About 3 months ago my light came on that I was low on coolant, I checked my reservois and it was almost empty. I didn't think much about it and just filled it up. A couple days later it was low again and I noticed an orange puddle under my car. I opened the hood and looked around and found a hose in the front of the car with a huge tear in it. I replaced the hose and everything was fine about until 2 months ago. The light came on again and I was noticing puddles under my car again this time coming from what appeared to be the water pump. I looked up forums on how to change it and found out it was less of a hassle to take in. 1200 dollars later the garage who specializes in Audis, Volkeswagons and BMWs said it was fixed, they replaced the water pump and timing belt. Everything was fine up until 3 weeks later. I started to notice more coolant under my car. What in the world is going on? It was a slow leak and was very difficult to tell where in the world it was now coming from. It doesn't leak all the time. I figured I would let it go until I could notice a more dramatic drip. Well, over Thanksgiving weekend I let my car sit for 4 days. When I went to go start my car I decided to check the reservoir first, it was empty. I couldn't believe it. It was emptying every 10 days or so while i was driving it, and now that it just sat there it emptied in 3 days. I looked under my car and saw coolant dripping from the back of the oil pan. I looked around under the entire hood and couldnt find any wet hoses. I touched around everywhere and nothing! I just can't find where it's coming from. It also appears that it only leaks while the engine is cool. I drove it Monday and Tuesday and everytime I drove it when I got home I checked to see if I could see dripping, nothing. When I get up to go to work in the mornings though there is a huge puddle of orange liquid under the car. What in the world could be wrong? Can anyone please help?! I am desperate right now. I am sick and tired of the coolant leaking, it is costing too much money. I love my car, but this is ridiculous. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

After reading tons of forums I was thinking, could it be the thermostat that needs to be replaced? I looked at my car again last night and noticed the liquid is leaking from the left side of the engine and I noticed people saying in forums that when the timing belt and water pump are replaced usually the thermostat should also be replaced. I looked into this searching google and found that to be the general consensus. If that is the case, why in the world didn't the garage that replaced my water pump and timing belt recommend to me that the thermostat should also be replaced? I spent 1200 dollars for them not to fix the entire problem? This greatly angers me. Is it also possible that the O-ring in the thermostat is ruined and that is what caused my water pump to go bad? Or is it also possible that the morons at the garage ruined my thermostat while replacing the water pump and timing belt? Should I take my car back to them and have them diagnose the exact problem? Or should I just replace the thermostat myself and see if that fixes the problem? Is it difficult to replace the thermostat? Are there any torque specs or anything I have to worry about?

 

Replacing the thermostat isn't that terrible. But that depends on what experience you have. I had to replace a "bung" or water blockage plastic piece behind the thermostat as well. It seems the plastic Audi used to seal the coolant inside the engine corrodes after 10 years or "x" number of miles.
Be sure to take a light and check out the back the engine for the notorious leaking coolant flange!

 

1200 to fix a tb. You should of posted in your regional section maybe someone local could of done it for 1/2 that or less. What area are you in? Sorry if it says but I'm on mobile

 

I took my car back to the place who replaced my water pump and timing belt and they said the thermostat was fine, but that the thermostat housing was the problem. They replaced that, let my car sit for 3 days and said there wasn't anymore leaking. Guess what? I took my car home and when I woke up the next morning to go to work, weird, there was another puddle of coolant on the ground! What the hell??? I called the place and they told me to take it back in. This is ridiculous. How can "Audi experts" not fix the problem?? I am thinking it is the coolant flange or maybe even that plastic piece you are talking about that you had to replace MTS. Could this plastic piece even have caused my water pump to go bad? Oh, and get this, I found out my heater no longer works, only one hose gets hot, they think the heater core is blocked. Could that plastic piece be stuck in there? Oh, and they don't want to attempt to unblock it because they are scared they could ruin the heater core and said that's an 1800 dollar fix!

 

I live in Tucson, Arizona

 

Hi, When I started my car up, the red Coolant warning light came on. Ive had problems with my temperature guage for about a year now but the mechanic said the problem was resolved. Reading some posts about the coolant warning light, there seems to be a link and it sounds quite an expensive problem to put right. Any advice on where to start please? Ive recently moved 100 miles away from my original mechanic and dont know anyone in the area (North Wales) and being a woman, dont want to be taken for an idiot so any info would be helpful. Cheers

 

Jen02- has the coolant leak been solved? I suspect you have air in the cooling system thats preventing the heater from working. I've been fighting cooling problems for a month now, and whenever I "open" the system I have to bleed the air out. I hate to have to tell an "expert" how to bleed the system, but it's quite easy. Where the hoses to the heater core are (under the wiper arms), remove the upper hose's clamp. Pull the hose slightly back, not off. The with some pliers squeeze the hose. There is a pin hole in the rubber hose that will let the air out. This may take a few tries till warm water starts to flow back through. Car running or not? I would at least have it up to running temp first.

Lou- Best advice I could give is to take a light and get an idea of the general direction the leak is coming from. Then it can be eliminated which piece of plastic is gone...

 

It could be the coolant flange behind the block since you mentioned it puddled near the oil pan. Look behind the block and below (transmission) look for pink/reddish dried up coolant. You can also try and reach behind the block for moisture (coolant - make sure the engine is cold).

 

Before you laugh at my suggestion hear me out. Try K&W Nanotechnology Instant Coolant Stop Leak. Google it. I was skeptical at first but when I tried it, the 2 quarts of coolant loss overnight was fixed. I have driven the car for over 30,000 miles and still no leak and no problems. Spend $10 or $500. Do the math, if it doesn't work, it will not clog your radiator and you will only be out $10. I have recommended this product to my 3 of my coworkers and it worked perfectly for each of them. Send me a private message and can answer any other question you may have. I live near San Francisco where the temperatures get over 105 degrees in the summer and I don't have any issues with overheating while in stop and go traffic and running the air conditioner.