Raven8906

2 hours into 12 hour return trip from vacation with and 600 miles from home and some where south of Atlanta GA, the low coolant warning light came on. I was 3 miles form the next exit, but by the time I was down the freeway exit ramp I could already see the engine temp rising. Pulled into a fuel station before the coolant temps got critical jumped out and immediately noticed a engine coolant smell, quick check underneath and could see a good amount of coolant dripping from the plastic under plates in front of the drivers front wheel. Also noticed some coolant on the grille, further investigation reveled some damage from debris to the lower radiator that appears to be for the charge air circuit. Let the car cool for about 30 mins, and started it back up and confirmed that coolant was pumping out the radiator in the damaged area, shut the engine back off and that was that. Just got the car back home with my truck and a flatbed trailer and starting to do some research and it appears that there is a TSB# 2034439/2. Going to call Audi in the AM and see if they can help.
I have found a replacement cooler https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...hoCF8MQAvD_BwE

and https://www.audiworld.com/forums/s4-...iator-2784308/

but what other options are out there?

I'll update with a couple of pictures once I get them off my phone

A6sport

I think a while back Tenspeed did a protective mod for occurrences like yours...

snagitseven

There have been several reports of this happening. The lower gril screen apparently has holes that are large enough to allow rocks to enter and damage the lower radiator. At one point Audi would foot the bill if the radiator was damaged and would also install a replacement grill with smaller holes. My guess is this would only be the case if the car was still under the factory warranty. If so, after replacing the lower radiator, you can DIY attach to the grill some screen material with smaller holes.

tenspeed

Last fall I posted a thread about making a grill guard. Photobucket shut down the pictures and I have been attaching photos to threads that are still relevant.

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a7-...guard-2906257/