Just purchased a 1991 Audi 80 2 weeks ago. Immediately I noticed it ran around halfway between hot and cold and when driven in city start & stop traffic tended to get hot enough for the warning light to come on. Had the car looked at, mechanic replaced thermostat and hot wired the cooling fan to stay on all the time. He thinks its a bad head gasket even though there are no bubbles showing in the coolant. Anybody have any thoughts. Not sure I want to spend $750 on this car to replace the head gasket especially if it may not be the problem.
first of all audi's are famous for cooling problems, which often pose quite a predicament even for the best mechanic. if the engine is overheating, you can try everything from changing the waterpump to changing the radiator to changing the head gasket and it still might not fix the problem. i once a had a A4 that i worked on for months and did everything possible but simply couldnt fix the problem until, that is, i put a new engine in it (which needless to say solved the problem). you might want to try to get all the air out of the cooling system before you try anything else. all in all, audi's are great cars but the are definitely cursed in the cooling department. you might want to proceed with caution in getting your engine repaired. you might not get your money back. i hope this advice helps.
Posts: 758
Joined: 3/9/2004 From: Swamplands of NJ Status: offline
I doubt that it is the head gasket. Try using a cooler thermostat, I think the stock OEM is 92°C try using 80°C instead. Another thing, the 5-cyl models don't have the radiator behind the grill, but on the left side behind the headlight assembly as result you have very little direct air flow. Make sure that all the shrouds and air ducts are intact because Audi uses a real cheesy air ducts that tend to disintegrate with time.
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1991 Audi 80 overheating - head gasket? - 
