2001 VW Beetle GLS 2.0l -- Overheating

[brook011]

Had our first day over 70 yesterday since I have owned the vehicle. It's always started up with the temperature icon blue for the first 5-10 minutes the car got going, and eventually went away. Anyways, yesterday, I was driving, and my overheat light came on. Checked the coolant reservoir and it was down to where it was bubbling and steaming at the bottom, took a decent amount of handling the hot cap to get the top off. Noted a bit of black crud floating on top of what was in there. Took it in to the gas station and tossed some coolant in, and drove it about 15-20 minutes today, check engine light is still on, but the temperature light never came on again. My coolant level looks lower than what I filled it to, which was about half a gallons worth of coolant mix. I'm losing it somewhere as it sits, and my first guess would be either radiator hose or radiator. Some things to note, I did turn on the cold air from the heating unit, and forgot that it needed a freon charge. Temperature lights gone now, but I don't know for how long. Any suggestions/ideas/costs/etc?

[brook011]

Also note - it was a blinking red light, not a steady red light, and no alarm/noise from it. I have a person who set me up with a friend, so hopefully they can help me on this. Just trying to get an idea how bad the damage is going to be.

[hestersu]

What kind of coolant did you put in it? If it was not pink, you will need to flush the system. It is well documented that these cars can only use the VW G12 coolant - the pink stuff. Adding the "green" stuff will turn the coolant to sludge (because it is mixing with the pink stuff) and the green stuff doesn't react well to the aluminum.

I had a similar occurance many years ago. I called my dealership and asked what I should do. Since I didn't have the pink stuff, they recommended that I add demineralized water (the stuff you put in irons). The next time I went in for service, they sucked out some of the reservoir and added back the pink stuff to equalize the system (the little bubble tester).

When you don't have ready access to the right coolant, use demineralized water until you can get to the correct stuff rather than add the green stuff.

[Smileybug]

How many miles are on the car? Timing belt and water pump been changed? Sounds like you could be losing coolant from somewhere. My first guess would be water pump.

[brook011]

Ya, I used some gas station crap, because I would rather pay to have the coolant system flushed and refilled versus a cracked head or worse. It's not overheating now, but I have some liquid on the pavement in the lower left section near the passenger front wheel. I have an appointment at 3:30 "in an hour" to get it looked at. Exhaust looks clean, and I'm not getting a smell like I'm burning something. I'll keep you guys updated.

[brook011]

Timing belt and water pump were replaced like 10,000 miles ago, cars at 183,000 right now. I'm waiting on the information from the person I bought it from on how long ago it was done, so I know if that part is warrantied or not.

[brook011]

Cooling tank was leaking fluid and eventually got down to where it was causing a problem cooling the engine because of lack of fluid, and the cooling system switch/thermostat was what caused the check engine light when we hooked it up. Cooling system flush + 2 gallons pink fluid + parts + labor came to 150.