1990 200Q radiator blew up

[Steve Sears]

Stacy,
Keith is dead on the money - it's a blown headgasket.
On my '87 5ktq - it was cylinder #5 (by the firewall) that was leaking into
the coolant jacket - depending on how badly and long it was leaking, the
engine itself may be toast.  On mine, it was a problem that got worse - to
the point that the car was overheating on the highway unless I had it in
3rd - engine singing away - when the garage tore the engine apart, cylinder
#5 had some damage from the coolant washing the oil out - it was marginal
but the car runs ok....now.  You don't want to hear how much it cost me.
He'll need an engine (and coolant system) rebuild at best - replacement as a
worst case scenario.
Did his SO burn her feet?  I've heard a few horror stories about major
coolant burns from a burst heater core.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ - BTDT.....got the receipts to prove it
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Keith Lawyer" <LawyerKG at co.laplata.co.us>
Subject: 1990 200Q radiator blew up
To: <quattro at audifans.com>
Message-ID: <s133188e.018 at mail.co.laplata.co.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

>Blown headgasket dumping compression into the cooling system? >>>>> Any
help is greatly appreciated.

Sounds exactly like when we warped a head on my old '89 200Q.  At first
I didn't put it together, and just kept replacing parts and hoses that
would blow off.  It blew out the cheesy plastic "valve thing" on the
backside of the motor near the firewall, then eventually the afterun
pump itself sprung a leak and the cap on the overflow was gurgling.
Midnight in Fairplay CO, it wasn't pretty.

Similar symptoms, the gauge was reading high but not terribly high, and
Autocheck knew something was amiss.  The problem was that I didn't trust
the Autocheck and the multi-function temp switch was spastic at best, so
I didnt' know if I could even trust the stock gauge.

Anyway, sorry for my grim diagnosis

Keith L