Tanket

Looking for a step by step way to diagnose a leak coming from the bottom of the front engine cover. I'm leaning towards a water pump leak but want to be sure, is there a way to find out without taking the belt and pulleys and front cover off? Second problem is a very small ring of moisture at the top oil level on the dip stick and multiple misfires on a VAG Com scan, the car lost most of it's coolant and might have over heated (temp was going down & no heat). The car runs fine and there is no oil in the coolant or engine lights on. I'm trying to figure out whether to fix it myself or just bring it to a pro. I'm pretty experienced with mechanical repairs, but don't want to end up with the front of the engine disassembled and then find out that it needs to be towed to a shop for a head gasket repair. Not sure if the cost would be worth it either. So I need to diagnose a coolant leak and possible coolant in oil condition before I decide what to do, could use some help on where to start.

John535is

See if you can get your hands on a radiator pressure tester.
They are not cheap ($100+) but most mechanics will have them with a array of different caps for different models. My local let me borrow his overnight. Basically you screw a cap and pressure pump onto the expansion tank. Pump it up to say 3 bar, take the spark plugs out, then go and have dinner. The system should hold pressure for a few hours. If the water pump is leaking, it will drip out the front, same for any of the hoses etc. If pressure drops and no water (check the footwell under the heater) then you are looking probably looking at a head gasket failure, water jacket to combustion chamber (why you won't see water in the oil). It's possible but my experience with these engines it's more likely the water pump. Mine would only leak when it was hot, so after a drive, park the car on dry concrete, about 2-3 minutes after turning the engine off, it would just start to drip about half a cup. Hope that helps

Tanket

It definitely leaks from the bottom front cover area, I think it's the water pump too. My problem is I need to know for sure if it blew the head gasket too before I decide to fix it myself, bring it to a shop or not fix it at all. When the plugs are out I could turn the engine over and see if coolant sprays out. Also the plugs and piston tops might look clean in the cylinders that have coolant leaking into them. I bought a pressure tester (and adapter) and combustion leak tester and will post my results. I'll do another VAG COM scan too and see if it still has the multiple misfires that it showed before. Thanks for the reply.