ok guys im stumped. im loosing coolant over the coarse of a week i have a 96 a4 quatro. i drive the car back and forth to work and at the end of the week the resivoir is close to being empty.i just replaced the timing belt water pump and drive belts along with the thermostat. i went back and double checked all of my work.on another note im not able to get heat to work in the car this year either i checked the coolant lines running into the heater core there isnt any air coming from them when i do a bleed test and there seems to be a good flow of fluid.

i did a block check for a solid 15 minutes and couldnt find any hint of co2. i dont have the cap to do a pressure test but with the leak being so slow i dont think that would help much. i realy want to fix this problem. does anyone know of anything i should be checking? does anyone know of a company making a UV dye for coolant like they do for oil and A/C and such? any help would be awsome i love this car the leather still looks like the day i bought it and the body is awsome too!

 

Try bleeding it. Any puddles?

 

they sell a leak detection kit for the coolant system.

 

if you have no leaks WHATSOEVER your headgasket might be blown and the coolant is seeping. that is a worst case scenario though.

check for leaks!

 

you can tell if you're head gasket gets really bad, there will be noticeable white smoke from the tailpipe and you could smell it. seems like its not that bad yet if it is a head gasket.

 

I really wish you would post what engine you have. [:@]
If its a 1.8T engine its probably the coolant flange on the back of the cylinder head.
If a 2.8L there is probably dried up coolant under the resivior in which case the resivior is cracked leaking coolant very slowly.

 

Also check the oil cooler. The clamps from the radiator to the oil cooler is a common point of leaking.

How is your oil? Any eveidence of sludge or cafe-au-lait oil?

 

ok guys im sorry about the engine type its the 2.8 as for it being the head gasket im going to do a pressure check. as for the oil cooler im deffinatly going to check that out but i have been real good about checking the oil no sign of sludge.otherwise ive bleed the system and i have gone as far as taping computer paper all over the garage floor and parking the car running on it for two hours no leaks its weird