Car: 2001 Audi A6 2.7T 72k miles on body.
- Motor along with associated parts were replaced at 37k by previous owner at a dealership, a refurbished motor along with rebuilt turbos were put in (under warranty). The coolant temperature sensor was replaced at 40k.
- Has not had timing belt or water pump replaced (not sure if they replaced them when they did a complete motor replacement)
(have all records from dealership)
- Car had 62k when I bought it summer for 2010.
I've done some research but haven't found much about the 2.7t for this problem.

Problem: My coolant temps are riding close to the second to last indicator to the right (the one right before H). Oil Temp seems to be in the right range (200-240 at highest), just changed the oil. Car slowly rises to the temp I described. When it overheated I was on the highway for about 20miles, got stuck at 4 to 5 lights, when i hit a large hill the coolant temp warning light went off, instantly pulled over and shut it off. All fans are working at this time. Haven't driven it very far since, just trying to figure out what the problem is. Guessing it could be thermostat, water pump seems like its moving water through tubes.

 

first step should be to get it scanned and make sure there are no codes.

based on your symptoms I'm guessing you have a thermostat or waterpump problem. i would think that when the new/used motor was put in it had all new timing and components but....

quick diagnosis: allow the car to warm up. turn the heat on full. if you have heat and the car is headed toward overheating it is probably the thermostat. if you don't have heat and the car is headed toward overheating it is probably the waterpump.

good luck

 

Thank you for your help.

This is what I did, drove the car for 15- 20 minutes with heat off. Once the car got to the second to last line on coolant temps turned the heat on full blast which worked, the coolant temp started to go down to the regulated amount lol. So what could this mean?

 

definitely sounds like the thermostat. when you crank the heat in the car the heater core works as a heat exchanger to lower your coolant temperature which is why your coolant temp started dropping down.

-not an expert, just an enthusiast

 

Thanks for your help. I had it checked out took off the timing belt, and water pump was leaking like a ****. Had the water pump, timing belt and thermostat fixed for $950. Not really up set because I was planning on changing those soon anyways.

 

glad you got it sorted.

seems like a good price for the timing service too. i trust they did the timing tensioner and rollers while they were in there too? might want to double check your parts list just in case. typical timing service changes all those parts at the same time. a failure can be....bad

good luck