spaceman_west

anyone experienced this before?
while i'm driving the car i'm hearing this winding type of noise, coming from beyond the dash straight in front of me.
i was told it's the aux water pump? or coolant pump?
any ideas what it is? before i go bring it to get checked out...

silverd2

First, ALWAYS post what year car (or put in your sig).

It could be lots of things other than (or including) your coolant pump...clutch fan bearing, timing belt roller, etc...

Does it match rpms or remain the same?

Is it only while car is rolling?

Have you listened under the hood while running/revving up ?

spaceman_west

sorry about that! i will update my info.
thanks for the reply though...

it's a 2002 S8

the sound is not only when i'm rolling. stationary too. just whenever the cars on.
goes off for a couple seconds here and there but then comes back on.

car is running 100% ok.
mechanic told me everything is working fine it's just noisy.
he thought it was the coolant pump.

spaceman_west

went to audi today got a diagnostic on the the noise.

it's the Coolant Pump to Heater Core (part # 4D0959617C)

apparently leaves get into it and block the drain.

anyone here know where i can find one?


thanks!

2001 S8

Online source but painfully expensive.

ECS Tuning:
Search 4D0959617C - 4D0959617C - VALVE - ES#380456

Good luck.

spaceman_west

i know! they want $1600 for it at audi!
i'll probably wait to find a used one in good working condition.

silverd2

Just unplug it for now (forever?) ...your heat should work without it...just no "restore" function.

Worth a try...I've heard many reports (haven't tried it myself) of heat behaving basically normal without the unit powered. I believe it defaults to open position for both heater cores...then your air mixing flaps in the car should continue to do their job, just like any other car...most have wide open heater core flow all the time and do all temp adjustment with the interior flaps.

spaceman_west

interesting. i will ask my mechanic about that.
would be great if that's the case at least until i find the part at a reasonable price.

silverd2

Unless that mechanic is your favorite brother in law, I would NOT trust the answer...most especially if he is an Audi dealer mechanic...they read EVERYTHING right out of Audi's scripted book which is quite often WRONG.

MANY expensive parts in the cars are said to be indispensable or unrepairable ...wrong!! Many of here have proved this wrong repeatedly.

Just unplug it and give it a try...it ain't rocket science and requires no disassembly. Most cars don't even use this unnecessary luxury part.

Trust everything Audi (and most indy) mechanics tell you and you are in for a VERY expensive ride...DIYers spend little more on these cars than keeping a lawn mower running.

spaceman_west

i was just thinking that. you really can't trust them!
after the diagnostic at the audi dealership, they made it sound like this part has to be replaced imminently or it could lead to the engine not being cooled etc.

my mechanic laughed when i showed him the quote they gave me for the whole job. parts and labour.
he said he needs to go back to school to learn how to write invoices like them! hahahaa