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I posted this in the Stage 2 thread but its probably worth mentioning in a dedicated thread in case some of you are not following...

There is an issue that seems to be present on facelift cars. At the back end of the engine bay by the firewall, there is a metal clip that should be about 20mm away from a coolant pipe. On the facelift cars, it seems to be about 5-6mm away. (Pre facelift cars should check too but they are said to be about 20mm)

Under hard acceleration, the engine rocks and the metal clip rubs against the coolant hose. A friend of mine with a FL RS6 punctured a hole in this pipe and it spilt the entire contents of his coolant tank all over his nice hot engine. The car had to be recovered by Audi and it was observed that the clip had worked its way through the hose. He messaged to tell me what happened to him so I went and measured the gap on mine and it was the same, 5-6mm away from the hose. It has also been checked on a few other facelift cars with the same 5-6mm measurements, dyno tests prove that it touches under hard acceleration when the engine rocks so this has been visually confirmed.

The hose is a nightmare to change should you rupture it, the whole bulkhead needs to be removed so it's not a 5min fix.

This happened a couple of months ago and I was meaning to post up about it at the time but forgot all about it. It's a 2min job to fix, the clip just needs sliding along further to the right so you increase the gap between itself and the hose.

Back end of engine bay, by the firewall, drivers side...



Slide the clip along (Push it with a flat headed screwdriver)....



As said, it seems to be an issue on the facelift cars but It would be advisable to check your gaps and if necessary, push the clip further along so its physically impossible for it to rupture the hose. it would be a good idea to post your findings on the gap size to see if this 5-6mm gap is common or not (or just a case on a batch of FL RS6's) It may save some of you a lot of bother further down the line

Thanks Leo .... Very informative

Checked mine this morning, 5mm or just over. Moved to give clearance as suggested.

Thank you.

Mat

Thanks Leo - I'll try and remember to check this when I get my hands on the car. I may be too excited for a few weeks so give me a reminder in April!

Cheers for the heads up Leo.

Just been out to check my car. There was a visible mark on the surface of the hose. Gave it a rub and it disappeared. Moved the clip over towards the passenger side now out of the way. Another6 to 12 months of rubbing and it'd be game over for the hose.

Top bit of info. Cheers mate.

5mm on mine. Moved as suggested.
Not even sure what the clips are supposed to do.
Nasty edge to them.

Shouldn't Audi be recalling these cars? Or at least issuing a TPI. Or is it too soon? Either way they should be sending a memo out to dealers to check this when PDI'ing all new cars.

C6 had a similar issue. Mine split a hose at 1000 miles. I'd expect Audi to do what they normally do. SFA.

Checked mine this morning and there was already marks on the coolant hose so a before and after shot.The clips look like they keep two parts of the firewall together .

Thanks again for posting this issue ,

MikeFish wrote:Shouldn't Audi be recalling these cars? Or at least issuing a TPI. Or is it too soon? Either way they should be sending a memo out to dealers to check this when PDI'ing all new cars.

Probably had none actually "fail" yet.....so potentially unaware?

After the first dozen or so "maybe" the numpty stealers may inform Audi UK and "maybe" Audi may re call.

Prob just a time game!!!


Look like the enthusiasts doing Audis job for them..

John@MK, good picture showing the rubbing, 6 months down the line that could have been a lot worse.

Chris, Audi are aware of it but as you say, probably need a load of failures before it's an issue. As said in the opening post, a friend of mine had to be recovered at the roadside due to his pipe rupturing and him losing all of his coolant. The work to replace that pipe was quite extensive as the bulkhead needs to be removed, this was of course done under warranty. His car is a May 2015 car, this happened to him back in November so car only 6 months old at the time.

I've had another friend check his pre facelift car and his gap is a lot bigger so seems to be evident on only FL cars. Strange one, as no idea why, all it is is a firewall shield clip

I wonder how much money this thread will save Audi in future warranty work.
Great photos John showing before and after. I'll check this when I collect mine. I'd ask the dealer to get it done but probably better off doing it myself.

I have a FL, and the plastic bracket that is part of a tube that is then attached to the engine sheered off. Of course it was under high pressure and the collant went ''everywhere''. Vehicle travelled only 4000km. Recall would save Audi a lot of money I suggest.

GOLDFERN wrote:I have a FL, and the plastic bracket that is part of a tube that is then attached to the engine sheered off. Of course it was under high pressure and the collant went ''everywhere''. Vehicle travelled only 4000km. Recall would save Audi a lot of money I suggest.

Any chance of a photo so we also check this clip.

Just checked my car after reading this thread, and the clip was only a few mm's in from the edge of the heat shield. There is a mark on the hose where it has rubbed, but thankfully not too bad as yet. As my car is now 18 months old, it would appear that this is not just an issue with FL models. I must just drive it too sedately to have caused so little damage