If nothing else, this discussion has served as a public service announcement to all S1 V6 owners to warn them not to be lackadaisical about regular coolant level checks!white exec wrote: As commented above, it's unbelievable that it's taken 20 years to spot this. Lack of coolant in a PSA engine is a pretty serious matter, as we all know. The implicit mention of Coolant Level monitoring in the Owner's Manual seems a bit naughty, and could lull anyone into assuming it was actually there!

The V6 is renowned for split coolant expansion tanks leading to coolant loss, fortunately that usually only results in the coolant dropping to the bottom of the bottle rather than draining to a dangerously low level, (due to the location of the leaky seam) however a radiator leak like I just had, a leaking de-gasser bottle, water pump, hose etc could result in all coolant being lost with no warning apart from overheating and maybe a puddle on the ground - if you're not driving at the time!
I fancy myself very lucky that the leak was noticed on the ground at home, after a very short drive, and not after returning from a 100 mile round trip. And it was only noticed because I went back outside again shortly after coming home to dispose of a dirty nappy.
