1.8 GTi thermostat leak

[Bepis]

Hi All

Recently purchased a 1.8 GTi and I'm fairly certain it needs a thermostat housing as the coolant level consistently drops after a few hundred miles and I have a brown/cream coloured residue down the front of the engine block and the oil sump and can occasionally see a drop of coolant clinging to the underside of the housing.

The car came with a warranty and from what I can see it'll be covered but if not what would I be looking at roughly to have it sorted?

Also, my sunroof squeaks like mad when it opens or shuts and the VW service manual suggests regreasing the tracks but mentions there are 2 types of grease/paste but if mixed could react with each other damaging the rubber seals. Is there any way to tell which one to use as it mentions one being clear and the other being white but I can't see much residue of any sort in the tracks?

[Gee40]

The thermostat housing is one of the few common faults on the 6c GTI - VW do know about it as I had mine replaced a couple of years ago at a VW dealership just before my 3 years ran out. At the time technician did tell me its a relatively frequent issue. As it was done under warranty the job sheet didn't detail labour time or parts price so I'm not absolutely certain but from the time the car was in the workshop I'd suggest its no more than 1 hour as they carried out a service and MOT as well in what was a 3 hour slot.

Hope that helps

[SRGTD]

Thermostat housing and water pump seem to be one of the few weak points on some modern VAG engines. Quite a few members on various forums have reported having to get theirs replaced on mk7 performance Golfs (GTI’s and R’s and I’ve seen prices of £750 + mentioned on forums for the Golf, although it’d probably cost less at a good independent VAG specialist than at the VW dealer.

If you Google ‘VW Golf thermostat housing replacement cost’ you’ll be able to find a range of typical prices of the likely cost - I wouldn’t expect the cost for this job on a Golf GTI or Golf R to be that much different to the cost on a Polo GTI.

@Bepsi; get it done while sooner rather than later and while it’s still under warranty so you don’t get saddled with a large bill.