Page 1 of 1
Coolant
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2023 9:30 pm
by Rs4nutter
Evening all
Noticed yesterday when parked up at home, a strong smell of coolant from osf. Checked the level this morning and noticed it had dropped just below min, so top up.
Had also noted, that when on driveway the fans had not kicked in as they usually do. Checked again when at work, let it idle, popped bonnet, fans on, but the usual high spinning sound of fans was not there!!
Journey to/from work is round trip of 30ish miles, temp gauge sits at 90°
Has anyone got ideas?
Thanks
Re: Coolant
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:01 am
by RS144
Thermostate. Common issue. Get it sorted by Audi, please.
Re: Coolant
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 10:29 am
by AndyBrad
Why by audi, its a simple fix?
Re: Coolant
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2023 10:36 pm
by Rs4nutter
@RS144 guessing its not an easy fix, or non audi garages have failed in fixing properly?
Thanks for repling
Re: Coolant
Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 10:12 am
by RS144
Its a common issue and vital for the health of the engine. Proper garages should be able to diagnose this and fix it.
Thermostate often goes with the water pump. Mine hat cracks in the housing. It makes sense to change both.
Re: Coolant
Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2023 1:31 am
by Rs4nutter
Update,
So this morning coming home from work, lost all heat into car all together. Spoke to a friend mechanic who loves his VAG stuff and said phone Vasstech.
Phoned them this afternoon, told him what was wrong, straight away said "your heater matrix is knackered", gave me a price for part and said cant do till Jan. Then phoned Audi, and was told we need to plug car in, again Jan, so car is currently parked up as I dont what to do further damage.
Dont believe its matrix as dont have signs of it gone!!
Re: Coolant
Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2023 8:48 pm
by stuartbarriskell
How's the coolant level now, mine swallowed 1.5 ltrs and I thought I had a leak as it was blowing cold prior to top up.
My history with matrix the carpets would be soaked, not sure of location on the RS tho.
Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk
Re: Coolant
Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2023 11:58 pm
by Rs4nutter
@stuartbarriskell coolant level has not dropped since I topped it up, but like you said, carpet on passenger footwell not wet, and windscreen does not mist up when stopped.
So, my opinion is not the heater matrix!! But can be corrected!!
Will keep updated when sorted
Re: Coolant
Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2023 4:35 pm
by Rs4nutter
So car was in today, dropped off, phoned after lunch.
Audi have said, "about 90% sure its your thermostat, but without taking front bumper off to confirm 100%"
Was also told there is a slight coolant leak from said thermostat!!
Left car with them to start stripping and repair, so its booked in on Thursday next week for job to be done.
Had also noticed this morning on way, exhaust note has changed, asked to check, valves in backbox is stuck half open/shut!! Was quoted for that, nah its ok for now.
See what happens next week

Re: Coolant
Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:21 pm
by Kingjames3419
My thermostat failed and car went in to limp mode. Audi quoted £950 to replace whereas local specialist did the job for £700. Happy days.
Re: Coolant
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 1:22 pm
by Rs4nutter
So, picked car up this morning.
After stripping front end off, coolant system was pressure tested and found to be leaking from around the thermostat. Went to remove and noticed that some of the bolts holding in place were not done up properly. Took it off and checked everything on thermostat, all good!! Bolted it back on, topped up coolant, bled system off air, also noticed bled valve not correctly tightened, sorted that, done another pressure test, no loss!!
Did a check on temp sensor, all works as it should. Valve fully opened at correct temp, told fans will kick in when at 105°c, unless driven hard!!
Took for test drive, all good. Have heat back in car, fans all good!!
£280 for the 2 investigations, thats it!! No charge for labour, was told it took 8 hours work


Turned out to be an air lock