Hi there.

For over a year now, I've noticed my coolant was going down to the minimum mark about every two weeks or so, leaving a small wet spot on my garage floor and burnt coolant smell when I get out of my car after a drive. It goes down quicker, if I drive fast. The car drives fine and the oil is fine. I brought my 2010 TTS in for the 115000 service interval in December to Speedy Muffler, where I asked them to troubleshoot the coolant leak. They gave me an estimate for a little over $5000 saying the head gasket leak needed to be replaced. I got a second opinion from my neighbor who is a VW enthusiast and fixes all his own VWs. He's a really good mechanic and would do the work but is worried that a special tool may be required to do the job. He was convinced that the leak was coming from a plastic component that is on the driver's side of the block sandwiched between the block and the airbox. (It looks like 4 or 5 hoses connect to it.) He thought the leak from was coming from that and riding the ridge where the head meets the block just below it. (That is area where the leak is burning on the block.) He mention there is threaded hole behind a flat part of the component (which seems to serve no purpose) that is used to fasten it to the block. He blocked it off with Permatex but that didn't stop the leak. Anyway, is their any special tools or challenges to replacing the head gasket? Would you happen to have the instructions to do it that you could provide me? My 2010 TTS uses the CDMA engine. I was told when I bought the car used that it came from the US.

PS: Moncton Audi's service manager even told me that he couldn't remember ever needing to change a head gasket for those 2.0L engines, that it pretty much never happens. He was very skeptical and wanted me to bring the car to him, but the logistics to do that are cost prohibitive.