Restorer

How far should the drain valve turn? I have needle nose vice grips lightly clamped on and it turns easily 1/4 turn and stops. I get nothing at that point.

I cant get a good enough view of it to speculate on the design of the valve, and don't want to force it and risk breaking it!

Thanks...

Pothole5000

Which valve are you talking about?

When I drain my coolant I pull the temp sensor by the lower radiator hose, but that is just a c clip and it pops out.

Restorer

The photos below show the drain valve. I was really hoping to take advantage of it since with the added tubing in place it provides a clean, controlled drain of the coolant. I assumed most Audi models had the added valve beginning 2003, 2004.

From the view shown in the second photo it appears the valve is only turned 1/4 turn, but that's a no-go on mine.

If I have to resort to an uncontrolled dump via the sensor connection, can anyone tell me the coolant capacity?

Pothole5000

Wow.... Never knew that thing existed, I'll have to check my car.

In your second picture you can see the sensor that I pull to drain mine. It is a pretty controlled dump, points straight down. Though it does look like you can attach a hose to the other one.

I would try to wiggle it back and forth to see if it will free up. Lots of heat cycles and some crud in the system could freeze up that plastic. Looks like you have to replace that whole assembly if you break it though.

Restorer

Being stubborn, I did find the answer! It was in a write-up on flushing these on another site. It's still not as easy as it sounds but it works.

"5. Open this drain ****, it will twist to the left 90 degrees then pull out a little, then twist again 90 degrees then pull out more. *Note, it does NOT pull out all the way! This will open the valve and the coolant will begin to drain on the side of the valve:"

**If the drain **** is tight and doesnt want to twist DONT FORCE IT! You will most likely break the hose fitting and will need to replace it. Remove the lower radiator hose from the core instead by removing the clip on the top.

5a. (1.8L only) There is a sensor located in the same location that is clipped in, remove this sensor to drain the coolant."

You can find the rest here: DIY: Complete Coolant System Flush (the easy way)

It's worth noting that it turned out the valve is part of the lower hose assembly so you do NOT want to break it!!!

Crazydiamond

Ive done this method with the tap , and now i cant get it to close and seal properly, its dripping, The tap did come all the way out, the rubber washer ring had snapped, i replaced that with same size, managed to fit tap back in , yet still wont close and seal . its hard enough turning the tap and pushing at same time to get it to close, Am i turning it the wrong way ? does it push in on when tap is vertical ? how does it close ? away from the engine to the front? or does it turn towards the rear ?? help im loosing patience and my fingers are sore

wes8398

I'm in this boat right now. What'd you wind up doing?

Crazydiamond

Hi sorry for late reply. I ended up using o ring from a hosepipe connector ,