Conference terri::cars_uk

    Have you checked the little thermostat valve ? This inexpensive device
    can cause a lot of trouble when it ages and sticks open or closed or
    mid-way.

    
    Does the heater work? 
    
    I had trouble with constant and mysterious overheating, solved when the
    heater finally blew and dumped all the coolant on the ground! :^)
    
    Mark

     
    RE: -1
    
    was this on an AUDI or not. I'm thinking money-wise.
    
    ...nick

    I had a VW without expansion tank, and that overheated initially due to
    a head gasket leak. Caused poor running and weird reactions from the
    engine management system. It was an 1800cc engine 4 cylinder.
    
    Core plugs in the engine block also needed replacing.
    Luckily it was done under warranty...otherwise expensive.
    
    Check the exhaust to see if any white smoke (steam) coming out!
    
    Good luck,
    
    Tim
    

    
    Is anyone sure about this, it's just that if you take it into a VAG
    dealer and say it may be this, or that. They say "I don't know lets
    have a look". Then they give you a bonnet and wings oily fingerprint
    lesson and tell you that it's evrything you've pointed out. I'm only
    trying to work out exactly what it is without going through that. I'd
    get under the bonnet myself, only I'd never touch an Audi engine bay.
    Give me a Vauxhall a Ford or one of those wonderfull VW Beetle engines,
    but i'm buggered if i'm gonna even wipe my ar*e on this stupid
    contraption.
    
    cheers
    
    ...nick

    
    Warm up the engine. Then open the coolant expansion reservoir, by 
    unscrewing the top off. Ensure that your heater settings are set to HOT, 
    and switch on your heater fan...I know it may be warm outside, but do it 
    just the same!
    
    Let the car idle for at least 15 minutes with the reservoir cap off and
    your heater on. This will allow all the air bubbles to escape out of
    the system via the expansion tank.
    
    Keep a close eye on the reservoir level indicator, keeping it topped up
    to the half way mark if required.
    
    DO NOT put fresh tap water into an Audi engine unless it contains a
    rust inhibitor. Many over-heating problems are caused by using fresh
    tap water only. 
    
    Hope this helps......John. 

    
    Re exploding heater.
    
    It wasn't an Audi.
    
    Mark

RE: .7  by IRNBRU::WILSON >>>

>>    DO NOT put fresh tap water into an Audi engine unless it contains a
>>    rust inhibitor. Many over-heating problems are caused by using fresh
>>    tap water only. 
    
With a nodename like that, you ought to know about these things :-)

Steve

    re: .9
    
    Nice one!!
    
    

    Too late....Too late.....Dam..Blast etc etc.
    Got an urgent call on Monday night to get back to Reading A.S.A.P.
    Got 15 miles and what happens....Major melt down. Head gasket blew 
    Throwing hot water everywhere, and buggering my radiator up, not to
    mention the coolant expansion tank cap playing Rocketeer around my
    engine, "but no" says my engine "I haven't finished yet, just watch
    this". It decides to melt the cap on my brake fuid resivoir, throwing
    brake fluid evrywhere. So I've got the old temperature light fashing
    and the brake light flashing, DISCO DASHBOARD.
    SO, next move was to stop quite quickly on the M4. Phoned the AA
    @20:00. Some old guize turns up at 21:00 and tells me, "oh, I think
    it's overheated". Pillock! So he starts pouring water into what's left
    of the expansion tank...Anyway to save boring you any more, he
    basically farted around for another two hours before deciding to call
    an AA truck to take me home. Which arrived @23:30. Got home @01:00 to
    some very surprised relatives. Anyway what laugh eh! Thanks for all the
    info, it's a shame i didn't think of it earlier.
    
    Cheers
    
    ...nick
    
    
    p.s. Are you sure you don't want to buy an AUDI!

    
    I've never heard of such an incident with an Audi. I've owned only
    Audi's since 1987, and I am very surprised that this has happened to
    you. I'd "roast" the dealer who dealt with this, and ask to speak to
    your local VAG rep...there is one in most sales areas within the UK.
    
    Somebody has not been doing their job correctly! YOU should not have to
    foot the bill for that!
    
    John.
    
    
    
     

    re:-2
          The only thing that I can put this down to is a serious air
    block. On the motorway I was pouring water into the coolant tank and
    for some reason it wasn't getting into the radiator, or the engine
    itself. In reply to -1 it wasn't the thermostat as I fill the engine
    block bit where the water is held then took the down pipe off, the one
    that sends the water back to the radiator via the thermostat, and ran
    the engine till it got warm, sure enough the water came through. I
    think by taking out the radiator and all the hoses, then cleaning them
    out thoroughly, it seemed to cure the problem. 
    
        But I still have one problem:- at the moment i am having to
    manually run the fan as it's not cutting in (main problem for the
    overheating and air block) automatically. I have replaced the Fan
    switch 2 months ago and again on Tuesday. But this doesn't seem to be
    getting the dam thing going. 
    
        Cheers
    
        ...nick

Air locks occur when the block has been drained and he engine not run until the
thermostat *opens* to allow the coolant to circulate and bring the air to the
expansion tank.

    
    You will probably find that a Thermostat is an option as well as radio,
    electric windows, wheels etc. The car is only #10,000 but "extras" like
    Thermostats cost about #1000 each.

Does anyone out there own an Audi 80 Turbo Diesel. If so I would like your
comments.

I had a test drive of one (the new 1992 model with the bigger boot) and was
impressed !

Thanks,


Karen

P.S. Of particular interest are cost of servicing, reliability and comfort
on long drives.

So there are no Audi 80 Tdi owners ?  Any Audi 2.0 petrol owners ?

What do you think of the car ?

Thanks,

Karen

    I have the Audi 80 2.0 petrol (though had I been able to afford the Tdi
    I would have had that).
    
    The Audi, has been okay thus far, though 800 miles on the clock and the
    distributer cap cracked....!  Generally a very nice motor, a bit slow
    (previous car a GTE), but if you keep the engine revs upto around
    4000rpm it takes off ok, and handles best when driven hard.  If you
    want to caost round corners it can be rather off putting and feels a
    little unstable (though it has never broke loose).
    
    It is fairly economical when on the motorway, but in town it is a
    greedy beast.
    
    Overall, I would thoroughly recommend an Audi 80 (but if you want
    economy go for the TDi, if you want performance either the 16V or the
    2.8E/quattro would be the better options).
    
    Bob

    I too have an Audi 80 & previously had a GTE.
    
    Performance is considerably worse, but quality/sturdiness is far
    higher.
    
    My only problem is the weekly fuel bill. Its a very hungry car,
    definately not for the A>B motorist.
    
    Chris.

    Anyone with the New style Audi 80's had a problem with rattles from the
    rear suspension, or rather worriesom knocks / rattles from steering on
    roads with even a slightly pot holed surface?
    
    My one goes in Friday for a check up, but was wondering if the steering
    thing is to do with the PROCON 10 system...
    
    Bob

    Mine's got no problems in that department,
    
    What was the outcome of the check-up ?
    
    

    Finally got it into the garage on WED (yesterday), got it back after
    about 5 hours.  They could not provide me with a detailed breakdown on
    everything that was done, but did say that the suspension need
    tightening! The rattles have now gone, the ride is much firmer
    (although it's only ben blasted about town), and the sick clunk whilst
    corenering on uneven roads "seems" to have gone.
    
    All the work was done on warrenty. (they didn't even ask for my fleet
    card!)
    
    Bob

    Anyone know whose red Audi 80 TDi is in DECpark's car park? I've seen
    it there a few times recently, so the owner obviously lives here, and
    I'd like to talk to the owner about what it's like.
    
    If all else fails, I'll stick a note on the screen, but the air's so
    damp at the moment, the paper's bound to go to pap, so there's no point.
    
    
    Cheers,
    Stephen

Stick it in a plastic bag (ala Parking tickets).

    To update .23.....
    
    The knocks and groans have gone... but a new and quite disconcerting
    problem has arisen.  For the first time in a number of weeks I hade the
    opportunity to do some Motorway driving last week.
    
    There were some quite strong crosswinds, and the worst part was the
    handling of the Audi in these conditions... I have driven 150 miles
    through blinding snow in gale force winds on numerous accasions... but
    never have I had problems like the Audi displayed on Tuesday night.
    
    It felt as if I had a loose wheel.  At the first opportunity I had I
    stopped at a service station, check the wheels, tyre pressures,
    shocks.. everything I could think of... the only thing to show was a
    front tyre pressure drop of around 2lbs.
    
    Anyone with the new Audi 80's had similar problems in these sorts of
    conditions...
    
    Bob