pjlcinti

I recently purchased a 1998 Audi A4 Quattro from a dealership. Lo and behold, within 12 hours of purchase I ran into my first major problem. The check engine light came on so I went to my neighborhood AutoZone. The guy in there said "no problem on doing a check. Plus you got smoke coming from under the hood." Well it turned out that all them breather hoses were clogged up. So I ended up replacing them then I conquered doing the head gaskets. Seemed to fix a lot of things. But still have some smoke coming from way down under the engine somewhere up the driver's side in between the engine and the coolant reservoir. Still have not got the car jacked up to really see where it is coming from.

So that is Chapter One. Then just yesterday, I walked out of a store to see a rather large pool of fluid under the car! I knew the AC hoses are not insulated but this was A LOT. So I got down to check and it turned out to be antifreeze. After the typical cussing and shaking fist towards the heavens, I added some water (about 60 oz) and cautiously drove home. Made it w/o any issue and the leak this time was not as severe. But it still drips some plus the smoke from the oil hitting whatever is hot.

OK that's Chapter Two. You got all that so far? So while it might be best to take the car to the nearest bridge and drive it into the river with me maybe in it, I am actually planning on more costly repairs. When I look for this coolant leak, I see that it is coming from around the radiator and towards the passenger side. Problem is, my jack is a not here and as you all know the head room down there is very limited and to top it all off that plastic shroud is in the way of my view to really determine what it might be.

So... with all that said, I first can not find a diagram that shows the potential hoses or parts that might be affected near there. Where the heck is the water pump? I guess its right there huh and most likely the culprit. Doing quick research, it seems like a true PITA to replace. What would a import shop charge and what is the best amt of hours to take if I was to do myself?

Any other info would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance

AudiMick

Timing belt on a V6 drives the water pump, they tend to leak from the bearing seal and when they fail and eventually sieze up and wreck the heads big job might as well replace tensioner and belt at the same time as well as the thermostat which is also difficult to get too as it's behind the belt.About 5 hours work

If you already did head-gasket (which is is rare failure on a V6), maybe you already replaced some of this.

Or maybe not!

For smoking possibly you really just replaced leaky cam-cover gaskets which is very common on the V6 and not the same thing as head-gasket at all.You are getting your terminology mixed up.

pjlcinti

whoops! yea my bad. been a long day.

replaced the valve cover gaskets.

Prospeeder

you will still have oil leaks because you didnt replace the rear cam plugs or replace the timing chain tensioner gaskets while you had the valve covers off......