Re: Exploding Audi

["Steve Marinello" <smarinel@neosoft.com>]

The battery in my wife's '93 90S exploded under the hood one afternoon as 
she was starting the car coming back from a mothers group meeting at church.
Audi couldn't believe it.  They said that there was no record of that ever
happening before and when it was towed to Stammeler Audi up in Boulder,
there were some "additional" Audi personnel there to take a look at it.  It
was, of course, an absolute no cost repair.

They were, however, very pleased with the design of their plastic cover,
which protected everything under the hood from damage.

Under the back seat...geez!  Call the dealer and freak a bit and you might
find that they'll replace it all as they did with ours, even though yours is
out of warranty.

Steve
----------
>From: "Levis-Fithian, Jeff E" <LevisJE@LOUISVILLE.STORTEK.COM>
>To: "'Quattro-List'" <quattro@audifans.com>
>Subject: Exploding Audi
>Date: Tue, Oct 5, 1999, 10:21 AM
>

> Last night I got into my car (95 A6), turned the key, and heard a _very_
> loud bang.  At first I thought it was the radio, since it sounded like a
> speaker pop, but louder than any I have heard before.  Upon further
> examination, I discovered that the battery under the rear seat (that my 3
> week old son was sitting on!) EXPLODED.  The plastic casing around the
> battery was cracked, the breather hose was blown off, and miscellaneous
> plastic bits were laying around the battery, along with a couple drops of
> fluid (acid?).  Has anybody ever experienced this before?  I can easily go
> purchase a new battery, but I am worried about the root cause here.  Any
> ideas?
>
> Also, are there any alternatives to buying a battery from a dealer for $90?
> The one from the local auto parts store ($50 Duralast) doesn't have a vent
> hole, and I am worried about fumes building up under the seat and causing an
> even bigger explosion.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jeff Fithian
> 95 A6Q 5sp with exploding battery option
>