I have a 2001 a6 2.8 Quattro that is losing coolant heavily. The hose that is leaking is next to the oil filter. It's also right above another hose that I'm assuming is for oil. The hose that is leaking can't be more than 5 inches and is L shaped. It is leaking at the long part of the L shape right where it is clamped down. My question is if I unclamp it and readjust it will coolant continuously fall out until there is no more coolant in the car, or will the coolant only what's in the hose? Is there any way I can prevent all the coolant to come out? What's the best way to temporarily fix the leak so I can drive out to get a new hose. And what's the hose called so u can get the right one

 

If you unclamp it and take the hose off your coolant system will leak and you will not have enough to operate the car properly.

If you're in a bind, I suppose you could reuse the coolant by capturing it within a CLEAN bucket and then putting it back in once you get the hose replaced. I would highly suggest flushing the coolant system afterwards because you don't know what is in the coolant or how old it is. Again, this is really something that's frowned upon.

Check out this link to find the part you need in the diagram.

 

thank you for the help. Ive come to to another problem. i am unable to remove the clamp because i dont have enough space. i need pliers to remove the clamps but i cant get a good position because the oil filter is in the way. If i remove the filter will all the oil come out, or just whats in the filter. i did just get an oil change about 150 miles ago. so if i do have to remove all the oil before removing the filter can i reuse the oil or is this also frowned upon.

 

You're talking about the two tubes on the left side of the oil cooler when you're looking straight at it, right? Is it the top or the bottom? In either case, I would start with the bottom as either way you're going to loose coolant along the way. Remove the bottom hose to allow room to get to the top. Keep in mind you will have to bleed your coolant system after replacing the hose.

As far as what happens when you take off your oil filter... You will loose all of your oil. I have never heard of anyone even attempt to reuse their oil, regardless of how many miles were driven with it.

 

you might be right with the oil cooler. if am lying on my back looking up, it will be on the left towards the driver side. what i see is the oil filter. attached to the oil filter is a silver colored cube. attached to the cube are 2 hoses in a perfectly vertical fashion. i thought the bottom hose was for oil but you might be right it could be coolant as well. the one that is leaking is right above the hose i just mentioned. i hope this helped you understand what i mean. if both hose are coolant would if be best to flush out all coolant first make the repair and and new coolant. i do have 1.5 quarts of coolant. will that be enough for my car. if not will it be good enough to at least get me to an auto store that carries the coolant .

 

They are both coolant. One feed, the other return.

Remove the bottom hose and allow to drain as much as possible. Remove the top hose and allow to drain as much as possible. Make the repairs necessary to the hose and then put it back together in reverse order (Top first, bottom second). Refill with coolant and top off with diluted G12 coolant (50/50 mix of distilled water and G12 coolant).

Afterwards, Perform coolant system bleeding from the bleed screw found atop of the engine as well as from the heater core. You don't want any air pockets in your coolant system, especially as we near the hot summer months.

 

You will not loose all your oil if you pull just the filter, maybe half a quart at the most. If you are in a bind you can always just put water in the system to get where you need to go. I would personally replace the clamp with a regular hose clamp (one that requires a screwdriver) makes for an easier replacement.

 

Can you give me specifics as to where I can fine the 2 screws to perform the bleeding

 

I just replaced the oil cooler gasket, it goes between cooler and the area where the cooler attaches to the oil pan area. Note those do go bad. Mine had a small leak, I ignored it, and I actually thought the leak was on oil pan gasket, as the cooler was leaking at the top and oil was running down the pan. Anyway I parked the car in February until I could work on it, but would start it up once a week. On a really cold day the gasket blew out and there was a big oil puddle, luckily I was outside noticed it like 30 seconds later and shut the car off.

1998 A6, 2.8L, 200,000 miles.

My hoses did not look that great. I was thinking of replacing them, but one end is a fixed attachment with a metal hose, so I thought I might need the full hose or would need to cut off the metal band. And I just needed to fix the main issue.
1. Get 2 hose clamps, the normal screw kind. I am thinking 1" inch diameter, or buy a few sizes like .75, and 1.25" to make sure you have what you need. Those spring clamps are are real pain to work back on.
2. Remove the lower one to get at the upper one. You will lose coolant. If you want, drain the coolant into a clean bucket from the radiator drain. That way you can reuse it, worry about the flush later. If you disconnect the cooler hose when radiator is full fluid will go all over the place.
3. Consider replacing the entire hose, probably a dealer item, but even if you can clamp past the leak, is the other part of the hose bad? Not sure how hard to replace that entire hose. If you do it, clamp it down at the cooler first.
4. If the leak is just past the clamp this might work. Remove the hose, I think you will need to cut away some hose from the end, be careful, use a mini hack saw blade if you have it.
Don't cut away too much.
5. This where I had the problem. If I put the spring clip back up the hose, I could get the hose on the nipple, but since the hose is bloated/old I could not get the clip back into position, like 1/4' from the cooler. If I put the clip right at the end of the hose I could not get the clip over the nipple end. So then I put it on the end squeezed the clip open the with my other hand worked the hose back on. Laying on the ground made it hard to do. Took almost an hour of trying. This is why you need the screw clamps. Put hose on nipple, put clamp around hose and tighten. Note do not over tighten those.
6. Fill radiator, check for leaks, after car is warmed up and pressure is up.

 

Are both the oil cooler lines identical in molding? One on top of the other? I have a 96 Audi A4 2.8