Yellow Brown Colour under car?

[redspudder]

Struggling to describe this one but ill have a go.
On my drive and parking space i use at work ive noticed there is a yellow brown colour stain on the drive/parking space it looks like a rusty colour,it's been on my drive for a while now but never thought anything of it, it is located roughly right of centre of car and towards front drivers wheel any ideas what it could be ive had a quick look under car and cannot see anything obvious,I had the car MOT only two weeks ago and nothing came up on that the car passed with flying colours

I was parked in a different space on Friday and it chucked it down allday, now i cant say i noticed it before hand or if it was already there before i parked in it but i notcied today the same colour on the floor in that space and quite a big patch??
The car seems fine drives o.k no apparent faults

 

[pjmspeedy]

How strange! Can't really think of what it could be but I'd say the best thing to do is get it up on some ramps and have a good look around.

Let us know how you get on!

 

[coyote]

Could be coolant leaking?

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=65277

 

[redspudder]

As its pooring down i pulled the car in the garage a little and caught my front wheel on the wall and have scuffed it

Anyway ive just had a quick look under the bonnet, coolant level is fine cant see any obvious leaks,but i could here a small drip,i shone a tourch down the back of the engine and there is a "ledge" that looks like the water is dripping onto and is showing the same colours as ive already described,im now wondering how the water is getting in there?
My drive is on a slope and would maybe think it is that but at work the car park is level,the rain dripping onto the "ledge" would be the reason for the stain as ive already said it hammered down on friday and left a substancial stain in the car park.
Im now concerned though
1-How is the water getting in
2-What is the water resting on
3-The stain must be rust therefore must be coroding something to leave the stain and run off with the water onto my drive

 

[redspudder]

Just to add,When there is no rain and i drive away on a morning or leave work on a evening the patch/stain is there from under my car(from previous leaks) but is not wet so it is not leaking from anywhere within the car,it just appears when it rains so it must be the rain gettin in some how.

 

[pjmspeedy]

Sounds like one of the drain holes maybe blocked! Poor some water on your windscreen and see where it goes.

 

[redspudder]

Excuse my ignorance-

Where are the drain holes if i need to unblock them??

If i pour water on the windscreen what should i be looking for, does the water run off to the sides??

 

[quattrojames]

The bulkhead where the battery etc sits isn't waterproof, so water can run down into there. There are drain holes in them which can often get blocked with leaves/debris. I haven't had this problem yet (touch wood) so can't advise you were they are, but they should be easy enough to spot. Use some welding wire or similar to clear them. It sounds most likely that is your problem.

 

[redspudder]

Ive just been out and poured water onto the windscreen,the water seems to run down thewindscreen onto the wiper and through the plastic grill onto the plastic covers under the bonet(hopefully pictures will upload).
Im still struggling to find the drain holes can anyone point me in the direction,I was hoping James would be able to help as must of the problems ive had in the past he has come across!Water seems to be settling in the far left hand side of the engine bay top of the first picture.

Top Left hand corner seems to have water settling in it

This shows the back of the engine bay where the water seems to be settling.

 

[quattrojames]

LOL sorry to disappoint No doubt I will have the same problem soon enough.

Just done a search, it would appear the most likely places are under the battery and the brake servo

 

[pjmspeedy]

Sorry I don't know exactly where they are but after you described the problem it's what I though of straight away as I have known this to happen to other cars and by the looks of your pics I think this is your problem.

They should be some in the left corner and again in the right corner. When you find them do what James said poke some wire down there and maybe a good airline if you have access to one.

If you look at the cover you took off (The one that sits over the brake fluid bottle) there is a ridge nearest the engine. It should flow from here to the left and the right of the car. I would go out and look at mine but I don't have it tonight!

 

[paul20v]

You will find it under the battery tray ,
also you can get at it from under the car on a ramp but its awkward
remove the battery and then the battery tray and you will see a rubber drain plug dont clean just remove it job done no more issues with debris
its really common happens to a lot of a4 based stuff including passats ,
i done one in work the other day (again) and over a gallon of water came out
happy hunting .

 

[redspudder]

Well i hope the saga is finally over.I found that the battery was leaking so ive had to replace it at a cost of £70,I also had to replace the battery tray as this had almost dissapeared to nothing,ive also cleaned up the area around the bulkhead and underneath the battery it was very much coroaded so ive cleaned away the rust and sprayed the area.The drain holes where not blocked and the water is running away o.k through the drain holes,the battery acid must have been dripping through the holes and causing the rust problem,my local garage put the car up on the ramps and said they couldnt see any other damage.
I contacted Audi about the battery and apparently the reason for the huge battery is that they are built to lastand you shouldnt have to replace it for the lifetime of the car,thus the reason that they wanted to charge me £130 for a new one!

I will be keeping and eye on the driveway under the car this week when it rains to see if the rust colour appears on the driveway.