Irobinson5

I recently bought a 2006 Audi A4 2.0 , my first audi I upgraded from a mustang so I know nothing about the car. The coolant warning shows on the dash. I look in the reservoir and its empty so i fill it up with audi coolant. After a drive to work (20mins away) and park for hours . When i return i find a small pink puddle under the car ???? Is this major ??

John535is

Depends on your definition of a small puddle!

How often is the reservoir empty? (every drive, once a week, once a month?)

The coolant is not supposed to come out, so you need to investigate the leak.
I always start by an inspection with a flashlight when the engine is hot. Take the plastic engine cover off, and inspect for the drip. You need to locate left or right side, front or rear before any real suggestions can be made.

Check the black rubber water hoses (they will be hot to touch) particularly at the bends and the joins, if you cannot find any drips, give the larger ones a squeeze or two, the little extra pressure can sometimes cause the drip to be noticed.

If nothing obvious, I would take the plastic tray off under the engine. Park the car on some cardboard or dry concrete and check for the location of the leak before you drive it next. Once you have a clue as to which side and front or rear some suggestions can be made for possible spots to check.

Irobinson5

I recently put the gallon of coolant in the car and 3 days later is empty again. I only see the leak after ive been driving for a while. Its a small leak not a major puddle. Whenever the reservoir runs low from the leak , the coolant signal comes on. It drive regular and the temperature stays at the half way mark . I do not know whether it is because of a loose bolt due to previous drainage . Also there is not any resedue under the hood . All i see it leaks

Junius

If the coolant is leaking from the front of the car, it could be from a loose or torn hose, but if it is leaking and you see a slight residue/smell on the left side of the engine near the exhaust, then that points to a bad coolant flange.

John535is

the entire reservoir in 3 days is a decent leak. You need to find it before you either need to do a longer trip or it gets worse.

Try parking it on dry ground (concrete) or open up a cardboard box and slide it under the car. next time you move the car, the tell tale wet spot should help locate where to start looking. You will probably need to remove the plastic tray from under the front of the engine, otherwise it will just puddle in the tray.

I just did a water pump on a 1.8T B7 Quattro. It would leak while the engine was spinning, but very little when you turned the engine off (even when hot) so even when it was parked after a drive, it would only drip the smallest amount at the very front of the engine, and only for a minute or so.

Hopefully it's something simpler like a coolant flange or similar.

Dolamite

OP, take your cell phone and go behind the left side of the engine block, cat level, and start taking pictures/video of your coolant flange. Don't be an idiot and burn yourself. I can almost guarantee at the rate of coolant loss that's a major point. Could be the seal or the gasket at the temp sensor. Also, do the same around your thermostat, if you don't know where it is just use a search. Another point that is common is going to be your water pump. This is going to be noticeable from underneath and from below the timing belt cover. While you are underneath also check the radiator - especially if this car has any previous front collisions. You really should get the car up safely on jack stands and check things out, if you don't have a driveway to do this it's understandable.