Ever had a leaking rear flange diagnosed as a blown head gasket?

**jchamberlain** · 12-15-2008 08:12 PM

Any one ever had a leaking rear flange diagnosed as a blown head gasket? I have a 2002 B6 A4 1.8T Quattro with around 65000 miles. I was kind of surprised to hear that the head gasket was blown and more surprised by the estimate to replace it $1,900. After shopping that around I didn't find any better deals only worse. So I decided to double check the diagnosis to make sure they were right and from what I can see it appears to be a leaking rear flange instead. What a relief :-) I have read that it's a grueling job, but the parts are so much cheaper. The shop in question is not the Audi dealer, but they do specialize in imported cars.

Anyone else have the samething happen?

- James

**rocketheavy** · 12-15-2008 08:17 PM

i just literally completed the rear flange swap and its a mother fu**er. It would be a million times easier if you could see what the hell you are doing. My hands were just small enough to do this. My knuckles are all bloody now, lol

**zbrock06** · 12-15-2008 10:26 PM

i did it last week and it's a bitch, it took me days because i got too pissed and gave up. In the end it's worth it to do it yourself but be prepared for some angry moments. I just hope my coolant leak was from that has i haven't driven the car yet as i'm doing the timing belt also. If i did all that work for nothing i'm going to be even more pissed.

**7speed** · 12-15-2008 10:45 PM

just change your rear coolant flange and if the problem persist, atleast you will have a new coolant flange

**AudiA4_20T** · 12-15-2008 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by jchamberlain

Any one ever had a leaking rear flange diagnosed as a blown head gasket? I have a 2002 B6 A4 1.8T Quattro with around 65000 miles. I was kind of surprised to hear that the head gasket was blown and more surprised by the estimate to replace it $1,900. After shopping that around I didn't find any better deals only worse. So I decided to double check the diagnosis to make sure they were right and from what I can see it appears to be a leaking rear flange instead. What a relief :-) I have read that it's a grueling job, but the parts are so much cheaper. The shop in question is not the Audi dealer, but they do specialize in imported cars.

Anyone else have the samething happen?

- James

You need to be more descriptive on what your symptoms are. Were you just leaking coolant?

**rocketheavy** · 12-16-2008 12:09 AM

lol i took a lot of breaks! i almost gave up. I had to do some soul searching like Emillio Estevez in the mighty ducks... This job made the timing belt replacement seem like a piece of cake

**jchamberlain** · 12-16-2008 04:48 AM

Just for background info here are the symptoms that I was seeing and the method that I used to track down the cause. The car was loosing coolant over a period of time. At first the loss was hardly noticeable and I had to top it off every couple months. The thing became significantly worse were it drop most of coolant from the reservoir on one 20min trip home from work. I parked it at that point and have not driven it since. There was and currently is no smoke coming from the exhaust so I knew it was not burning it. That's where I brought it to a shop I have used for a couple years to get a estimate of what is wrong. They diagnosed the problem as a blown head gasket and recommended that the timmimg belt be changed at the same time since most of the labor to do the head gasket would be the same. I was getting ready to do both jobs myself and have been researching what is involved and what needed to be ordered, but I just wanted to double check that it really was the head gasket before I started ordering parts. To trackdown the problem I pulled off the heat shield on the exhaust side of the motor so I would have better access to see the head and rear flange and used and inspection mirror to see what and where the coolant was coming from. I could see residue from coolant leaking down that area of the engine. After running it for a couple minutes I could see a steady drip coming from below the rear flange. Is this what a shop would do? The engine is pretty dirty in that area and the coolant was running down the oil line going to the turbo, so it was tricky to find the cause. I would have thought that they would have done the same thing and easily found the problem. What I really wonder is what they would have done if I have brought it to them for the repair? I wonder whether they would have found the real problem and fixed it or just replaced my head gasket even thought is was not failing.

- James

**dolbnyc** · 12-19-2008 12:38 AM

Unfortunately, its is a 20$ part that may require changing every 35-40K and
atleast 3-4hrs labor

**Turb_Oh_A4** · 12-19-2008 12:48 AM

Originally Posted by dolbnyc

atleast 3-4hrs labor

3 hours my ass... that's what the dealership quote is. it will take less than an hour, but i'll agree, its a bitch.

**chimchongdlight** · 02-12-2009 03:03 PM

do u have a picture of the coolant flange?...bc i thinnk im having the same probloem with my 98 1.8t

**Trevsaudi** · 02-12-2009 09:46 PM

hooooly shit i hate the rear flange, i went to change it and 3 hours in a brittle hose snapped on me. after i was done stomping and cursing i called a tow truck and took it to the nearest repair shop....900 bones mostly labor....i probably shouldve been more patient :(