[V8] The Cooling Labyrinth??? (used to be POP!!..hiss..)

Wed Aug 31 09:54:27 EDT 2005

Okay, got the car towed home last night and took the engine cover and
air box off to get a better look at what was going on.  I filled up the
reservoir (engine off) and it proceeded to leak out every bit of coolant
that I put in after a delay of a few seconds.  

Visibility down there is very poor, even with a flashlight -- but I
think that it was primarily coming out in the vicinity of the firewall
on the passenger side.  I saw a white plastic-looking hole that it was
coming out of.

So I removed the coolant reservoir and traced the hose that runs out of
the bottom of the reservoir around the back of the engine.  (That hose
is metal??)  Traced it back up to the firewall under the rain diverter
cover.  Ran out of daylight, unfortunately.  And it was all my messed-up
finger could handle.

So......what do y'all think?  Every time I filled up the reservoir tank,
it all immediately leaked out, hitting the ground just behind the
passenger-side tire.

Any ideas?  Am I started on the right track?

Nathan

-----Original Message-----
From: Ingo Rautenberg [mailto:irautenberg at comcast.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 5:31 PM
To: Klein, Nathan P; v8 at audifans.com; Kneale Brownson
Subject: Re: [V8] POP..Hiss..Smoke..Antifreeze Smell..SOS!!!

I might add that with all the room in the between the windshield and the
firewall (NOT!), you might find it easier (read: more room) to remove
the wiper motor assembly for better access.

Ingo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kneale Brownson" <kneale at coslink.net>
To: "Klein, Nathan P" <nathan.p.klein at lmco.com>; <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: [V8] POP..Hiss..Smoke..Antifreeze Smell..SOS!!!

> The heater valve and heater core box are all accessible from under the
rain
> diverter cover at the base of the windshield.  All you need to
disconnect
> inside the cabin is the box from the HVAC vents plenums.  There should
be
> write-ups on heater core replacement in the Audifans.com archives.
Chris
> Miller's 200q20v pages have a bunch of pix and text on heater core box
> removal and disassembly.  The box is the same on the V8, I believe.
Scroll
> down the page at
http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/climate.html#Heater
blower
>
>
> At 03:37 PM 8/30/2005 -0500, Klein, Nathan P wrote:
> >Thanks.
> >
> >Now, how the &*%@# do I get down in there?  Looks like a long weekend
> >job.  If anyone has some "lessons learned", I'd sure appreciate them.
> >Does the dash have to come off?  If so, this may be a chance for me
to
> >replace the dash lights.
> >
> >Hopefully I'll get the green light to work on it this weekend or
> >next...I paritally severed my ring finger and am waiting for it to
heal
> >up.  I will probably go ahead and I/R/R everything cooling-related
while
> >I'm at it.  I've checked some old posts, and apparently 98-105
degrees C
> >on the highway is considered "running hot"......
> >
> >Thanks again.  All advice is greatly appreciated.
> >
> >Nathan
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Ingo Rautenberg [mailto:i.rautenberg at waratap.com]
> >Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 3:06 PM
> >To: Klein, Nathan P; v8 at audifans.com
> >Subject: Re: [V8] POP..Hiss..Smoke..Antifreeze Smell..SOS!!!
> >
> >Hmm.  Sounds like the nightmare I recently went through.  In my case
it
> >was the heater core (as pointed out by Mr. Head) began to
disintegrate,
> >lodging plastic pieces into the return hose nipple of the expansion
tank
> >(clogging
> >it) and leading to calcification of the radiator internals, reducing
> >radiator efficiency to nil and causing failure first of the heater
valve
> >and finally the heater core.  If you're lucky, maybe it's just the
> >heater valve (but your passenger side smoke description makes that
> >unlikely).
> >
> >Good luck and let us know what you find.
> >
> >Ingo
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Klein, Nathan P" <nathan.p.klein at lmco.com>
> >To: <v8 at audifans.com>
> >Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 2:26 PM
> >Subject: [V8] POP..Hiss..Smoke..Antifreeze Smell..SOS!!!
> >
> >
> >> Okay, so I'm sitting in the bank drive-through for about 10 min and
> >> notice a ton of smoke
> >> coming of the passenger side of the car all of a sudden.
> >>
> >> "Oh, crap," I thought.  This has happened before and it wasn't
pretty.
> >>
> >> So I get back out on the road to look for a shady spot to pull over
> >> (it's mighty hot here today).
> >>
> >> Pull into traffic, and I hear a POP! come from under the hood,
toward
> >> the passenger compartment,
> >> followed by hissing and SMOKE BELCHING out of the defrost duct,
smoke
> >> blowing on to the
> >> windshield from under the hood, and smoke coming from what seemed
like
> >> everywhere.
> >>
> >> The unmistakable smell of hot antifreeze was coming out of the A/C
and
> >> heater ducts.
> >>
> >> Short trip.  Pull over across the street under a kind-of shaded
area.
> >> Get out of the car, and there is
> >> antifreeze dripping out of the car just in front of the driver's
side
> >> door, getting on to the door.
> >>
> >> My hand got wet pulling the hood lift.
> >>
> >> I pull back the cowling in front of the windshield, and it was like
> >> opening a bag of microwave popcorn
> >> too soon.
> >>
> >> I walked the six miles back to work rather than put in coolant and
> >> chance it.
> >>
> >> The car is still there, and I smell like a hobo.
> >>
> >> What in the world could this be?!
> >>
> >> HELP!!!
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Audifans V8 mailing list
> >> Send posts to: mailto:V8 at audifans.com
> >> Manage your list connection:
> >http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/v8
> >> Have an Audi V8 question?  Check the Audifans Knowledgebase!
> >> http://www.audi-quattro.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/Audi/V8
> >> Have a V8 answer? ... Please help others by adding to the KB ...
all
> >contributions welcome!
> >>
> >
> >
> >---
> >Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> >Version: 6.0.857 / Virus Database: 584 - Release Date: 2/10/2005
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Audifans V8 mailing list
> >Send posts to: mailto:V8 at audifans.com
> >Manage your list connection:
http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/v8
> >Have an Audi V8 question?  Check the Audifans Knowledgebase!
> >http://www.audi-quattro.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/Audi/V8
> >Have a V8 answer? ... Please help others by adding to the KB ... all
> >contributions welcome!
>
> _______________________________________________
> Audifans V8 mailing list
> Send posts to: mailto:V8 at audifans.com
> Manage your list connection:
http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/v8
> Have an Audi V8 question?  Check the Audifans Knowledgebase!
> http://www.audi-quattro.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/Audi/V8
> Have a V8 answer? ... Please help others by adding to the KB ... all
contributions welcome!
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.17/84 - Release Date:
8/29/2005
>
>