Cold weather check

[Todd Young <tyoung@wamnet.com>]

Just wanted to pass on an experience I had here in the frozen Northland
of the US. For all fellow QListers that reside in the northern climes,
check your coolant bottle cap (you know, Audi's version of a radiator
cap). We have had a lot of sub zero (faranheit) temps here in Minnesota
lately, and I'm thinking that might be the cause of the following
problem.

Yesterday, leaving work, I started up my '3 90S (12v V6) and the coolant
light came on. I thought, "What the h**l?" Shut the engine down, popped
the hood and checked the level. Dammed if it wasn't low. Looked at the
snow under the car and there was a small green color spot. Checked hose
clamps above the spot, all seemed in order. So I went back into work and
grabbed a cup full of filtered water to add to the tank, just to bring
it up to minimum. When I got back out to the car and removed the cap, I
found my problem. From the heating up and cooling down of the engine
compartment, condensation had formed and frozen at the top of the tank,
including in the cap. Said condensation had frozen, effectively negating
the intended purpose of the cap. Took the cap into the bathroom and ran
hot water into/over it to remove the ice, dried it as best I could and
put it back on. When I got home, I let the car cool down, added some
pure antifreeze to offset the water installed earlier, and took the cap
inside with me. I performed the hot water bath again and dried the cap
with a blow dryer on low, and then place it on top of a fan for 30
minutes or so, just to ensure that it was completely dried out. I will
have to check when I leave work today, but I believe that fixed the
problem, as last night there was no new coolant on the ground.

Best I can figure, the condensation froze up the cap, not allowing the
excess pressure to escape normally, so it pushed out past a hose clamp.
Under normal situations, the clamp has enough clamping force to hold
pressure, but with excessive pressure, some coolant leaked by.

--
Todd Young              WAM!NET Inc.
tyoung@wamnet.com       6100 West 110th Street
612-886-5051            Bloomington, MN 55438-2664
800-585-1133 ext.5051   http://www.wamnet.com/