Well my S4 has been slowly leaking coolant for 4+ months now, which I really thought nothing of it as we have had a abnormally warm summer here in the Seattle, WA area... that said the past 4 weeks things got worse as I've need to add more coolant/water nearly every week. I quickly ran out of coolant so I started adding just water which I knew was bad for the coming winter months (freezing temps = cracked block). The odd thing was for the longest time I couldn't find where it was coming from. There was no large puddles under the car for me to find. I thought for sure it was the coolant sensor as that has been a leaky point in the past. So I took that out and replaced the o-ring, cleaned the sensor, but the coolant was still running low after a week. I called in reinforcements and my buddy Erik (find him here) spotted the problem in about 5 seconds. A look down the front of the engine looks like my car had sneezed coolant everywhere right around the water pump. I've never done a water pump replacement so Erik was once more in for the rescue. Sadly this did mean the front end of the car would need to be removed and another timing belt replacement was due. Previously the timing belt and thermostat in 2013.
As for all the part we replaced, I'm sure I'm going to forgetting a few things but here goes the list:
And unrelated to the coolant leak, but since the car was on the rack we added a few minor upgrades:
In summary and around 6-7 hours later we were all done. We ran into a few issues but they were all worked out, in all a pretty smooth job. No leaks detected at this point, and the Snub mount and new tranny mounts sure do make my S4 feel a ton better. The first thing I noticed is if you are in gear and lift off the gas, there is very little movement in the shifter. Before it felt like the shifter would move almost a 1 inch because of the engines back/forward play. No new vibrations or anything, so I'm pretty happy with it. Big thanks to Erik (find him here) as without his expertise I would be in a world of hut. I can't recommend him enough if you are in need of a truelly honest mechanic in the Seattle/Redmond area.
- Upper Radiator Hose (because of a minor leak)
- Timing belt (required as coolant got on the old one)
- Idler Roller (part of the timing belt kit)
- Tensioner Roller (part of the timing belt kit)
- Accessory Belt Tensioner (bearing was going bad)
- Water Pump (was leaking)
- Both front Camshaft Seals (get them done while the front end is open)
- Hydraulic Tensioner (part of the timing belt kit)
- Thermostat w/ O-Ring (part of the timing belt kit)
- G13 coolant
And unrelated to the coolant leak, but since the car was on the rack we added a few minor upgrades:
- ECS Snub Mount
- 034 Street Density Transmission Mounts (Both)
In summary and around 6-7 hours later we were all done. We ran into a few issues but they were all worked out, in all a pretty smooth job. No leaks detected at this point, and the Snub mount and new tranny mounts sure do make my S4 feel a ton better. The first thing I noticed is if you are in gear and lift off the gas, there is very little movement in the shifter. Before it felt like the shifter would move almost a 1 inch because of the engines back/forward play. No new vibrations or anything, so I'm pretty happy with it. Big thanks to Erik (find him here) as without his expertise I would be in a world of hut. I can't recommend him enough if you are in need of a truelly honest mechanic in the Seattle/Redmond area.
