Leaking radiator, what would coolant damage?

[zookie]

While I was out of town (five hours away) my B8.5 S4 told me to shut off the car and check coolant. The coolant level was almost empty so I topped it off with G12 and took it to a dealership. They diagnosed a leaking radiator and said it needed to be replaced. It is a pretty slow leak so they said I was good to drive it home. Now I'm back home and scheduling this service but I'm wondering what else I should be concerned with given that almost the entire reservoir of fluid has leaked out and probably splattered everywhere. I could see the coolant dripping off the bottom part of the front painted bumper and I can only assume that coolant on paint is very bad. The Audi tech said he could see a lot of it on the belly pan.

But what about things like belts, hoses, etc? I'm making guesses at this stuff thinking that hoses are probably OK but that it would be bad on belts so I figured I would ask the community for your advice on what I should be concerned with here.

I wiped it off the underside of the front bumper but who knows how long it was like that (I've only had the car three weeks and bought it with 11k miles) because it isn't really dripping on the ground. To give you an idea of the size of the leak. it dropped from just under max level to just under min level after about 400 miles of driving.

Not the best start to this car but hopefully this is the only hiccup for a while.

[IanCH]

take it to a radiator repair shop... dont pay them out of pocket to replace that if they are asking you to.

Coolant won't damage things afaik, it can just dry out and be crusty later.

[infinkc]

You sure its the radiator not the heat exhanger in front? Its fairly common for the heat exchanger to leak if a rock hits it if you dont have a guard on it.

[zookie]

I'm not sure if it is the radiator or the heat exchanger. They aren't ordering parts until the local Audi dealership takes a look so I'm sure they will determine which part needs replaced but the Audi tech (seemed like a seasoned guy too) at the out of town Audi dealership said it was the radiator. The part needing replaced isn't as much a concern as that will easily be covered under warranty, I'm just concerned about any residual issues I might face due to coolant leaking and splattering around in the engine bay. If there are things I should be concerned with, like paint, belts, hoses, connectors, etc. then I'd like to bring these up with the Audi service department now, possibly even get them documented in the service notes or something.

Just trying to be informed about the potential issues that coolant can cause. Maybe there aren't many to be concerned with, which would be nice, but seems like I've heard that this stuff shouldn't get on paint or belts at minimum.

[NWS4Guy]

Almost definitely the heat exchanger for the intercooling system for the Supercharger. The radiator is BEHIND the A/C condenser, which is behind the heat exchanger radiator (the small silver one very low down up in front).

About $300 for a new one, plus labor, or you can use this as an opportunity to upgrade to a new heat exchanger made by one of the aftermarket guys (more expensive, but better design).

[infinkc]

I'm not sure if it is the radiator or the heat exchanger. They aren't ordering parts until the local Audi dealership takes a look so I'm sure they will determine which part needs replaced but the Audi tech (seemed like a seasoned guy too) at the out of town Audi dealership said it was the radiator. The part needing replaced isn't as much a concern as that will easily be covered under warranty, I'm just concerned about any residual issues I might face due to coolant leaking and splattering around in the engine bay. If there are things I should be concerned with, like paint, belts, hoses, connectors, etc. then I'd like to bring these up with the Audi service department now, possibly even get them documented in the service notes or something.

Just trying to be informed about the potential issues that coolant can cause. Maybe there aren't many to be concerned with, which would be nice, but seems like I've heard that this stuff shouldn't get on paint or belts at minimum.

coolant wont cause any issues when it gets all over, when they are done just get some simple green, spray around the engine bay, then hose off everything.

[chaos2984]

the only thing that coolant can damage is the serp belt. But thats only after long extended exposure and not fixing the problem. But the coolant has to get on the belt to damage it. But other than that it wont hurt anything except smelling sweet when you shut the car off and get out on hot days.

[zookie]

Great, thanks for the advice! If I wasn't currently dodging TD1 flags I would upgrade the heat exchanger but that will probably have to wait a bit.

[NWS4Guy]

Great, thanks for the advice! If I wasn't currently dodging TD1 flags I would upgrade the heat exchanger but that will probably have to wait a bit.

Why would this make it hard to dodge TD1? This is like swapping the exhaust or intake. It's a better, proven design, and replaces what the stock part does, more efficiently. No one will be able to say that there would be a warranty denial based on the new HE working better than stock.

[zookie]

No idea but unless you have it in writing from AoA that they will not flag TD1 because of it then it isn't worth the risk. Heck I'm concerned about a catback exhaust (though not really as that's the tail end of the system that no one could possibly try to blame for anything. I'm certainly nervous about the intake though I'd like to have it. Pretty ridiculous to even have such concerns.

Not thrilled with how Audi handles a lot of this aftermarket stuff and instead of having a Dinan or AMG divison where they will add performance enhancing parts and keep the warranty all while increasing revenue, they seem all too quick to tag TD1 and start denying issues (from what I read on this and other forums) that may or may not even be relevant. As such they've made me a guy who doesn't want to risk enjoying my car too much more than stock for fear of their denial of claims. While my B7 S4 was absolutely fantastic and certainly fun to modify, as it was out of warranty, their TD1 flag and lack of performance enhancement division has made my B8 S4 a daily driver that won't get much aftermarket attention. It's fun to drive, but it's not nearly as fun as it could be. I'll have to buy a toy to have fun I guess.