I have an S5 n/a with 149k on the engine, and it runs fine, at least it did. For some reason the coolant light keeps coming on and my mechanic said the coolant was leaking from the rotor housing. I have no idea why its leaking and any help that could be given would be very helpful. The only thing my mechanic said i should do is rebuild or get a new engine.

 

Alright, if this is a reputable rotary mechanic he's probably right. I highly recommend jacking the car up (high, at least 2+ feet).

Get under there and figure out precisely where that leak is coming from. Take off your shroud and fan too. Has the car overheated? Oftentimes a seal on the shaft of your water pump will fail when overheated. There's a hole on the bottom of the water pump that will tell if it's leaking. If that's the case then your engine may be fine. Try to find a working used pump to see if that fixes it. If the engine has been overheated before anyway, you'll probably need a rebuild soon.

Pressure check your coolant system for leaks, I'm pretty sure it isn't internal.

After you fix your coolant system, do the ATF trick (it's in the 2nd Gen Archive) then do a compression test. If the results are acceptable there's a good chance your engine is fine.

 

Does your exhaust smoke white?

If the guy said his engine needs a rebuild, then he saw white smoke most likely.

 

Well when you say reputible rotaty mechanic.....no he isnt. Though he does know more about them then any other mechanics i have been to in the area.
No smoke is coming from the exhaust and it has yet to overheat. Even after i fill it with water and coolant the light will only turn off for a bit. I will drive it around and when it leaks i will try and narrow the location down.

 

Just turn on the car, warm it up and look under for leakage, if it only turns off for a bit thats alot of leaking.

When you fill your coolent make sure to raise the rpms (half throttle or so a few times with the cap on) and you can do it when its not, notice how the coolent goes up and down? Well you gotta keep doing this and she'll take more coolent, when I flushed mine I had to keep doing this, so your prolly only topping off your rad? and the rest of the coolent system is not filled much, so your leak is appearing more rapid.

 

Thank you very much for the help. Unfortunatly I will have to get back to you guys later thsi week (work and school keepin me busy). SO again thank you for the help.

 

Ok i was able to narrow the spot down a bit. Its pretty much spraying from the driver side area where the oil filter is. Its also having problems starting up sometimes and i when i step on the throttle it feels like its forcing itself to go. It was fine not too long ago, then after i had it tuned up this started happening. I looked around to see if it was spraying or leaking anywhere els but its only that area. I keep a constant eye on the temp gauge but it has yet to overheat.
My mechanic is still confident that i need a rebuild and feels the cause was something to do with electrolosis and my coolant causing a seal to dissolve.
Is there anyone who has had this problem as well, and is it something i can fix with out a rebuild?

 

Are you sure it's not just the heater hose in that area?

Sometime with the car stone cold and full of coolant, you can squeeze the rad hose to spot leaks. Or do a pressure test.