steveinky

Wife got home yesterday and said something went beep and some symbol appeared on the display. Since Audi saw fit to make a light bulb failure as critical as no oil pressure, I had no clue if it was important or not. So I checked all the fluids and started it up and everything looked OK. Coolant was up to max line and oil was a tad low but normal.

A little later I ran off to do some errands and got about a mile down the road and the bells and whistles went off and the hot temp warning came up on the display. The coolant temperature was almost up to the H. I stopped, popped the hood, all looked OK, coolant was at max. After a little cool down, I turned around and headed home. About 1/4 mile down the road, a cloud of steam erupted from the hood, hot warning etc. Shut it down and towed it home.

What's the most likely culprit?? It didn't lose any coolant until after it got hot the 3rd time.

Appreciate your feedback
Steve

raj99

Your thermostat isn't working as it's supposed to and is most likely shut closed, which means when the car starts to get to operating temperature the thermostat is not opening up and allowing the coolant to do what it's supposed to. Read the threads regarding putting your car in service position and doing a complete timing belt job, which includes the thermostat.

steveinky

This afternoon I topped off the coolant tank with freshly fallen rain water. It took about 1 gallon. I started it up and stood by to see what happened. No leaks, but there was quite a racket after a moment with squealing coming from the front of the engine. I'm thinking the water pump may have failed internally.

Is this known to happen? Last timing belt change the water pump was also changed. Maybe 50K ago.

Thanks
Steve

raj99

Steve,

50K is where they sometimes start to fail...just do the whole job at the same time: Timing belt, water pump, thermostat, serpentine belt, idler pulley, etc...

jcman

Rare for a thermostat to fail closed, generally they fail non-responsive and stay open but things can happen.
Check for circulation it is possible that the pump impeller is not happening, not a big fan of those plastic ones.