DWPC

2006 Turbo with 94000 mi. AL coolant pipes & tees done at 42000 under warranty. Last summer I noticed a small amount of dried coolant on the garage floor that. Seemed to be closer to the front end of the engine. Never noted any coolant odor. Coolant level is down an inch or so from the "full" indicator when cold. No more leakage has appeared since then. Indie tech says that minor "weepage" is no big deal. Should I be worried or should I ignore it 'til more symptoms appear?

deilenberger

I'm OCD - so I'd worry about it. A cooling system should leak-not, and consume no coolant. Anything else is wrong, and is likely to get worse at the most inopportune time in the most inopportune location. And lead to serious damages to other components (like an overheating engine taking out head gaskets..)

Find the leak. Fix the leak.

Tom M

If the incriminating evidence was closer to the front end of the engine but you didn't smell anything I'd be looking at the water pump as that's one spot that can drip and not hit anything that's hot. The other place would be the hoses attached to the coolant expansion tank. You might learn more by removing the under-panel and looking for clues on it as well.

Rod Croskery

The annoying thing about a leak at the bottom of the expansion tank is that it can't drip down into a puddle because of the shape of the fender. As I just mentioned in another post on the subject, the trouble on mine was in the rubber hose joining the coolant tank. There wasn't anything much wrong with the hose, but crystals had formed and it was letting a bit of untraceable leakage out. When I removed the hose to replace the tank, the fault was obvious, but all I had to do was clean away the crystals and re-tighten the clamp. No problem since.

Try taking photographs from odd angles of the area right under that hose to see if there is any discolouration on the body panel underneath.

brad@tirerack.com

I've had instances where I have had a bit of oil in the padding of the engine cover (crappy oil plug) on my Q5. A/C condensation builds up in the padding, and when it can't hold any more water it drips on the floor. The resulting puddle is gooey and looks like a coolant leak. Maybe take your engine cover off for awhile and see if it continues?

jwicker

Get a good flashlight and look all around the water pump area. If it's leaking there, you should see some white splatter where coolant has hit the serpentine belt and been sprayed around the front of the engine. Also, you can reach down in there and see if there is any play in water pump pulley. I just did both of these things and determined my water pump is going out. Now trying to decide if I want to replace it myself or not.

DWPC

The stuff on the floor was pink and completely dry, not gooey.

user 83838290

Take a look at the oil cooler as well, I had a tiny leak there a couple of years ago.

Morganmobile

DWPC

The mechanic tracked the leak back to a heater core hose connection showing dried residue but not actively leaking. Says he can see it but he'd have to remove the intake manifold to replace it and estimates $1200-$1500 total cost (depending on how many old hoses disintegrate when he get into it). I'm thinking it's time to let her go. If I fix this there'll just be another lurking two-bit problem needing a grand or more to fix.