Please Help, Overheating

[Scruffy]

Hi,

I am new to tgese forums, so Hello to everyone.

I wonder if anyone can help, my Audi is driving me crazy now. I have an A4 1.8 T 2004 Limeted Edition. When the car gets going it overheats up to 130 on the dial and the interior heater just blows cold air. The coolent is also boiling when I release pressure from it.

I have changed the thermostat today which I hoped would solve the problem, which unfortunately hasnt made any difference and the car still overheats. I know the water pump is working as I removed the hose from the water intake and water pumped out freely. I assumed at this point it would be the head gasket. I took the car to my local garage which did a test using a device Im unfamiliar with which the liquid changes colur if the head gasket is broken, however after testing it didnt indicate the head gasket, although the mechanic said it does seem like it is the head gasket.

The only other thing I can assume is an Air Lock in the system, however I dont know how to bleed the system as the bleed valve seems to have a plastic stopper in it which I dont want to play around with too much. Also at the garage the mechanic spent some time moving the pipes to try and free anything to no luck.

I am a bit stuck now to what the problem actually is, I have been quoted £1000 for a gasket change, but obviously with the new year and credit crunch i hope that this isnt the route i have to take. I did also call Audi but they wanted 100 an hour just to look at the car, and also I did assume it would just be the thermostat.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions it would be great and more than helpful, I am at a lost end with the car now, and thinking the worst of a head gasket and an empty bank balance.

Many Thanks

[Scruffy]

Hi All,

The problem is solved now, I have replaced the water pump and turns out it was smashed in three. The car is happy again.

[Smiley]

You diagnosed & fixed the car in 6 hours :P
Good work.

Any pics of your ride btw?

[Scruffy]

No, its taken a while, I wrote the post on another forum last week after changing the termostat which didnt solve the issue, They suggested changing the water pump, but because my local garage said it was the head gasket and they said different I thought I would post on this forum to get a third opinion, however decided to bite the bullet before any replies... Mainly because the cost of the water pump was £40 and a head gasket professionaly done would have been £1000.

I can take some pictures of it tomorrow when its light, I have a picture of what it looked like whilst having the pump changed, not in its glory... its the limeted edition one, so it has a kit on it very similar to the S Line.
Not sure how to put a pic on here though as it asks for a URL and not just upload the picture from my hard drive.

[Smiley]

Ah I see..I think your local garage was trying to f*** you though, maybe look for a better shop? Did they never suggest the water pump?

Well, goto www.photobucket.com and register yourself an account. Think of it as a personal online photo album.

Then you can choose to Upload whatever pictures you want. After that there will be a [IMG] code for the picture , copy/paste that full code here and your set.

[Scruffy]

Well I thought that, they took the pipe off the water coolent tank with the engine running and it spat water out, hence the diagnoses it was working... however it was circulating some water, but as the revs got high it couldnt cope, because when i removed the pump it was in three pieces, the larger part still attached to the pump, so assumed it was moving a very small amount of water but with higher rpms it obviously couldnt circulate enough and overheated. Thinking back now, at engine idle the temp was ok, it was only when revs were applied. Looking further on the net and other forums, it seems like a common problem around 50k miles for the A4 B6.

I am surpised Audi fitted a pump with a plastic impeller on it to be honest, my new one has a metal impella.

Whilst I am on here, maybe I should start a new thread? I have been thinking about chipping the turbo - its a 163ps at the moment but been told it can easily be upp'd? dont know if you have done this or anyone else?

[Smiley]

Chip the turbo? No, but you can "tune" the ECU. Everyone does it here.

It is the most hp you'll get out of your car for the $$$

I dont know what companies you have down in England, but try to find any of these dealers: APR, Revo, GIAC, Unitronic