Need help!!! My new audi can't move!!

[audi-tude]

I just bought this car. Its a 2000 A6 with the stock twin turbos. It ran fine when i purchased it but one day it almost instantly overheated, coolant alarm and image popped up on the gauge cluster screen, so I pulled over and found out the the connecter off the resovior tank bursted into pieces cause of the intense heat. So i got a new one and from that day, seems like it just got worse overheating problems. It got to the point that if I sat at a stop light too long, my resovior would empty, like it was overheating, BUT the temperature gauge was half way only, like normal. Some mechanics said it was my fan going bad cause they said youre not suppose to be able to spin the fan blade freely. said its suppose to barley be able to turn the fan blade. Now one day i go out to my car, and before i can even leave the driveway, the coolant alarm turned on. Now i know it didn't have time to get hot or overheat. Is their bleeder valve's for it, maybe having a little air in the lines. Cant find bleeder valves anywhere. Cant even leave the car running for like 30 seconds before the coolant alarm comes on. any ideas??? info on the bleeder valves would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!

[Just Me]

i think you need to do a bit of diagnosis. First, you say it overheated. That's nto good. Be clear - did you get a collant alarm or did the car overheat ( needle to red). You could have warped a head or damaged a gasket.

You could also well have air int he system. Get the bentley (factory authortized repair manual), i have not bled mine, else I'd point out where it is. Sorry.

Does it run cool when moving? If so it could well be the fan.

Where does the needle go typically, as you drive around?

I need more info, and better organized so i can follow it.

G

[thejulex]

Some background.

2.7t A6 has two separate fan systems. One is a mechanical fan that spins in unisom with engine accessory belt and two electrical fans, one dedicated to radiator and one dedicated to A/C system condenser but kicking in to help cool things down (but I might be wrong on this one).

You need to help us here a little bit. When your car overheats, do the electrical fans spin at all? Is the mechanical fan intact and spinning at all times?

If they're not, you will have to fix that.

If they are spinning, you have some other issue.

Other issues might be air in the system, but that's unlikely imho as the system can self bleed pretty well but if you think this is an issue, you need to bleed the engine. There is a bleed screw right on top of engine next to oil dip stick, it is a hex screw you can see right after taking engine cover off from around the dip stick.

Another bleed point if heat matrix located next to battery. Grab and pull forward cowl space seal going across engine bay and then pull the cowl space cover towards the front. Put both aside. Next to the battery you will see two heater hoses most likely covered with a sleeve made of silverish fabric. Unclip the sleeve, and start pulling top hose until you stop seeing aluminum thru a small hole of top of said hose. The hose might he hard to remove on older cars like ours. Make sure to not damage anything, it will eventually let go just make sure to try twisting, pushing the hose from behind of car direction etc. Just pulling any hose make the rubber contract and actually present even more resitance, remember that. Don't be afraid to spray penetrating oil under any piece you manage to peel off/free up just remember to clean as much of it as you can. Once you manage to pull the hose enough, it will start bleeding from the top-most bleeding point of cooling system. Continue until only coolant flows from the hole. This is the easy fix issue.

I am afraid though that you either have a stuck closed thermostat, dead or almost dead water pump (when was the timing belt done on this car last time???) or the worse of them all but the most probable given the symptoms, blown head gasket. Blown head gaskets are almost unheard of in 2.7t under normal boost/operating conditions so let's pray it is not that. But the water pump is known to fail before timing belt interval a lot so it might be it. Either way, it is about 2k job....I hope you bought from a dealer and you have some rudimentary warranty.

[audi-tude]

I don't think its a blown head gasket. I had a mechanic take a quick look at it. Could possibly be but I'm leaning my odds on another problem. I was thinking a bad water pump because of the fact that I don't see the water circulation in the water resovoir. But this morning I realized that last night when I pulled some hoses off, water/coolant poured out, so now I'm thinking that the pump is working. Could it be a cracked hose or something, that when the engine gets too hot it overheats or forces it out because of a pressurized system. The last few times I drove my car when it worked, I couldn't sit anywhere for more than around 3-5 minutes before the water would pour out from the bottom of my car, then sitting too long, the coolant alarm would go off. Same when I shut my car off when getting to my destination, I'd shut it off, and about 2-3 minutes later, water would pour out. Everymorning I had to fill the whole resovoir tank back up. My engine would always read that my car was running a normal temp on the gauge cluster. I talked on the phone with an audi tech and he said it's mostlikey the sensor under the resovior tank, or some other sensor, that i cant remember what he said. so the res. tank sensor i unplugged and started the car to see if instantly the coolant light would go off because of the missing sensor, but it ran fine for a second, sounds normal as can be, until the coolant alarm still goes off. I plugged the res. sensor back in still the same of course.

[Just Me]

you till have not answered the questions. You are not breaking this down piece by piece. Quit guessing.

I'm signing off until i get simple questions answered.

G

[PaJames]

I would venture to say if it was a headgasket you would see something. If it was leaking into the cylinders you would have a smoke screen from the exhaust. If it was leaking from the water jackets to outside the motor you would see the leak, or a puddle under the motor.

Now the fact that you DONT see the coolant cycling you might have 4 factors. 1- Bad water pump/ busted impeller. 2- bad thermostat, not opening, causing coolant to over boil/pressurize system. 3- Airlocked- A big bubble of Air in the system. If #3 was possible you should still see the fluid cycle into the tank. And 4- A bad coolant tank pressure cap. Easy test for this swap cap with a friends car and go for a drive.


I would also check your coolant sensors. As per temp guage not going up with overtemp warning comming on.

Is there any coolant in the oil? check on dipstick and on oil fill cap (side facing into motor).If there is neither cross contamination (oil/coolant), or smoke from exhaust. I would venture to say then you can rule out headgaskets.

Maybe you should post a zipcode or give us a idea of where you are at. If you were close to someone they might be able to take a look at it for you.

PaJames

[thejulex]

until you stop panicking and guessing, I am off too. Follow our suggestions or deal with this yourself.

[Airbag]

Originally Posted by thejulex

until you stop panicking and guessing, I am off too. Follow our suggestions or deal with this yourself.

me to .. you don't even have the most basic of troubleshooting skills so stop guessing and take it to a mechanic. There are no "short cuts" to a quick answer you have to start with the basics ..

[TheSilverBullet]

Originally Posted by audi-tude

[...] so now I'm thinking that the pump is working. Could it be a cracked hose or something, that when the engine gets too hot it overheats or forces it out because of a pressurized system. The last few times I drove my car when it worked, I couldn't sit anywhere for more than around 3-5 minutes before the water would pour out from the bottom of my car, then sitting too long, the coolant alarm would go off. Same when I shut my car off when getting to my destination, I'd shut it off, and about 2-3 minutes later, water would pour out. Everymorning I had to fill the whole resovoir tank back up. [...]

I wouldn't be so sure that it's not the water pump. This is exactly what happened to me when my water pump went bad. It still seemed to be circulating coolant, but was also leaking like a sieve.

Once I realized it was the water pump, I went ahead and did the whole TB job (which obviously includes the water pump). You do NOT want to hesitate on replacing the water pump/TB. Take the car to a mechanic that knows Audi's and have them check the water pump (and entire cooling system if it turns out that it's not the pump). If it is the pump, do the entire TB job along with the water pump.

Prices will obviously vary, but my indy mechanic charged me about $1400 for the entire job (parts & labor). Worth every penny.

[Just Me]

airbag - you probably didnt mean it this way, but you sounded really accusatory. Let's welcome someone new and help them learn the mysteries of breaking down complex problems into a series of simpler ones.

Audi-tude. Back up, do some research (like several of us have asked you to) and then come back and we can help. Absent facts, our opinions wont solve anything.

G