Cameron_NH

I had my shop back home look up the labor on alldata which stated 7hrs. Nothing I can really do about being over charged though Jacksonville NC has it's own crazy market pricing.

Zuffenhausen951

Massive loss of coolant directly caused by this failure:



It's the plastic thermostat housing - a crappy plastic pipe that joins the thermostat to the lower radiator hose. See that nasty nine-inch crack? Yeah, it nearly KILLED my engine!

I have no idea why such a innovative, forward-thinking company like Audi would use such a ***-backwards part. Call your friendly dismantler and replace with the 100% compatible B5 S4 all-aluminum part(the LAST ONE your 2.7 will ever need):



Here is how it looks on your engine(circled in yellow):



Installing this part should be done with full TB service. Otherwise, I was able to get it on in about 4hrs, by sliding the timing belt away from the Passenger cam pulley by 1/2":

Kristopher

Just a warning to those who are using VEMO t-stats on the allroad (or any other 2.7/2.8 that might have used the plastic thermostat cover).

I discovered the VEMO is about 1.5-2.0mm taller than the factory Audi/VW t-stat. This means when it's seated and you tighten the cover the top of the t-stat is putting pressure on the plastic housing. Eventually it'll crack.

My car has had a very slow leak since I bought it. Gradually it got worse. Since it leaked over the alternator I suspected the cover in some way. I found that during the one of the PO's maintenance procedures someone installed a VEMO stat causing my cover to crack and leak. Fortunately I bought an OEM one and it fit better in both the cracked plastic housing as well as fitted mint in the aluminum cover I picked up.

078 121 121 J is the alum
078 121 121 K is the plastic
078 121 113 F is the OEM t-stat (must order ring also)

Another tip - there was no way I could get the covers in and out around the t-belt without pulling the alternator and the alt mount off. Once those were out of the way it was a snap.


cheers!

ta79pr2

Kristopher,
read your post (from 6 years ago), I have a leaky thermostat housing. What intrigued me was that your post implies I can finagle the thermostat housing out from behind the timing belt if I remove the alternator. Am I reading that right, as I would love to avoid locking the cams and all that that entails?

aramko aramko

there was no way I could get the covers in and out around the t-belt without pulling the alternator and the alt mount off. Once those were out of the way it was a snap.

aramko aramko

Redtube Beeg Spankbang

Kristopher

Hey sorry for the late response - as you discovered, you have to take the alt/bracket off and the t-stat cover will come out w/o removing the tbelt.

Curious if your cover was plastic and cracked?

ali ali

I don't have the time or space to be pulling my front end apart to truly find the problem. They called me today and informed me my water pump housing had cracked open.

ali ali

[QUOTE=ali ali;25334503]I don't have the time or space to be pulling my front end apart to truly find the problem.Redtube Beeg Spankbang They called me today and informed me my water pump housing had cracked open.