Parkzam

First and foremost, thanks for reading through my lengthy post!
A couple weeks ago I bought the car from my friend, high mileage, 230k if the odometer is right, for $500. It was mechanically sound and if it died I decided I would just junk it or sell it again.
But...I fell in love with it fairly quickly! Audis just lure you in, don't they? So...onto the issue I've been having!

As I was driving home from work the temp gauge began to rise, and it reached a tad bit over the 1/2 mark. Oil temp was at about the 1/4th mark.There was some white smoke coming from the engine. After popping the hood and taking a look, the coolant was almost completely dumped.
There was a hissing noise coming from near the front of the engine, and if I looked down really far I could see moving fluid. (Pictures attached)
The next day I refilled it with coolant and let it idle for a bit. The gauge rose to normal operating temp and I couldn't see or hear any leaks. I took it for a drive around the block, keeping a close eye on the gauge, and as I pulled into my parking spot it rose to the same level as before.
Again, it dumped all of the coolant and I could see the leak in the same spot. Researching and searching around the forum has lead me to believe that it's one of a few things, I'm just trying to narrow it down to save myself time and money. Blown head gasket, fuel pump leak, or aux fuel pump leak.
If anyone can either point me in the correct direction, or give me an idea of what to do next, let me know! Any help is greatly appreciated. If I'm leaving anything out I'll respond with the information I missed!

georgeb944

Use a coolant system pressure tester to pressurize the coolant system while the engine is cold. It is much easier to figure out where the coolant is going without burning your hands.

You can "borrow" a tester from Autozone (deposit returned when the tool is returned.) You will need an adapter like this:

clancy