So, last week I was able to fix my coolant leak. It was the hose running from the heater core to the flange at the back of the engine, and my car ran fine for about a week and a half. Just the other night, i had yet another leak, from a different part of the engine. I've been able to pinpoint where, but I can not figure out what the part is, and was hoping someone here would be able to let me know. I have two pictures showing where it is. You can notice the crack in the part where the coolant is coming from.

 

Thermostat. Saved a bunch on mine by getting it from aboveallmotorwerks.com. Replacing it involves removing the alternator, but it was pretty easy.

 

Would it be the thermostat housing I would need to get then? The crack is going thru the black plastic part that bolts to the engine block.

 

It's all one part, you can't just buy the housing.

 

Thanks for the help Shane. I just got the part, and will hopefully be changing it on thursday when my father has off from work. When you changed yours, did you have to do anything about bleeding the coolant system?

 

Just let the car run for a while with the coolant cap off after you refill it. Make sure to use G12 with water 50/50.

Heres the write up that i used: http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/950612.phtml

If you havent loosened that tensioner before like i hadnt you may have trouble understanding that write up, as i did. There is a knub sticking off of it that you put a wrench on and pull towards the drivers side. For some reason i couldnt get that easily from the pics. Also, while twisting the thermo to get it out (or in, i dont remember) i hit my dipstick tube and broke it so watch out or youll be out 15 big ones to replace it! One last thing that you may know already, dont turn the car on while the throttle body is off or you could have a problem. Some guys talk about adjusting the throttle body after removing it but i had no problems with this, and cant think of any that could arise if the ignition is off the whole time the TB is off.

All in all it was pretty easy, took me a few hours but i like to go really slow when im working on cars. Did you buy the thermostat online?

 

Oh, while youre there, make sure your throttle body is clean. Might as well clean it while its off.

 

That walkthru definitely helped. It took about 2 hours and was relatively easy compared to what I thought it was going to be. The throttle body wasn't too dirty, but I made sure to clean it up a bit while it was on the work bench.

I didn't get that part online, we have an import auto parts store in the town I live in, so I went there. It was a couple bucks more expensive, but they know me down there, so I just went to them.

 

Ok great! It's good to support your local shops, and if you have a relationship with them they'll be more likely to help you out when you need something.