Help Cobstar is away and....

[tjc]

Just got the boss away for the weekend and she mentioned - in passing - that the coolant level on the RS2 was low and the air-conditioning was not as effective yesterday on her way home.

Checked it and the coolant was on the minimum but car was hot.

During the run to work the coolant was at 85degrees - 5 degrees lower than normal and when foot was firmly planted on the loud pedal it dropped to 70degrees. Previously it has always been rock steady at 90degrees.

The tube leading out of the expansion chamber had a small crust round it - but checked the jubilee clip and it was tight.

When released the top off the expansion chamber there was an audible gurgling and pressure release.

My gut instinct is a coolant leak - cylinder head gasket? and this is causing the minor loss? Am I way off the mark?

Power seems fractionally down (though it is hard to tell as she does not let me drive it very often).

Any help gratefully received as I want my S3 back, the boss has it for this weekend as I did not want her running the RS2 on a long trip if there was any chance of a problem.

All advice gratefully recieved,

tjc

[scillyisles]

Air conditioning problem is most probably a refrigerant leak or faulty compressor. On mine Audi dealer put dye into system and eventually found I had a coolant leak due to a cracked pipe near to the turbocharger. Cost me about £200 to fix as the part alone was £100. Faulty compressor is easier to check as if the the system is fully charged with refrigerant then compressor will either not engage with a/c button (this should be obvious as the load of the compressor engaging will momentarily affect the idle speed)or will engage but won't cool.
With regard to coolant loss - when was the last time the coolant was changed and the system flushed. I'd be tempted to top the system up with correct coolant and monitor closely. The RS2 engine runs quite hot and coolant losses would normally be more apparent. It might not be a coolant loss due to cylinder head gasket but related to thermostat and the radiator fan which comes on at high temp. Your description of crust around expansion pipe fits in with this. This problem will become more apparent in slow stationary traffic rather than at speed which also fits in with your description. Symptoms are steam rising from engine when car is running in slow traffic.
Hope this helps.

[tjc]

scillyisles,

Thanks for the help. I have topped up the coolant and noted the levels before I left work as car was now cool. Level had not changed since this am and no fuild on the floor (I park in a cool underground car park so any loss would have been very visible).

On way home got stuck in traffic (another accident nr M20 Jn4) and though temp rose to 95 degrees, the fan cut in and cooled her down - no drama or steam. When I got home I left her running and checked under the bonnet - no visible loss/steam.

I will check the levels tomorrow monrning when she is completely cool to see if there was any loss on the way home.

Phoned a friend who is a mechanic, who said he would do a pressure check if there was a loss and we would take it from there.

New radiator and hoses + coolant etc two years ago.

Service at QST in March which showed no problems.

Slight power loss could have been due to the air temp?

I think you are right - careful close monitoring - a waiting game.

Cheers,

tjc

[kiwi_mtm]

Keep an careful eye on that temp guage, else its could be a costly exercise if you cook it !

Been there done that, not nice.

[tjc]

kiwi_mtm,

Checked the level this am prior to doing the shopping (arrgh). I could not tell if the level has dropped.

I'll check her again later once she has cooled down.

I definitely do not want to do her any harm, she is far too much fun and Cobstar would kill me!

Thanks for the help,

tjc

[johneroberts]

Call Kim at QST who has looked after the car i believe he will sort it out once and for all [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]
Cheers
jr

[tjc]

johneroberts,

Thanks for the advice - Cobstar should be home in a couple of hours and then will take charge [img]images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img].

Friday was a worry because I was not sure how serious the problem was. Its obviously driveable to the garage.

Cheers,

tjc

[Cobstar]

Coolant loss turned out to be down to a leak in the radiator and a leak in one of the coolant hoses. Both now replaced and normal service resumed. [img]images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[kiwi_mtm]

phew... Good to see you fixed that before it sprung a real leak and cooked your $otor