Re: Small "banjo" fitting on sensor housing.

[Brett N Augsburger <augsbbn@eng.auburn.edu>]

 I had something similar happen on my 5000CSTQ. However, before you order 
the new part, I would take off the old coolant pipe and check that the 
corrosion you see on the pipe is not caused by leakage from the hose/pipe 
fitting. This is the usual cause of corrosion in areas such as these. You 
may need only the short section of coolant hose. In case you do need the 
banjo fitting Mountain Audi(I think that's their name) priced me out one 
for about 13 bucks, I believe. They advertise in the back of European Car. 
 

On 4 Dec 1995, Sheffield Corey wrote:

> 
> 								04 DEC 95
> 							      OMDC@GSO@URI
> 								10:47 EST
> 
> Hi Gang,
> 
> 	Well, here's one I haven't seen written about yet, but something to
> keep an eye on. This pertains to the turbo cars only and in particular the
> 5K's. I noticed friday afternoon on my return from lunch that steam was slowly
> issuing forth from my grill; I immediately thought broken or cracked radiator
> inlet. But it turned out to be the small "banjo" fitting that is joined by a
> small 3/4" long rubber hose to the turbo water supply line. I'm in the process
> of trying to locate the best price on a new one and I may as well replace the
> multi-function sensor while I'm there; temp. gauge has been flakey for the
> three years I've owned the car. The point of this is that I believe the
> previous owner/maintainer of this car didn't use phosphate-free antifreeze in
> it; I've also discovered a casting(freeze) plug on the back of the head just
> above the line to the heater that weeps a little bit. The small "banjo" fitting
> appears to have some corrosion looking crud built up around it's pressed on
> rubber hose.

Do you mean pressed on, as in without a hose clamp? If so there's your 
problem!

 > When I bought it the car had a very rich antifreeze mixture, it
> tested good to approx. -60F. and was very bright green. The new Prestone
> phosphate free I put in two months ago is light orange. What color is the Audi
> Autobahn? The heater core, radiator, etc. appear to be fine. Maybe the cooling
> system flush I ran through it two months ago attacked this fitting, but I know
> there was a lot of "crud" in the steel pipe that attaches the heater hose to
> the head; this is where I drained the old coolant and flush. So make sure you
> run the phosphate free antifreeze and keep an eye on this "weak link" in the
> cooling system.


Brett Augsburger
'86 5000CSTQ