Hi, I have a 1997 a8 quattro and I need some help with my cooling system. What happened was that for the past few days the engine has been running a little hotter thatn normal, but it wasn't anything really major, but over time it began to run hotter and hotter and now I can't drive it more than ten or som miles without it overheating. The way it happens is kind of strange it seems. When I first begin driving arond the car will reach normal opperating tempurature and will stay there for a good while, but then for some reason the temperature needle just starts increasing rather rapidly. I assume it is either the thermostat or water pump but was wondering what you guys think.

do you have antifreeze in there?
you may be low, if its not that, check the thermostat. also, look for leaks on hoses, and waterpump area. you do notwant this car to overheat, you risk head damage.
your on the right track, but it may be a simple think like low coolant goodluck!

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It has plenty of coolant and I've bled the system so I don't think that's the problem. I was thinking though that it isn't the water pump because it's not leaking coolant, because shouldn't the pump weap if it went out? Also, if it is just the thermostat, is there any easy way to replace it? Any recommendations are appreciated because I am currently stranded 5 hours away from home and need to be back by tonight.

One question, THEN my recommendation...

How old is teh coolant? You should flush & refill your coolant every 2 years, at least.

I recommend you flush & refill. you may have dome contaminant or debris cloging up one or more of your coolant passages. A good POWER FLUSH may cure the problem.

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Well, it turns out that it was the thermostat. Took 45 minutes to replace and now everything is fine

any time the carruns hot you should get it fixed then! any heat like that boils the head into a blown head gasket with a good chance of worped heads. its very rare that the motor comes out the same after any overheat. sometimes it boils the tranny fluid too! i hope you lucked out!

gtos8xxx, I just had my theromstat replaced last week on my 04 A8L (30k) while I was on V, but I lucked out and was 10 minutes from a dealer in Plano, TX. Anyway, it was actiong up for about an hour with the needle going 3/4 over before dropping back to the middle and back over again, like that. You wouldn't have known anything was wrong if you weren't watching the gauge. Thenthe AC cut off and the needle went all the way over. That's when Ihit the nav and headed for the nearest dealer. I drove it like that for about 10 to15 minutes befoe getting there. I never had any physical sign of overheating - no steam or hissing - before I got to the dealer and had it fixed. Oncereplaced and I got back on the roadthe care ranflawlessall the way back to Denver (900 miles). Any chance of head damage here?Would I have seen any sign by now?

Your head gasket is fine. You would know if the head gasket was blown 5 minutes after driving it from the dealer. (major overheating)

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Thanks again.