BeeC

I recently purchased a 2001 A8L 4.2 with about 173K miles that has a slow coolant leak from the connector between the oil cooler and engine. I have read a little about others that have had this problem. The dealership that diagnosed the problem said that they would only do the work on the car if i replaced the entire oil cooler for freakin $3700. Should I try to find another place that will replace just the connector? Should I have them test the oil cooler to make sure it's still good once its off the car? Is there a way to do that? Am i ok to keep driving the car if i keep the coolant filled? The car also has engine codes for insufficient flow of the secondary air injection system and o2 sensor resistance too high? Do I need to get these things fixed right away? Any advice is appreciated.

audinutt

For $3700 you could have an independent mechanic swap engines for you, and source a used engine.

Get the car as far away from that dealership as you can.

The part is less than $30 for what actually breaks.

The secondary air is most likely a vacuum hose or hoses that need to be replaced.

The 02's should be changed but are not critical at the moment.

-Richard

93SHOcar

Here is a much improved part that would replace the plastic part that so often breaks down. Many have purchased this to have on hand in case of failure.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261098557789

Here is some more info from Audipages:


http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...reinstall.html

midnightgolfer

I am in a very similar situation. I swapped the plastic (broken in two places) piece with the metal one from eBay, and it solved my coolant leak completely.

Now, just pray your ZF transmission lasts.

BeeC

Thanks for the responses guys. The transmission will hopefully be good for awhile because it was rebuilt within the past year and a half. Now i gotta find someone that will fix this leak because a couple european car shops that I talked to about the leak didnt make me feel very confident about taking it to them. One of them actually told me that people usually just get rid of these cars when things like this happen. I thought to myself, WTF, this guy hasn't even seen my car let alone the problem.

audinutt

Where are you located, maybe someone could direct you to a reasonable shop in your area?

BeeC

I'm in Kalamazoo, MI about 1 hour south of Grand Rapids.

BeeC

Another thing about the car is that there is no record of the timing belt being done. The previous owner did not remember having it done even though he did all the other maintanance that was needed. I took off the timing belt cover part of the way and the belt looked pretty damn good to be the original. Would the original belt still look to be in good shape or is there no way this is the first belt. Its got 173K miles on it.

BeeC

I was wondering if i need to replace anything other than the plastic connector with the aluminum one on ebay. Are there any other o rings or seals that should also be replaced when i get this done.

silverd2

The AudiPages article link in the post below has a list of o-rings/gaskets needed.