I was on track when I had a coolant leak in I believe the third session. I finally had time to take off the intakes and the intercooler which revealed a mess. I was logging and the water temps and they never went over 90c which I was very happy about so I know the leak wasn't from running too hot. The engine bay is a mess and any aluminum or exposed metal has corroded but the biggest issue was the wastegate actuator line that the coolant must have compromised and on the last lap of the day burst. It caused me to overboost to 16-17psi which isn't bad since the cars very conservative tune is to around 14psi so the motor (which is brand new) is fine thankfully. It was good that I was able to hear my boost controller warning through the helmet because I let off the gas immediately.

Here is something I found to be odd, when I took the filler neck cap off today the coolant burst out like it was under pressure and I don't believe there's any coolant in the overflow. Does anybody have any idea of a reason for this?

Here are some pictures-

 

that sucks, so where did coolant come from, which hose popped?

 

What in the hell kind of coolant are you running, acid? haha, I've never seen my coolant have such caustic effects on my engine parts when experiencing a leak.

 

i agree it looks more like your battery fluid boiled out a while back and was never neutralized.
z

 

The battery did show signs of leaking after the session as well and was what i first thought the problem was but I ruled that out because I couldn't figure out how it got to the opposite end of the engine bay. I'm going investigate further tomorrow. The battery was only a year old which is why I'm taking it back to the auto parts store I purchased it at. The only way I could think the acid could have traveled to the other side is the belts but wouldn't those be destroyed as well? Also does anyone have any ideas of a method of cleaning it?

 

yes the belts will sling that every where. but no they wont nesecarily be destroyed not everything is reactive with acids, how do you think they store them. and as far as cleanup use a water baking soda mixture to neutralize the acid and wash it away then you can repaint everything.
z

 

I see, thanks for the help. This is no going to be very fun. Any idea what could have caused this to happen?

 

if the charging system is overcharging that will overflow a wetcell battery or maybe you just have a crappy batt. personally id use a sealed cell battery like an odyssey or optima.
z

 

Thanks, I have a dry cell on the way so this wont happen again.

 

so there is NO coolant leak? that damage was caused by the leaking battery? I'm confused ... but it's late anyway.

Oh wait, so the battery acid leaked, hit the spinning fan belts (but didn't destroy the belts on contact - obviously) and that hose broke open from the battery acid on it and caused the coolant leak?

Or .. was that the wastegate actuator hose that split open from the battery acid, causing the high boost? so where's the coolant leak and what caused it???

 

check your alternator wiring match ups
s5 and s6 alternators are configured with the switching differntly to s4 and earlier internal reg alts

hooking up the wrong alt to the wrong wiring makes for overcharge in one scenario
and also for trickle drain in the opposite missmatch scenario

see pic



PS
is the spray over the motor front from a busted fin on the radiator
or lifted faulty rad cap or faulty lid or hole in the overflow ?

if there is a leak on the pressure side of the cooling system
your water will boil violently at around the temperature indication you have given
( allowing for a few degrees error in gauge calibration, and effects of possible altitude )
- and in doing so, head towards the overflow and potentially spray all over the engine if there is leak is in that line to the overflow bottle

change the rad caps !, pressure test the radiator !
and change out all hoses in cooling system as one now that some have coped some caustic or acid or fuel
( including heater hoses )
changing all as one is a smart move, not an expensive one !
( it can be later if you choose only to replace a few ! )

 

can you say battery relocation mod?

 

I had originally thought that the mess in the engine bay was from the coolant leak but from has been said in this thread it seems it was the battery leak that caused it. Both happened but it looks like the battery caused the main issue which was the compromised line. And the battery is going to the trunk.