97 Audi A6 Avant

Over the last few months my mother-in-law has had consistent problems with low coolant. During the 45K mile inspection she specifically mentioned it to the dealer and they said they had fixed it. (Heishman Audi in Arlington, VA). Just a few weeks later, the coolant light came on again and I believe the replaced the overflow container (or whatever the container is called on the driver side where you can check the coolant level.

When I went to visit my family over the long weekend in Maine, they told me that they had to take out the floormats because they were soaked with pink fluid. The carpet in the car was still wet when I looked at it. The coolant level was just below minimum and to fill it up I had to find a VW dealership to get the right coolant.

I filled it up with about .75 liters of coolant and it pretty much kept on leaking. The paper towel test clearly showed pink on the paper towel.

I have no idea how coolant can leak into the cabin. It leaks into the footwell of the passenger side and spreads to the right rear seat.

Does anyone know what this could be?

Thanks!

Decolliber

I had a coolant leak a few months ago in my 97 A6 Avant Quattro. But in my case it was dripping on to the garage floor. Turned out to be a broken seal on the pump, and was replaced under warranty. Bentley manual (vol.2, B19) shows no coolant pipes on the occupant side of the firewall, or even behind the engine.

97 Audi A6 Avant

Decolliber,

That's what I could not figure out. How could there be coolant if there are no pipes anywhere close. Assuming that our 97 A6 Avant Quattro has the same broken seal on the pump as you, how could the coolant leak into the car, presumably throught the firewall?

Thanks,

Jack in FL

it was the heater-core rusting and basically going bad on me. The heater-core cracked from rust or something like that. So when the coolant goes thru the heater-core to make hot air, the coolant is leaking out of the heater-core and into the passenger compartment... I believe the heater-core is close to the firewall... so I got flooding both sides.... passenger and driver. Not a good scene... took a long while to get rid of. In the end, I just bypassed the heatercore from the coolant flow, so no heater for me... but in FL, that's ok. Flush your coolant lately?

Kenny

I'm not certain of this,, but I think the coolant system is linked to the heater core.. When coolant is leaking via the heater core,, you can smell it through the vents inside the interior of the car... I'd have that area checked out..