Fluid loss front offside corner
 

Chaps, I'm losing some kind of fluid from the front offside corner.

I imagine this is washer fluid, are there any existing threads / how-tos on to access, diagnose and repair please?

(I did do a search but could not find what I was looking for)

There were a few comments in this thread that may give you a heads up:

Item 23 onwards:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=16912

Its 2 grommets that you have to replace, forum sponsors sell them. its also a good opportunity take the washer fluid tank out and wash out any junk out of it with a kracher etc.

thank you both +++

Any theories why it should start leaking while sat in my garage?

Good news: it's not leaking washer fluid

Bad news: it's coolant

Discussions with our resident Doctor suggest it is probably the oil cooler pipe. I've not had chance to get on the ramps and have a look, so have just ordered the parts (they'll come in useful one day if not now!) and booked in with a local mechanic over the next couple of weeks, hopefully fixed and sorted in time for the annual meet. :eek:

My simple brain still cannot understand why it should start leaking being tucked up in a warm(ish) dry garage

I recall comments that often it's as likely the grommets/washers around the pipe as the (definitely fragile) plastic pipe itself.
Mine had been leaking for ages (years!) before MJ replaced it during its overhaul, though I don't recall how damaged it was.

Usually the plastic cracks in the o-ring grooves so the pipe comes out in three pieces. The cracks propagate from the sharp edge in the grooves, eventually going all the way round, and then coolant slowly seeps out. It is fully constrained by the engine block and cooler housing so it can't catastrophically fail. It just dribbles in varying degrees.

Replacement pipe has still not turned up, starting to look doubtful the D2 will make the annual meet, the risk of me showing up yet again in a BMW is increasing each day that goes past

Despite it's insignificant size, it's a b*gger of a job to do with the engine in the car, with the increased risk of stripping a couple of the bolt heads, so extreme care needs to be taken.

It might be worth providing the following link to your mechanic so that they have knowledge of what's involved. This was for work on a 4.2 32V engine, with notes at the bottom for the 40V ones. MJ may have a much better insight on any other possible snags along the way:

http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...reinstall.html

If its confirmed to be the oil cooler pipe, I'd take it to the meet and just top up as necessary. It can't fail catastrophically and as Andrew noted, they can run for many years with the pipe cracked with no adverse effect than marking their territory overnight :D

The only activity that failure would stop me doing is taking it on a track +++