05SPLIFIN

Just bought this S4, found out my problem with the heating issue, i dont know if it leaks or not. my car overheats when i push it hard at low speeds. does that mean an air bubble could be in the coolant system ? should i just plug the core back in or how could i test it easily ?

05SPLIFIN

need some advice, noob here. do i take it all out and replace it. how can i cheaply check if the core i good or not.

iNfiNkC

you can hook the lines up and see if you get heat again in the car, or if you start smelling coolant inside the cabin.

This will not cause the car to over heat, so you have 2 problems. Most likely a bad heater core, and something else that is causing the car to over heat.

05SPLIFIN

whats the risk that it will spew coolant inside my car and smell bad forever?

BlackS4inNNJ

hook it to a garden hose first. Check for leaks, at least its clean water.

05SPLIFIN

thanks will do

05SPLIFIN

having noticed that the heater core was by-passed i thought it was done for. but ran some test instead of paying someone to replace it.

TESTS RUN:

Air---- thru tubes leading in and out (some gunk stuff came out)

Water--thru tubes leading in and out (pink coolant came out [weird] and used very hot water)

once i finished the tests i cycled the water thru the core to see if there were any leaks, there seamed to be one minor one (but it was minimal), so i went ahead and mixed in radiator sealant (liquid aluminum) with near boiling point water in a bucket and had the 2 hoses running from there to the core (one of course had a pump on it to cycle the fluid).

the levels of fluid in the bucket didn't drop at all so i went on to cycling for 1 1/2 hrs and after that i cycled with clean water (hot water) to test for leaks again (i also pressured the system to stress test just in case). afterwards i hooked the system back up (pre-bled the core with coolant). drove around the block and it got TOASTY in the car !!!! and still no coolant smell

fixed the core !!! i highly recommend doing this before taking apart the dash board. no body wants to end up doing that lol



thank you to Audi-World members for the help and ideas