New radiator / coolant issue

[meteordude333]

I had a front-end collision and needed to have the radiator and a bunch of other things (throttle body, intake manifold, turbo cooler, starter) replaced just recently on my 06 GLI (73,000 miles). Some odd things are happening and I'm having trouble figuring out what is going wrong... thanks in advance for any help.

Symptoms:

* The "STOP CAR! Check Coolant" message has appeared on the MFD twice since I got the car back. The first time, I stopped the car and checked and the coolant wasn't low. The second time (only a day later) it was about half an inch below the MIN line on the overflow reservoir

* The cooling fans are both working. But they stay on for a long time (10+ min) after I turn the car off. They have never stayed on for more than a few seconds in the past, even after summer driving with the AC on.

* I keep smelling coolant. Not inside the car, just outside. Basically whenever the cooling fans are running

* The temperature gauge is not showing anything above the normal 130F temp, driving or idle. I drove it for about 80 miles yesterday in the mountains and gave it plenty of opportunities to overheat

I suspect a leak but I don't see any obvious leaking on the ground after sitting overnight, so I am confused. Any thoughts? Is it normal for the coolant level to drop right away with the new radiator and to smell coolant?

[Tutti57]

The smell could be that when the parts were replaced, coolant was spilled around in there and the fans are blowing the smell of it around.

Top off the coolant and see if it goes down again.

Maybe when thing were replaced, the thermostat never opened and more coolant was needed in the system.

Watch the level and see if it changes. I had to top mine off a couple times after replacing my thermostat. Now it's fine.

Your gauge never goes past 130*? It should go to 200*F and stay there once fully heated up.

[meteordude333]

Oops I meant 190F.

OK I'll try that. I noticed just now that it has gone down even more now after driving to work, almost to the bottom of the reservoir. I'm worried about driving it home now until I top it off (though it is only a 5 mile drive). It still didn't overheat but it didn't have much time to.

[Tutti57]

Take a good look for leaks. At some point after topping it off a few times it will be full and shouldn't be going anywhere unless its being burned or leaking.

Do you have a cover you can take off under your car like my b6 does? That could be hiding a leak.

If you have access to a pressure tester, that will tell you if it's going somewhere and may help you find out where.

[meteordude]

It was a big old leak in the hose/assembly that leads directly into the top of the radiator on the driver-side. It was leaking a ton when the engine was running and not at all when it sat overnight. Took it back to the shop. Surprised they didn't notice this--it was a pretty severe leak. :-0

[Tutti57]

Glad you got I figured out. Sometimes the system needs to be pressurized to show a leak.