Overheating question.

[Pgtzet3]

So I'm looking at buying a 03 a4 with the 1.8t and it has a blown headgasket. The owner told me the car overheated and shut its self off. It that "normal" for these cars, for it to shut itself off? Or is it that he overheated it soo bad that the hard warped incredibly bad and the compression dropped to the point the car quit. He says the car has a dead battery but won't start even when he tried to jump it.

[jacobsen]

So I'm looking at buying a 03 a4 with the 1.8t and it has a blown headgasket. The owner told me the car overheated and shut its self off. It that "normal" for these cars, for it to shut itself off? Or is it that he overheated it soo bad that the hard warped incredibly bad and the compression dropped to the point the car quit. He says the car has a dead battery but won't start even when he tried to jump it.

The motor seized up mechanically from being too hot. The question is why did it overheat? Either way you should expect to replace the motor.

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[Pgtzet3]

He said it rolls over so it's not seized. And I've done several 1.8t headgaskets. So back to the original question. Do these cars have a fail safe that shuts the car down if it starts to over heat?

[old guy]

Nope.

[blitz2190]

He said it rolls over so it's not seized. And I've done several 1.8t headgaskets. So back to the original question. Do these cars have a fail safe that shuts the car down if it starts to over heat?

it either got hot enough to seize then cooled off allowing the the metal to contract and now spins again, or got hot enough that the head warped and lifted causing a head gasket failure, either way there is some damage somewhere. It was poor judgement on his part to run the car after it started heating and you may need an engine or a head.

[wezley5150]

No fail safe. Unless he's practically giving you the car, I'd buy something else... I owned an 03 for 10+ years, just sold it for 2k (all I could get out of it) in perfect mechanical condition with fresh timing belt job, brand new tires, and a host of other goodies.


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