wasabiskier

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I purchase a 2003 allroad last fall and it just had it's 50k service a couple of months ago. This is my second Audi and I love them but DAMN! am I unlucky or do they always have significant problems. (I am always working on my 97 1.8T A4) 8^(

50,900 miles on the allroad. Fiancee gets a coolant warning light this morning on the way to work. Gauge reads normal, heater kicking out heat, 1/2 mile from work and she leaves it in the garage at her office.

I check it out this afternoon, belts are fine, electric fan is turning, but coolant is low (3/4 inch under MIN mark). I know this isn't good since it is a closed cooling system and we have never overheated the car therefore it should never have lost any fluid.

I fill up the reservoir, start the car, get the warning for a little while then it goes out as the engine heats up. No problems right... WRONG!

There are some things that are still bothering me and the reason I will be calling Audi in the morning (although I am sure I am out of warranty by 900 miles and out of luck).

1) I never felt any resistance when squeezing the big coolant return line to the radiator. On past vehicles I could usually feel resistance from the fluid inside when the car was running.

2) The reservior never pressurized even after the car idled to normal temp. I also seem to remember in my 1.8T seeing coolant streaming back into the resevoir via a small return line on top. No flow on the return line in the allroad. (I will take a look at the A4 and verify in the morning)

3) My LARGEST CONCERN. I SWEAR there is OIL floating on the top of the COOLANT in the reservoir!! This has me VERY CONCERNED. My gut hopes I am wrong, but it is brown/black, slippery and smells like oil on my fingers.

Thoughts? Does the 2.7t have an oil cooler similar to the one the oil filter attaches to on the 1.8t? I don't have the Bentley for this car yet but I will be ordering it tonight.

Anyone had leaks in the oil cooler if it exists? Is it a pain to get too? If there is no oil cooler, I am stuck thinking it is a leaking head gasket or something similar although I would expect the exhaust to show signs of contamination.

PLEASE HELP. I love this car but can't afford to have Audi tear down and replace the engine head right now.

P. Bauer

the sensor on the bottom of the coolant tank could be bad...happened to me.

2nd. Yes, the oil cooler on the Audi has a sandwich plate which circulates coolant through it.

3rd. Only 900 miles out of warranty, make sure you talk to the Service Advisor and mention you noticed this a little while back, but couldn't get it into service any earlier. I HOPE Audi will still help you given the minimum mileage over.

Good luck.

magilla70

Replied to this post on the AR forum.

Captain Matt, I be

developing there though.

i'd put my money on a head gasket

lemieux@curbside

and dumped oil in the coolant system (oil pressure > coolant pressure there).. ALL of it ..it was really bad , but after a good flush/clean , core changed along with couple hoses it was back to normal.. good thing he used synthetic Mob1 oil like i asked him to since he got the car.
the oil cooler is behind the oil filter.
i hope it's that and not a head gasket or anything else.

lemieux@curbside

that is it 90% ...i've seen it.

silva

The A4s such as the '97 that you have are very common for that problem. Have not seen it happen much on the 2.7T, but, the coolers are very similar in design.

Lucky for the owners, the oil is under much more pressure than the coolant, and coolant doesn't end up in the crankcase. if you're coolant looks brown, muddy, and oily, have a look at that oil cooler, which is right next to the oil filter.

Go buy yourself a 2" piece of 3/4" OD piping. Basically anything will do, but, if the ends are beaded, even better. With the car cold, disconnect both coolant hoses from the oil cooler and connect them together using this piece of pipe. You'll lose some coolant, but that's ok 'cause if it's brown, it needs to be changed anyway. With the two hoses connected together, you can start the car and won't get coolant everywhere.

Start the car, and watch for oil coming out of one of the two connections at the oil cooler, where the coolant hoses were previously connected. If there is anything coming out of there after the car has run for a few minutes, the cooler is definately defective. Very easy to replace it. There is one large 26 mm (I think) nut visible after you remove the oil filter. That is it. You can drive around with it connected like that temporarily, if need be.

Hope this helps. Email me if you need or have other info.

Captain Matt, I be

track down your leak yet?

wasabiskier

Good news. I badgered AoA and my dealer for a couple of hours today until the agreed to cover the problem under warranty. Roadside 4yr/unlimited took care of the towing this morning and the dealer found a faulty oil cooler (as suspected by many of you.) They replaced the oil cooler as well as the coolant reservoir and flushed the coolant system. They did not find coolant in the oil system and suprisingly opted not to flush the oil system anyways (seems like a good idea since they know there was co-mingling in at least one direction. I plan to change the oil and filter the minute the car gets back home just to be safe.

Thanks to all who posted responses to my call for help. The forums are invaluable!!

Check your reservoir at each fill up. Not sure how prevalent this is but it could have been ugly.