[s-cars] Subject: Re: When good Dads go bad (and blow your motor)

[Tom Winter]

On 7/8/08 10:26 AM, " "Tom Mullane" <tmullane at gmail.com" wrote:

> My experience with damage resulting from overheats says that the extent of the
damage depends on how quickly the car overheated: If Dad popped a hose and
suffered a sudden and complete loss of coolant, the head got very hot very
quickly and is warped but the bottom end stayed reasonable cool  and is probably
OK.

Brian - Tom is onto something here.

Let me explain. Two years ago, I had my keys (and a bunch of other stuff)
stolen in France. Upon return to the airport in Denver, I had a locksmith
open up my car. He buggered the ignition switch (I was on my cell and turned
around to see him trying to force his newly made "key" to turn the car on,
like aggressively force, Bastard! I had a key hidden in the car, but too
late). So, he f***ed my ignition switch.

Upon replacing my ignition switch my Instrument Cluster became really flaky.
I found a new "used" one, but while it sat, and I drove, I blew one of the
coolant lines to the turbo. Of course, no warnings went off and my temp
gauge was dead courtesy of my changing the ignition switch and my now flaky
IC.

I noticed the problem while going up a loooong hill on I-70 into the
mountains, "hmm, oil temp is a bit hot". I hit a downhill, and things cooled
off a bit, but not much. So I stopped in a town called Idaho Springs and
popped the hood. The head was so warped that coolant (well, steam) was
spraying out the back side. Of course, I had to pull the head, etc, etc.

However, I did not and still do not (ok, I'm cursed now! LOL) have any
problems with the bottom end. And I drove the car with no coolant for a
while. 

There are three morals to this story. 1. Thieves suck and can cost you a lot
more than what they steal. 2. Shitty Locksmiths are not much better. 3. It's
best to have an IC that works. 4. These engines are pretty damn bulletproof.

OK, so that's four Morals, none of which have to do with never, ever lending
your S car to a family member (don't ask my about what my wife did to my
clutch!)

Good luck,

OH, and when I did the new head, I also swapped in an RS2 exhaust manifold
and some other upgrades. Think of this as an "opportunity" ;-)

Tom 95 S6 Avant