Henry Kolep

So I bought this car 2003 Audi A4 Quattro 3.0 manual 6 speed ! Well to make long story short , It was over heating still not sure if that's fixed, the coolant reservoir is leaking out the bottom of the unit ! To be more specific, Just under the cap area on bottom the bottom of the reservoir. So I changed it brand new got new cap ! Well I was thinking since this car has 180k miles on it , change out thermostat and anyone who has ever did this job it was kind of a bear !
Got that done put everything back together . Started her up she ran very smooth let it idle for about 15 mins the decided to take it for test drive , got about 3/4 mile down the road and it locked up the whole engine ! Pushed it home. That sucked let me tell you ! Parked it covered it !
Guys first let me say this car is beautiful well kept no scratches , no dents black leather seats moon roof and the list goes on . So I'm not gonna tell you my lieing for this car already . But I'm at the point of junking it losing 2600 with buying it and parts n other stuff already k .
3 weeks later now still not ju king it I decide **** it go I'm see what's wrong. Got the whole front end disasemble9 top end off , at this point ik looking at the timing gears n belt . I can rotate the engine backwards whole revolution, then back to a certain point the bam stop , so I am like ok valves bent looking down into the intake and none are bent. back the engine off a fraction then real fast turn it and it would go past the point it stop and do a whole revolution,
Bri km g my dad in to see if this is seriously a junker and he is looking at it rinse repeat on the cranking by hand. now guys when I say this THE LITTLESST THINGS WILL CAUSE THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS ! So appearenantly while I was changing the thermostat I somehow drop a small swivel 1/4 SOCKET down into the transmission area and it was rubbing up against the flywheel ! So anyway thought I would share take your time dont rush keep little parts screws, tools etc in a good area while messing with your car it could save you alot of time !!!! Love this car !

Henry Kolep

I'm super sorry for the typos

W261w261

Ha Ha good story. Seems to have a happy ending. Years ago, I was doing something with my clothes washer - can't remember what, but I tore it all apart. Put it back together, then I noticed this little ball - like out of a ball bearing - sitting off to the side. I turned on the washer, it filled up with water and started washing. I thought maybe that little ball just - what? - maybe was on the floor already. Then the washer got to the spin cycle. No spin! Had to tear it all apart again and find out where that little guy went.

lyleswk

I have a consistent "happening" when I do larger jobs on my cars: 1) There is always one bolt coming off and one bolt going on that are very stubborn, and never the same one and 2) i always drop and have to find some sort of tool.

W261w261

I have noticed that the one bolt or screw or frammis rod that is going to be a major pita is always the last one that needs to come off. Usually this happens when you have sorta lied to your wife, who has been holding dinner, that you have finished and will be right in.

morris39

Appreciate your honesty. I believe a good fraction of the unusual troubles Audis have (also other German cars) is due to owner abuse and bad mechanics. If you read between the lines of posts claiming how easy Audi maintenance is for amateurs without specialized tools you might conclude that a fair part is just pranking. People can be mischievous

W261w261

Well, I'm mid-70's,so have had my share, or more than my share of cars over the years. I've had a couple of bimmers, including one of my all-time favorites, a '73 3.0 CS coupe. Earlier it was American muscle, giant Continental convertibles, Broncos etc. But around the late 70's I started with Audi, and have had a 78,80,85,93, and lately an 03. I also have a 04 Passat. I'm a mechanical engineer and was a sail plane pilot for years, so I appreciate and endorse regular maintenance.

So, German cars are my favorite. And I'm used to their demands, and resigned to the occasional inexplicable failure (like why do-did they continue to supply water pumps with plastic impellers that can shatter way before the timing belt change interval? Why, on the V8 fitted to the S4's, which had a timing chain which was up against the firewall and therefore could not be accessed without pulling the engine, did they fit tensioners that tended to fail? My answer to that was "**** happens," and it's worth it for the overall experience.

Then, on a lark around 2001, the I got an '89 Accord SE-i, a limited production model of the famous run-forever 3rd Generation. It was a revelation. It just never broke. Thermostat was changeable in 10 minutes, everything simple and precise. I modded it a bit (1" drop w Eibachs, revalved Bilsteins, New lights etc). Without meaning to, I put 160k on the PO's original 88k, with only timing belts, plugs etc. At 240k when my driveway got overcrowded, I still was not adding oil between 3k changes.,but let it go. It was a ball to drive.

I think the Germans would like to produce things that would last for 4 years and then disappear. Why that is their mindset is beyond me. I have loved and do love my Audi's, but they ain't no Hondas. That of course is both the bad and the good news

lyleswk

My wife gave up holding dinner when I am working on cars several years ago. It was refreshing when I took on an engine replacement in a BMW about a month and was trying to decide if I should come home after 11 p.m. and knew all I needed to do was text her. I got home at about midnight and my wife and boxer where both snoozing away. She stays up for her 21 year old son, but not me

W261w261

This is what happens if my wife turns in before me.

lyleswk

Ditto except it happens in the morning when I get up. The boxer causally gets up from her bed, hops on our bed, and curls up on my pillow