RANT: Damn radiator plastic necks and AAA!

[Kneale Brownson]

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If you do a Google search on the audifans.com website for something like
radiator necks, you'll probably find several repair processes reported on
repeatedly:  Epoxy in a piece of copper tubing just the right size, use the
Audi plastic neck repair kit, etc.  Most report the fix works for a while
and then fails again.  Most reliable repair is to replace the radiator.

The flatbedders need an anchoring spot at each end to tighten the car in
place.  Commonly, they use a heavy hook that goes around most vehicle's
rear axle and has a piece of chain on the end that slips into a notched
hole in the bed of the truck.  Then they winch the car another couple of
inches to snug everything up.  On a quattro,  they "want" to hook around
the suspension parts near a wheel.  You really have to talk them into using
the tow hooks unless they have the "modern" approach with slings that go
over each rear wheel and fasten to the truck bed.


At 02:32 PM 11/15/2001 -0800, William Ng wrote:

>Well, it finally happen to strike me this morning! WAAAHHHH! :_O
>
>My wife requested a ride into Boston to drop her off at work, which can be
>a trying experience of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Nonetheless, I obliged
>and got caught in the thick of it. DOH!
>I decided to chance it on the local roads, and turned onto Commonwealth
>Ave. in the Back Bay area. Car was running at the midpoint temp wise
>thanks to rush hour.
>
>Suddenly the AUTOCHECK started flashing 3 red lines and beeping away.
>Thanks to lousy VDO electrics, I had no idea which problem it was alerting
>me to. Last week the "low coolant" warning did rear its head everytime I
>took a hard corner, but I topped it off a couple days ago. I didn't
>suspect I was low again...but THAR SHE BLOWS!
>
>Plumes of steam like an old locomotive meant I was in TROUBLE. I shut her
>down immediately and coasted over to my right with Masshole drivers none
>too happy about me taking up a lane.
>In what seemed like 5 seconds since the 1st warning, I had lost 6 quarts
>of coolant. My upper radiator hose had blown off the neck! The neck end
>was ragged and was missing the bulged portion used to secure a hose. But
>once things cooled, I couldn't find this portion in the hose, leading me
>to believe that it was never there. It seems the PO must have had it break
>off on him, and he simply slipped the hose on the remaining neck. So nice
>of him! >:-(
>
>AAA came and flatbedded me to a local Autozone. I got 2 gallons of
>antifreeze and reattached the hose and tightened down on the clamp.
>Once filled, the big girl didn't seem to have suffered any heat related
>damage. She limped to work without incident, although the towing did some
>unrelated damage to my 200 quattro. My right rear wheel was clunking
>loudly. I thought my rear shock had broke a weld again, but that wasn't
>the cause. Car was on a flatbed, so there shouldn't have been any effect
>on the quattro drivetrain. My concern now is just where did he attach
>those hooks and chains to my car?!?!?
>
>After driving around, the loud clunking would stop if I pull up on the
>parking brake a bit and engage the rear brakes. To hold the car, the tow
>operator did pull up on the parking brake quite hard. Could he had broken
>the internal mechanism of the rear caliper? The left caliper is quiet. I
>should also point out that I installed new bushings, calipers, rotors and
>brake cables to this car two months ago. So, after the tow, it seems like
>I have a brake problem >:-P
>Hope to find something simple like a loose fastener or brake puck.
>
>Now I have to find a workable solution to the radiator's shortened neck.
>There's a bit over 1 inch of it left but seems to narrow down at its end.
>The rest of the radiator looks pretty good. I suspect my car had its
>radiator replaced at one time.
>
>It never ends, does it.
>
>Will
>
>
>
>=====
>--
>William Ng
>1990 200 quattro @ 176k miles
>
>audi200quattro at yahoo.com    willng at netzero.net
>Boston, MA USA
>
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