bubbling/circulating in the coolant tank (i think this is it..it has a thermometer on it and a pipe connecting to radiator), whenever i parked up and turned car off; and now i don't? I do mean everytime regardless of whether the aircon was used or not. Is this normal? I have now tested this after journeys with or without the aircon being used. The tank is full and not empty and there is no leak on the floor in my garage. I know when the fan kicks in when i turn the aircon on and the rev indicator jumps up momentarily. At the moment it seems the car is reving more than usual (without aircon) so the car is not very responsive and seems lazy. I've had the car at a VW service agent and they couldn't fault it, but i know it feels different. Why can i not hear the bubbling noise anymore? The VW agent couldn't answer as they didn't know what i was talking about, but i know it definately used to. I've even been asked in the past what the noise was. I got so used to it that now i miss it. The car used be so smooth and i didn't need to rev so much so get any speed. Now i can clearly hear humming noise in the car from the engine bay on idle, and feels something else is using up it's power when i hit the accelerator and the revs go up. Any ideas?

Edited by Customer (name blocked for privacy) on May 10 2008 at 9:33pm

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Answer
May 11 2:13 a.m. (8 hours and 50 minutes later)

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Rick VDUB -- Certifiable VW Mechanic -- 100% Positive Feedback on 60 VW Accepts
20 years VW/Audi Repair, Maintenence, Restoration

Reply
Sent May 11 2:45 a.m. (31 minutes and 56 seconds later)

Hi, I'm in New Zealand. You're pretty close and i think that's spot on when you say, "car may be equipped with an electric water pump that runs after the engine shuts off. These have the capability to leak (or weep) coolant if malfunctioning. If you do have one and it has failed, it could account for the coolant smell and the lack of noise." Can you please check your books and confirm and advise what the fix could be. I'm surprised this isn't common knowledge unless my car had this as an option. Appreciate your help Rick.

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Answer
May 11 2:53 a.m. (7 minutes and 45 seconds later)

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1 Other Expert Agrees with this!

Rick VDUB -- Certifiable VW Mechanic -- 100% Positive Feedback on 60 VW Accepts
20 years VW/Audi Repair, Maintenence, Restoration

Reply
Sent May 14 3:50 a.m. (3 days and 0 hours later)

Hi, Just wondering whether you got a chance to look this up. Thanks

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Answer
May 14 5:53 p.m. (14 hours and 3 minutes later)

ACCEPTED

Sorry, my shop was glanced by a tornado this Sunday early AM and we just got power back this morning. Lots of damage to buildings in our area, but we were spared the brunt of the damage.

The (electric) auxillary water pump is located just above the alternator in the lower right front of the engine compartment. It is only accessible from under the car and from the front if you remove the entire front of the car (as if to replace a timing belt). I was just working with a 2002 V6 today and I was thinking about you.

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Rick VDUB -- Certifiable VW Mechanic -- 100% Positive Feedback on 60 VW Accepts
20 years VW/Audi Repair, Maintenence, Restoration

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