Had the car up on a ramp for the first time last night...

[si_hill]

Spotted a couple of problems

1) There seems to be a lot of oil towards the back of the car running down the channel, the handbrake cable is covered. It appears that it may be the rear diff seal. I know the rear diff was only recently replaced with a RS4 item by MRC. Is it common for these to leak or do I need to get this sorted asap?

2) Noticed that one of the rear CV boots is split and making a lovely greasey mess all over the rear nearside wheel. Every VW/Audi I have ever owned has needed replacement CV boots. You would have thought someone would have designed something a bit more durable by now. The slightest nick and they spew everywhere.

3) There appears to be a water leak, somewhere. There is a residue left around the rightside turbo. Any common leaks to be aware of and to check?

Apart from this the car looks pretty clean and dry. The APR exhaust really is a class piece of engineering. The fact that the cats can be swopped in and out easily is a real bounus.

Other noticeable thing was the anti-roll bars, or lack of some decent size ones. Will be definately getting some H&R's on order

[oliew]

Is this water dripping on the floor under the car on the nearside? is this same as rightside?
i always thought this was the air con condensation i get some water leaking here too, towards the back of the nearside of the engine.
Oli

[si_hill]

Hi Oli, yes it is towards the back of the nearside of the engine. Seems to be running down onto the turbo hoses etc. Air con condensation is front offside. This is definately not condensation as it has left a residue behind.

[SimonS4MTM]

Could be your aux water pump, check the sticky at the top of the forum

[GrahamS4]

Dumb question on the way........so you think you have found trace of a water leak, but have you actually lost any water?? Easy to tell from the nice visible expansion bottle.

[si_hill]

Dumb question on the way........so you think you have found trace of a water leak, but have you actually lost any water?? Easy to tell from the nice visible expansion bottle.

Yes Graham have lost water. When I picked up the car the water was below the min level

[si_hill]

Right then I decided to take a look at the water leak problem. I removed the expansion tank to see whether that was cracked at all (apparently this has happened on a few S4's) but it wasnt. Then I thought Id take a look at the thermo-switch as I was under the impression that the after-run pump mod had been carried out. However on inspection the original green switch is still in there and it is leaking!!! Looks like this will be my first mod. Will post up some pics of the offending item.

[Mik]

Hmmmmm.....You sure you arent looking at the coolant temp sensor which is green? And the expansion tank is the RS4 one. Coolant Pump Thermal Switch 93°C is blue.

Diff leaks are normal unfortunately, I experienced it twice with the S4 diff and had to change seals....

Cheers

Mik

[s4woody]

but dnt forget to look into the V of the engine or dwn the back to see if the aux pump is leaking..if it has never been changed then its proberbly leaking slightly..