MilesM

Just returned from Whistler - no snow. While there another individual with a "German Appliance" (Bimmer) admonished me our choice of the Audi allroad saying that the iron block engine and aluminum heads could (actually would) lead to failure of the head gaskets.

In an artic blast at Whistler, for instance, the differing rates of cool down for the dissimilar metals forces the gasket to fail!?

After that I looked for every Audi I could find in and around Whislter. Lots of them, including A6's and two other allroads (and a wave from the attractive young lady in the Highand Green allroad). Says something I think for the discrimating values of the Canadians, but also suggests that my Bimmer friend might be full of it. Maybe ten years down the road?

The allroad has only been around for a few years, but a number of folks on this board have had a succession of Audis and I certainly haven't seen this come up; but, I guess it does require repeated use in a very cold climate if there's anything to this contention.

Miles
Port Ludlow, Wa.

mpm

Figures nothing but BS from a Bimmer boy 8^J

GordonC

Iron engine blocks with aluminum heads have been (and are) used by many, many manufacturers, including BMW. It's not a problem by any stretch of the imagination, and certainly will not have any effect on head gaskets.

Regards,
Gordon
2002 allroad Highland Green/green, 6 speed, PSK rear swaybar

Donegal TDI

A cylinder head gasket can blow on ANY car but usually at high mileage, and is usually pre-empted by adequate warnings such as unexplained coolant loss, oil contamination & engine overheating, that a responsible owner would take appropriate action before things would escalate to a complete failure.

Your Audi will have had it's cylinder heads re-torqued at it's first major service.

This involves decompressing the cooling system and slackening off all the cylinder head bolts,
then re tightening them in a pre-determined order to a specific torque setting.

If this has been done properly, it's fate will be sealed, positively, for the miles ahead.

BMW are not without sin, as it was found out that their air intake, 5 & 7 series, was positioned so low in the engine bay, that if the car was driven forcibly through deep water, or floods, the splash of water into the engine compartment caused the injestion of sufficient water into the air-intake as to cause a hydraulic lock in the engine, or in worst case scenarios, a severly broken engine which was very costly to repair.

BMW's are excellent cars, but where I live, rear wheel drive doesn't cut it.
They are also too small for me unless I go for the 7 or X series, which have engine capacites that tax them out of existence in Ireland, unless you are loaded to the mammary glands with excess dosh, which I'm not!!
I have a farm complete with overfed animals, tractor, atv, a bloated computer, almost an allroad, a photography hobby and a family to support, not necessarily in that order.

Best wishes.

ragtag

The only car I've had a head gasket problem with was my '92 BMW 325iC

MilesM

After a succession of vehicles that were essentially annoymous, this allroad makes a statement and seems to motivate a lot of comment.

Most of it is complimentary, but you all are right on track and I should have guessed it might have been "Audi envy".

Miles

RCS 2

There is some truth in what your BMW friend said. The 2nd and early 3rd generation Toyota 4Runners had this problem big time. Head gasket failures were very common. It was discovered that the material being used in the factory head gaskets couldn't hold up to the differing expansion and contraction rates of the iron block and Al heads. A very expensive recall campaign and a switch to more expensive Fel Pro designed gaskets at the factory eliminated the problem. Basically, a well designed iron block/Al head system is reliable. You can tell your friend if you see him that an Iron block is more sturdy than his Al block. Ford switched from an Al block to an iron block in the new supercharged Cobra just for that reason. Early Al blocks were prone to warping if the cooling system failed. Goodbye engine if you had a coolant leak. With modern designs, however, that is uncommon.

s.carder

A car this hefty could benefit from an Al. block- shame on Audi