Corroded water coolant lines

Post by **stevo55** » Sun May 15, 2016 2:32 pm

Had a look under my drivers wheel arch today to check the lines and it's not looking too clever!

Firstly how bad is that looking (never dealt with it before)? How long do you reckon before it gets really bad (and what's the worse that can happen-engine overheating and blowing up?), and the most important one-is this a warranty job? Car is under full Audi warranty and is stock. Lastly if it's not covered under warranty (surely it must be I would have thought) how much are we talking to fix it?

Post by **rtd** » Sun May 15, 2016 2:56 pm

Ah the joys of RS6 ownership - not!!!!!!!

Post by **IanH755** » Sun May 15, 2016 3:08 pm

So to break down the long answer -

Is it bad - It's "so-so" as it looks like surface rust only but there's a damp patch which means the rust in that area is deep so it may start leaking soon.

How Long before really bad - Can't tell for sure but it seems most cars with this are around 70k miles-ish, but that's only and average, some are more some are less. Mine were rusty but not leaking at 97k miles.

Worst Case - Wrecked engine as you lose all the coolant if it splits catastrophically. At best it'll just be a small weep which is a great warning sign.

Warranty Job - Mine was through a 3rd party warranty.

Cost - Engine/GB out so about £2k labour, pipes are fairly cheap to replace but while the engine is out you may find all manner of other issues like gaskets, oil pump seals etc that need doing so I'd expect a bill of £2500+

Welcome to RS6 ownership, this fault and the 50p Oil Pump Seal seem to be happening quite often now, mainly due to age (about 8 years), but once done the fix should last the rest of time you have the car.

Post by **stevo55** » Sun May 15, 2016 3:21 pm

Thanks Ian at least it's a warranty job! Will definitely be renewing that. Car is currently on just over 57k miles. Also seems to be some mild clicking so the wheel bearing gremlin may be present as well. Into Audi she goes soon to get all this fixed! Oil service due soon as well-how much is that going to hurt me?

Post by **IanH755** » Sun May 15, 2016 5:16 pm

LOL, be warned as Audi never use lube when you get the bill, unless the tears from your badly abused wallet counts

Where abouts roughly are you, as there maybe better (and cheaper) independents near you.

Post by **stevo55** » Sun May 15, 2016 8:27 pm

Herts based-would have thought the Audi warranty would be covering the corrosion or were you talking about the oil service?!

Post by **IanH755** » Sun May 15, 2016 10:39 pm

Yeah, none warranty work costs about £150p/h labour until you haggle a bit. For a 20k mile service inc plugs Maidstone Audi wanted over £1500, MRC at Banbury did it for 1/2 that and others like Unit 20 in Elesmere Port, QST & AMD in Essex and Ricky Elder in Swindon are even cheaper than MRC too.

Post by **Shinobi675** » Mon May 23, 2016 12:37 am

I had the coolant pipes burst and Mrc replace them and all the oil seals all round. Was about £4k.

Mine actually burst while I was in there. The coolant light came on, so topped up and booked it in for a check "just in case". Then the night before I was due to take it down. Light came on again, so more coolant. But there wasn't anything on the floor.

Got to Mrc and they pushed the wheel ache, it was all built up in there! Coolant everywhere!

Post by **stevo55** » Mon May 23, 2016 4:38 pm

£4K ouch!! Will be making full use of the Audi warranty to get the leak fixed that's for sure....hopefully convince them to replace the oil seals as well whilst the engine is out

Post by **IanH755** » Mon May 23, 2016 4:53 pm

The seals are 80p each (IIRC) so I'd be surprised if they don't where as a new oil pump is over £2k + another £2k+ for labour!

Post by **Shinobi675** » Mon May 23, 2016 4:56 pm

Yer I had a page of 80p seals! Nuts hey. The coolant pipes were about £400 I think. Can't remember though to be honest.

Post by **IanH755** » Mon May 23, 2016 5:02 pm

I'll have a look at my receipt later but that figure feels about right!

Post by **R33** » Mon May 23, 2016 5:06 pm

I had the coolant lines replaced, some gearbox lines too I think, the dreaded oil leak fix, rocker cover gaskets, a brake backing plate replaced and a 20K service and it was all in around £4600 I think. My coolant lines looked so so much worse than the one in the pic. I'll have to upload my pics and share the horror!

Post by **discostu49** » Thu May 26, 2016 11:02 pm

Hi guys so when viewing cars ( rs6 ) to buy how to check for the 50p oil seal leak ? What area?

Post by **IanH755** » Fri May 27, 2016 8:00 am

Centre rear of the undertray usually, although it can also be very slightly off to the right of centre by about 2-4in too but always at the rear.

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