1990 200Q radiator blew up

[Ben Swann]

Yep - pretty much what happened as I drove a '90 200 tqa home late one nite after diagnosing a failed starting circuit which I was to fix as I addressed timing belt, etc.  So much for the straightforward - proceeded from Kent Island to Annapolis.  I had noticed a release of pressure in the cool. res. when I went to top it off - Hmmm, unusual, but proceeded home.

1) 1'st overheat just before Bay Bridge in stop and go traffic -rad fan not coming on - jumpered neg. side to ground.  refilled rad at nearby service station.  Engine not to hot to fill and had not spewed contents yet.  Looks like this car has more than a faulty starter circuit.  Wonder if he had been driving without an operational fan.

2) 2'nd overheat - Pulled over as temp guage rising quickly -  heater valve blew wide open.  Tine to hitch a ride home.   Came back with a heater valve and coolant the next morning.  Noticed a slight bit of bubbling in the coolant res  when engine started - HMMMM ! methinks - head gasket?

3) 3'rd  Well it didn't really overheat - engine dies only 2 miles from home.  Had to end up getting a $120 tow job after all.

After presenting the P.O the lowdown, I ended up taking the car off his hands.  Engine is going to be getting a nice head I have sitting on the shelf.

Ben
Now with too many avants.

[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]