'New' purchase, overheating and dealer won't acknowledge

[kynovs4]

Bought a used 2010 S4 and 3 weeks later it looks like I am having either a thermostat or water pump issue (or both). I took it back to the dealer and they said they couldn't reproduce the issue. So I went out tonight with my obd2 adapter and torque app. A nice leisurely drive 2 miles down the road and coolant temps climbed to nearly 250. I assume like most cars, once the temp gets to around 220 the tstat should open and the car should cool to around 200. However, the fans run nonstop once they turn on and the temps never drop below 220-228. I am going back to the dealer tomorrow with these pics as "proof". I have a feeling they are going to do whatever they can to avoid fixing this. Here's the pictures--




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[14S4GWM]

So I take it you have a 30 day warranty? Whats in your paperwork about your warranty?

[DGVR6]

They know, just trying to dodge it. Dealer pays for this kind of repair not Audi.

Call Audi and complain about the dealership.
Give them hell.

[kynovs4]

So I take it you have a 30 day warranty? Whats in your paperwork about your warranty?

60-day, 2,500 miles.




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[14S4GWM]

I thnik there is a TSB for the pump, might want to look into taking that in there with you.

[Johnnycash]

they will cover, you just have to assert yourself.

[Pyromatic177]

Yep, just tell them there IS an issue and they need to fix it. They'll whine about it but will give in.

[The Fat Kid]

Send them an email (so you have written proof of the problem/date) indicating that you will contact the state's attorney general if they do not fix the car.

[chaos2984]

You water pump is probably not the issue. Open your hood and look down below the blow pulley and look for the water pump. See if the housing is plastic it will be black if it is. If its black it probably needs a water pump/I think their was a special policy or recall for this. Most likely its your t-stat giving you issues. The better pic for the dealer is the pic of your gauge cluster. But If I was the dealer with this pics I would repair it. You know have proof.

[kynovs4]

You water pump is probably not the issue. Open your hood and look down below the blow pulley and look for the water pump. See if the housing is plastic it will be black if it is. If its black it probably needs a water pump/I think their was a special policy or recall for this. Most likely its your t-stat giving you issues. The better pic for the dealer is the pic of your gauge cluster. But If I was the dealer with this pics I would repair it. You know have proof.

I am thinking thermostat as well because according to the carfax, the water pump was already replaced...twice. Not to mention it takes nearly 15 minutes for the car to warm up.

[Jroyalty7]

I am thinking thermostat as well because according to the carfax, the water pump was already replaced...twice. Not to mention it takes nearly 15 minutes for the car to warm up.

Now I wonder if the time it takes to warm up isn't a "normal" thing? I have a 2013 s4 and my car seems to take a while to warm up also, like it would never reach midway on the temp gauge if I let it just sit and takes about 10 minutes of driving to get to warmed up... interested to see what you find out.

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[amz]

I am thinking thermostat as well because according to the carfax, the water pump was already replaced...twice. Not to mention it takes nearly 15 minutes for the car to warm up.

What ambient temps does it take the car 15min to warm up? When it's -30C ambient, it takes mine 10-15 minutes to warm up, but when it's around 0C it's probably less. Also, is that 15 minutes street or highway driving?

[fitzydude]

Same symptoms I just had for my failed thermostat. When they test it make sure the heat is off. My overheating was subtle enough that with the heat on, slightly, it would be enough to keep the temps between 220-230 and with it off it would climb to 250+

[S4'ed]

Failing thermostat. Even the newer design revisions are prone to failure. The plastic tangs that hold the spring break. When one breaks, the car will partially overheat (like yours does). When the rest break (there are 3 or 4 plastic tangs), which will happen very soon, you will get the full overheat condition, where the coolant temp will be over 250F, and the overheat warning message will activate. Fix it now before you risk damaging the engine with a full overheat situation.

[Dr GP]

Just a suggestion. The PCV valves are prone to malfunction on these cars. To replace the T stat and PVC valve, the supercharger needs to be removed. I would have them repair the PCV valve while the SC is off. It involves replacing 2 small parts. Shouldn't cost you much extra. But then you have piece of mind. When the PCV valve is defective, it will cause excessive oil consumption.

[kynovs4]

What ambient temps does it take the car 15min to warm up? When it's -30C ambient, it takes mine 10-15 minutes to warm up, but when it's around 0C it's probably less. Also, is that 15 minutes street or highway driving?

At around 40-45F my car will sit at idle for about 15mins before its warmed up, or so I thought. Last night I finally hooked up the OBD2 app and when the needle got close to halfway, the actual reading was still around 175.

[14S4GWM]

At around 40-45F my car will sit at idle for about 15mins before its warmed up, or so I thought. Last night I finally hooked up the OBD2 app and when the needle got close to halfway, the actual reading was still around 175.

Then it takes a good 8 minutes for the oil to come up to temp after that.

[MrWalker]

Send them an email (so you have written proof of the problem/date) indicating that you will contact the state's attorney general if they do not fix the car.

And tell them you will report them to the better business bureau as well. They have to fix it. In the warranty does it tell you only certain parts are covered or is it bumper to bumper up until the 60th day and anything after that is your responsibility.

[kynovs4]

...In the warranty does it tell you only certain parts are covered or is it bumper to bumper up until the 60th day and anything after that is your responsibility.

This is the wording in the warranty-

"against any defect, malfunction, or combination of defects or malfunctions, that impairs its safety or use for a period of 60 days or 2,500 miles, whichever comes first"

[The Fat Kid]

And tell them you will report them to the better business bureau as well. They have to fix it. In the warranty does it tell you only certain parts are covered or is it bumper to bumper up until the 60th day and anything after that is your responsibility.

The sleazy BBB is not a government agency, and they have zero power to do anything; I put them in the same category as Yelp, because they both make money by shaking down businesses.

Here is the link for the MA AG's office, kynovs4.

[amz]

At around 40-45F my car will sit at idle for about 15mins before its warmed up, or so I thought. Last night I finally hooked up the OBD2 app and when the needle got close to halfway, the actual reading was still around 175.

The coolant needle is dampened, meaning while the reading is 90C and stays there, it's actually got a huge range it can go through. As long as it's within a certain set of parameters it'll always read right in the middle. But yours is reading above the middle, so something is wrong (it looks and sounds a lot like when my t-stat failed.)

[dean.mohr]

FWIW, my '12 S4, even in dead cold winter, only takes a few minutes of gentle driving to reach operating temperature. I'm sure just sitting idling it would take 10-15 minutes, but I can't say I've ever left it that long.

Given the propensity of the thermostat to fail on 2010 MY, I would only assume that is the problem. At the very least, bring that info to them and let them try to replace it and see if that fixes it.

Or, since the obligation is on them, let them troubleshoot. Just try to document e v e r y t h i n g!!

[rpalmer]

Please tell us where you got it so we can add the dealer's name to the list of stand-up outlets that are happy to honor their warranties.

Though I suppose we can add them to the other list if they don't come through.

-RP

[kynovs4]

Just dropped the car back off with pictures and a video of the overheating condition. Let's see what happens this time.




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[amz]

So it looks like your thermostat hasn't totally failed or you'd get the message "PULL OVER AND TURN OFF ENGINE NOW!", so you can limp it around. But I wouldn't drive for long periods of time with it that hot.

[Tanner]

So it looks like your thermostat hasn't totally failed or you'd get the message "PULL OVER AND TURN OFF ENGINE NOW!", so you can limp it around. But I wouldn't drive for long periods of time with it that hot.

This. I had the same issue, the temp gauge wasn't behaving correctly. Took it to the dealer, they did a short test drive, no issues. Had to take the car back (pretty annoyed as people's time including mine was being wasted). Two days later the thermostat finally started to behave badly. But it would only do that if the car was taken out for an extended drive. Had the car towed back to them, told them to take it for a long test drive to duplicate the problem, and voila.

The challenge for us is to get the thing to throw a code, or if an error shows up, grab your phone camera and take a picture of the error. Countless times I took a picture of a fault code or a video of the problem (like the doors not unlocking) and that was sufficient for them to look at the issue vs doing a scan for codes. A photo of a your torque showing the coolant temp won't be sufficient unfortunately.

[kynovs4]

As of now it looks like they are going to fix the issue. I'll report back once I hear from them!


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[kynovs4]

Good news. They were able to reproduce the overheating condition and have agreed to replace the thermostat.


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[jsh139]

Good news!

[bmoreS4]

Glad to hear it, AOA is normally ok to deal with in my experience with them.

[TheLetterJay]

Awesome!

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[kynovs4]

Got the car back today. No more overheating!!


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[DannyDeez]

Happy to hear!

[jokingjimmy]

Grats! As a side note, it is NOT recommended to warm up your car sitting at idle for a length of time. Should start driving pretty much right away, keeping in mind not too hard until the engine it's fully warned up. It's in your owner's manual, but you can check out this thread.

My car is warmed up after 5 minutes.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...re-driving-off

[windowguy]

Can you let us kmow what was done to fix the problem?

Rob.

[mdeneso]

I had the same thing happen to me when I purchased my S4. Probably only 3 weeks after the purchase the t stat went out, the dealer covered a little more than half the cost. I didn't have any 30 or 60 day warranty when I purchased the car.


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[DannyDeez]

Can you let us kmow what was done to fix the problem?

Rob.

He did let us know. Post #28