How much if this is liveable

[Prestobismol]

I bought my a4 b7 quattro tiptronic auto with 150k on the dash a few months ago, and its came with its load of problems. All of the serious ones have been fixed so I won't be mentioning those. But there are some more less serious ones that developed as of recent.

Coolant flange leak

Ever since the weather became colder I've been experiencing stalling or dropping all the way to around 300 rpm the jumping back up again at stops shortly after cold start. Only does it when after sitting for about 5+ hours.

(just happened for first time today) misfires for about 3 minutes of idling during morning cold start

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I've been buying jugs of g12 coolant and just topping of here and again for the coolant leak. I'm wondering if I can just live with doing that. However I am concerned that there is open vents to the flywheel underneath the leak, and of coolant getting in there. Trans and any other liquid other than Trans fluid equals death usually as I've heard.

For the stalling I'm suspecting it may be trans related as if I shift into neutral it doesn't stall. Trans fluid has never been changed but I don't know if its a good idea to change it at this point given how old it is.

I'm aware of a current valve cover gasket leak that may be causing the morning start misfires.

I'm a really broke college student right now working to pay tuition. I work as a student mechanic for our universitie's bus fleet so I have pretty good access to tools. But given how many torx and triple square bolts there are I'm still going to have to buy some more tools just to work on these. Also, when I take a day to work on these I lose a day worth of pay. How much of this is liveable? I'm fine with just topping off coolant here and there and shifting into neutral to avoid stalling. The misfires seem worrying but it hasn't been consistent so far and a valve cover gasket isn't difficult to replace.

Thoughts?

[Theiceman]

broke college student trying to run a high millage Audi is a recipe for disaster ... i hope you are not taking economics or you are failing lol...


that said the issue with the coolant flange is it can let go completely and break off,, living with the leak is not a problem, but if it completely lets go you are hooped.. part isnt expensive but its a bit of work to get in there and you will likley need a rear timing cover gasket too.. and a micro ratchet set to work within the clearances.

stalling may be the PCV, i would start there... a lot cheaper tham messing with the transmission. it just may be not stalling in neutral because of the load issue with the transmission. i dont know the auto boxes on these cars, will it start in neutral, but if you start it from neutral cold ( if you can) does it idles completely normally ?

keep in mind your coolant temp sensor is in the same part that is leaking, and that is what determines if you need cold start enrichment starting a cold engine. could your leak be creating an air pocket around the sensor ?

I always subscribe to "fix what you can see before you try and fix what you cant see".

[Jayz691]

Def agree with iceman, always fix know issues before trying to diagnose something else. Bad VC gasket is a vac leak, so fix that. $20 for a gasket(elring), $25 for new bolts on Amazon(they have seals on them). Coolant flange prob about $100 in parts. Get a vac pump seal kit off Amazon for $15, and cam chain cover gasket. Removing those allows you to also inspect your cam chain tensioner while in there, and gives ya a lot more room to get to the flange. Ratcheting bit driver for tight spots is a life saver. Fix that stuff, and see where your at.

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