2001 A6 4.2 'Double Secret' North American Recall???

[Texas Avus]

Has anyone else had a radiator/coolant system hose failure recently?

My three month old A6 began leaking alot of coolant (onto the floor of my garage) last week. Of course, I immediately took the car to my dealer (in Orange County), where it has now been sitting for over a week for lack of a replacement hose! Apparently, the hose isn't broken or torn, it is defective and is porous to coolant. When my service consultant told me that Audi didn't have the parts in stock in the US, but was expecting some from Germany next week, I asked him if one those incoming parts was mine. No, no guarantee that someone else isn't ahead of me on the list (apparently this is happening quite a bit to other 4.2 owners).

At this point I decided that I really should ask someone at Audi USA for assistance in getting my car back on the road before Christmas. Their consumer advocate said that she'd check with Parts and get back to me. Parts called shortly thereafter and left a message for me yesterday that they were 'looking into it' and would give me a call when they knew where the replacement hose was... Of course, the Parts person who called has Friday off, and no one knows anything else.

Driving a crappy rental car for a week only to find out that they still can't assure me that they'll be able get my car back on the road next week, and not getting any positive closure from customer service at Audi USA is sending my blood pressure throught the ceiling!

Sorry for the rant...

[phred]

[Finman]

Mine leaked small to moderate pink crap within a few weeks of owning it...they tightened the hose clamp once, replaced the tank the second time, and finally replaced the hose the third time...all along I told them it was the hose...they finally believed me...which was good...I think they were gonna replace the engine next An allroad owner had the same thing at the same time as I, about 9 months ago. Have only heard of it a couple times otherwise.

[ChrisS -2008 A6-4.2]

I have a 2000 4.2. Early on (shortly after delivery) I experienced a significant coolant leak.

A very complex hose (located toward the front of the engine near the bottom of the compartment failed.

There was a several day wait to get the part. Fortunately, I dropped the car off before a business trip and picked it up on my return.

I found the leak as a result of looking under the hood and seeing a pink substance that was crystaline in nature- as if it were almost growing.

Recently, I discover more of the same crystaline growth on a small hose near the air intake and air cleaner assembly. I planned to have it dealt with on my next service trip. Perhaps I might have to act sooner.

[Texas Avus]

That's the infuriating part of it... Why wasn't a FedEx box with non-defective hoses sitting on my dealers parts desk the next day? Having lived through the fuel tank sender fiasco on my last A6, waiting for parts to come in through Audi's parts system isn't acceptable, and isn't an assurance that they even have non-defective hoses coming into their system.

[Texas Avus]

Yes, that's the same hose. And I also had the pink stalactites hanging off the clamp area.

[oskidunker]

Unbelievable. It took a long time, too.Some hose that was not eay to reach on the turbo. 12,000 miles on the car

[Finman]

maybe too tight and that's why the hose failed...I don't know...it's now been ~14k since the fix and all is still well No big deal really as long as it's not letting the tank get low...just a bit messy and smelly when it hits the hot parts...good luck...my part also took a couple weeks to come in, I drove it anyway as it was leaking slowly.

[phred]

It sure seems like in the US, the product is fine but the sales and support is lacking. I wonder how they compare with BMW and Merc.

[captainbilly]

I am sure that the reason you aren't getting the replacement hose is that there aren't any. I had a similar situation with the TBB on my 2000 2.7t. It took 10 days, I think, to get one from Germany because they had to make some. Remind AOA that 30 days out of service in the first 12-18 months (depending on your state of residence) will get the car declared a "lemon" and I think you will get something from them. Of course if there aren't any hoses you can't have one and I don't think it would be fair to put you ahead of other owners but you still might ask for something to keep you from talking to the BBB Autoline.