wood_e

Posted this in the C5 discussion by mistake:

I'm considering getting an S6 but it has a coolant leak near the Alternator area.

Could this be a freeze plug? Are there any hard water lines near that area?

What are the chances of a cracked block on a sub 110k AAN motor?

This thing is super far from me but the price is fantastic - even having it shipped to me + the cost of getting the maintenance up to snuff it's cool.

Thanks for the assistance :-)

scarman

The thermostat and housing are above the alternator, and the coolant pipe that is a distribution manifold is just behind and above the alternator. A short piece of 10mm turbo coolant return hose connects to the pipe also. All these are possible sources for a coolant leak "near the alternator".

An overheating episode will more likely result in a headgasket failure at the aluminum head/iron block interface. A cracked block is not common. Hopefully a small coolant leak is not diverting your attention from areas that deserve closer scrunity.

UrS4boy

This photo shows three of the potential coolant leaks that Tom refers to. The frost plugs are on the exhaust side of the engine as shown in the second photo.