[s-cars] coolant leak from front of engine

[Tom Green]

The advice here is loud and clear-do not mess around with a coolant  
leak on these engines.

The front of the AAN engine also has the turbo return line and the  
thermostat housing on the
front that can leak coolant down into that area.  It would be worth a  
careful look before tearing
the front end apart.  : > )  The problem with many leaks is that they  
only appear when the cooling
system is pressurized and hot so you can't get body parts too close to  
the engine.  These leaks
will evaporate from the engine heat after shutdown before you can see  
any wet area.  With the
engine running, the heat and rotating parts keep you at bay.  With a  
lot less work than replacing
the water pump (and timing belt), you can remove the timing belt cover  
and observe the water
pump for any leaks.

If you are using Audi coolant or its German replacement, the leak will  
leave a telltale white
streak that just about anyone can trace to the source.

   Tom '95 S6
          '95.5 S6 avant
Knoxville, TN

On Tuesday November 1, 2011, at 9:57 AM, Keith Franchetti <skidfranc at gmail.com 
 > wrote:

> Hey JR-
>
> I had a very similar leak in my 2001 A6 2.7T.  I figured it was a
> pinhole in a hose somewhere.  Bad assumption!!!  Turned out to be the
> waterpump going on me--after only about 35k miles from last T-belt
> service.  Came VERY close to breaking the belt.  Was on the highway,
> when coolant light came on.  I figured that trickle had just lowered
> the level to where it tripped the light.  But no.  The pump was
> failing catastrophically and I was dumping ALL the coolant.  Luckily I
> noticed the temp. was going up.  I killed the motor and rolled about 2
> miles down hill (very lucky) to the next exit in NH, and rolled into a
> service station.  Chris Semple was about 30 minutes away.  He came and
> towed me on a Sunday.  Feel really lucky to have saved that motor.
> Anyway, your issue sounds very similar.  Might want to rule out the
> water pump ASAP!!!  Hope this helps.
>
> Keith Franchetti
>
> 1995.5 S6 Avant (Bill's car)
> 2001 A6 2.7T
> 2002 TT Amulet Red (for sale)
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:00:01 -0500
> From: J R <audiurs4 at gmail.com>
> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: [s-cars] Coolant leak from the front of the engine
> Message-ID:
>       <CAHZrXk-XiKa76z-XzQUu3SQ4ZnkkMPcPqr9S-=ny2bG5uD316A at mail.gmail.com 
> >
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I have a coolant leak that is coming from somewhere near the front  
> of the
> engine.  I can't see where it is coming from, but it is running down  
> and
> onto the front or front/passenger's side corner of the oil pan and  
> dripping
> off of the oil pan onto the ground.  I can't see any leaks from any  
> hoses
> and none of them that I can reach are wet.  Anyone have any idea  
> where this
> leak might be coming from?
>
> Thanks,
>
> JR