Kyle Bailey

I have searched the archives, and while several people have complained about the same problem, I didn't find any explanation of the cause.

I have a '97 2.8 with 83K miles. The coolant in the reservoir is very dirty (rusty looking), and there is an accumulation of solid on the cap and floating on the surface. It has been this way for quite some time, and I figured it was normal until I looked under the hood of some other A4s at a recent gathering. They all had coolant that looked as clean as it did when new.

Is this a sign of a serious problem? Can anyone advise me on the proper method of flushing the cooling system; i.e. is there a drain plug in the block, should I run the engine while flushing, etc? I don't think the '97s had pink coolant, but assuming that is more readily available, can I replace the existing coolant with the pink stuff?

TIA

Kyle

Anand@4Induktion.com

My mom had this problem on her '92 MB 320SE last year, the coolant looked rusty/yellow-ish, a quick trip to the local benz wrench and we were told that the head gasket blew and the oil had become mixed with coolant.<p>- Anand Dhanda
'00 A4 1.8TQMSx
'01('02?) TT 225QR
<a href=" http://sdaoc.sixmillion.com/aas/"><img src=" http://sdaoc.sixmillion.com/sig.JPG" border=0></a>

White BMW 330I

My car has 42K miles, are there any 1.8T Owners with 42K+ miles that have clean coolant?

Kyle Bailey

but I don't have any other symptoms of a blown head gasket (milky substance in oil, difficulty starting, water out the tail pipe, etc.) The coolant level does seem to be dropping ever so slightly. In fact, I first became aware of the problem when I noticed the coolant below the min mark right after my 60K service.

Kyle