Coolant flush question on 2001 A4 1.8T
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Coolant flush question on 2001 A4 1.8T
Ok so I got myself all set up to do the coolant flush, car on ramps, drain bucket ready, coolant res cap off. So I started turning the lower radiator drain plug and...nothing came out... Am I missing a step here? I know you have to pull back the upper hose at the firewall when you drain the system but opening that valve should make it flow right? I didnt pull that drain plug all the way out, but to the point it will come out if I turn it any futher. From the pics on various tech articles it should flow out the hole to the right side of the drain plug valve...or do i need to completely remove that red drain plug? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm just trying to make sure I'm doing this right.
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Flushed mine recently and yes that big red plastic screw is what you unscrew. After a few turns you should notice coolant flowing out though. On mine even if i tried to unscew it all the way its desiged so that it cannot be.
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You're doing it right, but the car isn't doing it's part. Yea, you don't have to take that all the way out. Coolant should start coming out when you loosen it...even if the cap is on and that burping hose is still connected. Once it starts, I usually just take off the cap. You must have some sort of blockage there. Do you know, has it ever had stop-leak put in it?
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To be quite honest the use of stop leak is entirely possible. I have only owned the car for a few months and it had 149k miles on it when I bought it. I will say that it is unlikely though, the former owners took impeccable care of it and virtually all work done through the audi certified shops here locally ( i have the records to prove this) However that being said there is evidence that they clearly knew nothing about cars based on the repairs they had done in the past. (easy fixes that anyone with some mechanical knowledge could easily do)I have seen posts where people take off the lower radiator hose, and/or the lower coolant temp sensor. The sensor access is easy, lower coolant hose I'm not sure about, looks like a wire clip holding it on?
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Audiworld Junior Member
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you dont need to remove the sensor to remove the hose but it would make pulling the hose off much easier. It will be very stubborn to remove but will eventually come off. Just try and be careful with it since its made of plastic and dont forget to replace the rubber o-ring and wire clip if its rusted when your reinstalling. yes its just a wire clip holding on the lower rad hose and a plastic clip for the sensor just like the one for the coolant temp.
Just do your coolant flush that way for now since the drain plug seems clogged??? and that way you can have a better look inside to see why the screw is not allowing coolant through
Just do your coolant flush that way for now since the drain plug seems clogged??? and that way you can have a better look inside to see why the screw is not allowing coolant through
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Perhaps this may sound odd and surely i'm not the only one who has thought of this, but why couldnt the flush be done through the sensor hole on the hose without completely removing the hose...as long as the o-ring is good and I have a spare clip...