[Spiegelglatt]

Writing about what part of the world you live in and what motor you have will help others here.

A couple things are to check coolant while cool and never when hot as you could burn yourself from the pressure and steam. Also always check when "stone cold" (not having run for six hours or so). This way you get consistent readings because heat expands cold contracts.

There was a certain year (can't remember what one anymore) where the 3.6 VR6 had an issue with the factory water pump seal not being complete resulting in coolant loss...an example of how it would help to know what engine you have...

 

[Spiegelglatt]

Coolant will appear a different color in the reservoir on the Treg- if you were to extract some out it would (or would normally) be the correct color. The reservoir interior is a color that changes the appearance of the fluid when you shine light into the chamber.

Yes, it is strange that it would go at that low of miles, but not impossible-just be glad it is fixed now. The water pump on the 3.6 Touareg is pretty easy to access just under the serpentine belt at the front of the motor, so wouldn't be as expensive as say a front wheel drive whatever (traversely mounted engine) with the water pump under say the timing belt (as is the case on some other vehicles).

 

[Spiegelglatt]

Hey guys - I'm new to the forum (joined today actually because of this) but have spent way too many hours over on NASIOC and Audizine when I owned a WRX and an A4 respectively. I did a quick search and found this thread. What was the end result for you guys?


Here's my quick story. I bought my '14 3.6 Touareg Sport back in 2015 as a VW CPO vehicle with 13k miles on it. Besides of a couple of small dings and scraps on the bumper (car came from Manhattan), the thing was perfect. In September of 2016 with about 28k miles on it, I got the 'Check Coolant Level' warning. I had a scheduled service the next day anyway so I took it then (great timing by the way... thank you VW gods). They diagnosed it as a leaking water pump and replaced it under warranty. Flash forward to July of 2017. After driving the Touareg across the country from Ohio to Phoenix when we moved and driving around blazing hot desert for a Summer, we escape the heat and head to the mountains for a quick day trip. On the drive up, once again, 'Check Coolant Level' light comes on. Given we were a couple hours from Phoenix, I drove to a dealership there and had them top off the coolant level for my drive back. Once back in Phoenix, I get the car serviced for it's 40k mile service (it was at 37k miles) and they find a leak and replace the water pump... again.


Now today. Fire the car up this morning and once again 'Check Coolant Level' light comes on. It quickly turns off (which is consistent with what happened in the past) and I drive to work. I let the car sit for 3 or so hours and I just went out and checked the level. It's a solid 2 inches below the minimum level line. The car currently has 44k miles on it. I'm assuming it's leaking again but won't know until I bring it in.


Has anyone else heard of a car going through 3 water pumps in 44k miles??? Could it be a leak of a line somewhere? I love this car but going through a water pump before the required service interval is... uh... annoying to say the least (and concerning).

Somehow I doubt another water pump will help in the long run. I would start with topping off the coolant and watching the level every week. Be sure to use the correct coolant. I would also take it to the dealer with this history as something is not right. It could be something simple like a leaking coolant cap or something more sinister like a casting defect in the block where the water jacket has a hairline crack and coolant is escaping and getting burned. Tests can be performed and hopefully they can trace the real problem, but do this soon as you want them to pay for it.

The 3.6 is a good engine, and IMHO the most reliable Touareg motor, but defects and anomalies are both possible and have been reported on here (might run a search as I recall a thread where the ultimate issue was a block casting defect...which is where I got the worst case scenario).