A6 Loosing Coolant

[Lynlea]

I have a 55 plate A6 2.0TDi with 58K on the clock. I have been loosing water from the coolant system for about 6 months now and the engine is difficult to turn over when it has been stood overnight. This has meant I have had to change the battery once and the new battery is now dying. It appears to me that the head gasket is allowing water into the engine.

I realise I now need to deal with the root cause, Audi want £650 just to remove the head and take a look.

I am inclined to take it to an engine specialist rather than Audi.

I just wondered what your thoughts were on the matter. Any advise would be gratefully received.

Thanks, John.

[Peter D]

Locate an Audi/VW indi specialist and get a quote there. If coolant is getting into a cylinder when stood I would expect the header tank to over pressurise and blow coolant out. Are you sure the battery problem and coolant problem are linked. Regards Peter

[a8 tech]

I have a 55 plate A6 2.0TDi with 58K on the clock. I have been loosing water from the coolant system for about 6 months now and the engine is difficult to turn over when it has been stood overnight. This has meant I have had to change the battery once and the new battery is now dying. It appears to me that the head gasket is allowing water into the engine.

I realise I now need to deal with the root cause, Audi want £650 just to remove the head and take a look.

I am inclined to take it to an engine specialist rather than Audi.

I just wondered what your thoughts were on the matter. Any advise would be gratefully received.

Thanks, John.

The cylinder head cracks and allows coolant into cylinder 1 and 4 causing poor starting and white smoke after a stationary period.This is KNOWN ISSUE and only replacement of the cylinder head will cure it,my workshop has fitted lots of cylinder heads for this complaint.The best way to confirm this is to leave the coolant system pressurized for 2 days then remove the exhaust manifold and you will see the coolant inside the exhaust ports

[Lynlea]

Thanks both for your responses.

A8 thanks for your technical assistance; yes there is lots of white smoke until the engine warms up; I now have a better understanding of the problem. I think I will now get quotes for the work and ask for the water in exhaust ports test to be carried out prior to the work being carried out.

Regards,

John.

[Lynlea]

I have been advised by a number of sources that my problem is a known issue i.e. cracked cylinder head that develops the symtoms very slowly. Looking back at my RAC callouts it would appear that the engine actually failed under warranty, although this is going to be difficult to prove as the symtoms such as losing coolant and gradually deteriorating battery do not in themselves appear significant at the early stages. Audi have agreed to part finance the head replacement, if it turns out to be cracked, but I expect them to do the honorable thing and replace it free of charge.

Does anyone else have the same problem? I would be interested to know of your experiences?

Thanks,

John.

[JimC64]

Now that is spooky....
I also have a A6 (07) 2.0 tdi 2 years old and 54k miles. I've had 2 or 3 RAC callouts for poor starting. I've had the battery replaced twice under warranty to date.....After she sits for a while, maybe even a day or so she can be a bugger to turn over......not normal IMO......I've had Jags, Fords, Vauxhalls and Saab diesels and none had this issue
Not looked for the white smoke but I will now pay attention.....of course I haven't heard anything about this until now
Funnily enough ( or NOT as the case may be ) just recently I noticed the coolant was low and a day later the low warning light came on....I took it straight to the dealer and they topped up with no charge.......should I be worried???
I still have maybe 10 - 12 months warranty on the car.

Jim

[a8 tech]

Again as i have said already the cylinder head cracks between cylinder's 1 and 2 or 3 and 4.The dealer will niot be able to identify the crack but by testing as i have said it will be quite obvious when when viewing the cylinder head with the exhaust manifold removed.Additional to this complaint the EGR cooler can also leak internally,this can be confirmed by opening the manifold port and inspecting for congealed coolant.Regards A8

[JimC64]

Many thanks for your reply / help A8 Tech.......Do you have any advice for me as the best way to broach this subject with the dealership? As you are no doubt very well aware there is a right way and a wrong way to initiate a discussion on any subject such as this and also as to how you came by the info. Obviously I wouldn't want to mention any tech advice, so how would you recommend I go about it?

As much as I love this vehicle I really am starting to lose patience with it......just today the convenience " one shot " lowering on the drivers window failed to operate, the global open and global close feature seems to have gone too

Jim

[a8 tech]

Ok Jim,if you have been a good boy with full Audi history then a goodwill contribution is a possible so hold in there and let the dealer try to offer this.I would then raise the issue with Audi uk if you have no offer and see what they say as i think the dealer will try there best to support your situation.

Second fault,goto MMI car systems and check window feature is ticked for total closure also try holding the key over for a couple of seconds in the unlock position to check the windows open and lock again with the key and hold the key over to close the windows.
Also send the windows up one by one on the drivers window switch pack and when the closed position is reached hold the window switch for 10 seconds then send the window back down and again hold the the switch in the down position for 10 seconds and retry normal operation.Just having my tea lol

[JimC64]

Hey A8 Tech....many thanks for your reply.

I've been a model customer since buying the car "used" with 500 miles on her, essentially new.
Both services have been done by Audi, albeit under the 2 year free service plan, going in next week or so for the 54k service which will need to be paid for. Have bought numerous items from the parts dept and had quite a few items already done under warranty.
Sent you a pm.

Thanks again A8 Tech

jim