98 A6 Quattro 30V, 152k

I am having a small coolant leak. I had a shop look at it and he couldn't find the leak. He said there is some oil leaking from the oil cooler lines. I put a cardboard box and have confirmed that the leak is more towards the passenger side of the car.

What are some common places to look for a leak? I cant seem to find it and don't want to pay the dealer to fix this.

also how hard is it to change the oil cooler lines?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

cooler oil lines are held on with a single use ear clamp that loosens up over time. The idiot should have tightened them for you. The coolant leak could be anywhere including a bad headgasket or rear water pipe.

 

Is the leak at the front of the engine or the rear?

Bob

 

My coolant leak was the auxilliary water pump on top of the engine. I believe it pumps water through the turbo's for cooling. Remove the covers from the top of the engine and look for a pink residue near the top center driver side of the engine.

 

coolant leak is towards the front of the engine on the passengers side.

 

the coolant does not appear to leak all of the time. I put a box under the car and nothing has leaked for days. but the coolant was leaking before. I have not driven the car in a few days, would that be why it is not leaking?

 

There is not any pressure built up in the cooling system when the car is not running or cold. That's why you only remove the cap when the car is cooled down. If it's a small leak, then it would probably only leak when the car is running and hot with pressure built up. As for the auxillary water pump (from what I've been told, I'm not a mechanic), it only turns on after the car is shut off, it's an electric pump not fan built driven. Then it circulates water through the turbos to cool them. So most coolant leaks do occur when the car is driven.

After thought, if there is no obvious external leak, then it may be inside the engine, such as a head gasket or damaged block.

 

It turns out my radiator was causing the leak. I am in the process of installing a new one. The leak was near the middle of the radiator, small enough to work but a leak nonetheless.