2000 A6 Avant (2.8L) 175K miles. Teaching my daughter how to parallel park all night on a hot summer evening and after she drove into the garage, noticed steam coming from the hood, a burning smell, and coolant temp gauge at about 3/4 instead of 1/2 position. Popped the hood to find three coolant hoses hanging loose, each with a broken portion of the missing T pipe in it that is supposed to connect them together. I attached a pic I grabbed from the net of the missing T pipe. I certainly don't want to drive it w/o coolant and am not eager to get it towed, so I guess I should try to fix it myself.

1) Anyone know the part number for this connector?
2) I guess I replace the connector, fill with coolant, then see if anything got fried before I noticed it. Sound right?

Thanks!

 

Looks like Audi doesn't sell just the T pipe, but instead sells the whole assembly of hoses pre-connected, part 4B0121101N. Here it is at ECS Tuning:

Any tips on its replacement and getting the system refilled would be welcome.

Dave

 

https://www.audiforums.com/forum/aud...cement-176399/ includes these tips:

Anyways, to fill the coolant, remove the plastic cover for the battery/ECU area. Locate the heater core water line. Once you undo the hose clamp, you will notice a bleed hole. Slide the hose until you line up the holes.

Fill the reservoir with 50/50 coolant and distilled water. Fill it up to the max line. Start the car and turn the heater to the max. The coolant level will drop. Fill it until there is a bit of coolant coming out from the bleed hole. Slide the hose back on and install the hose clamp. You may want to check the coolant level since it my drop after the system burps.

 

The same T piece broke on my C5 A6 and I just drove to to the local Autozone, bought a variety pack and picked the one that was closet to the old one. Put new clamps on each end - 6 months later still holding and no leaks.
Cost factor between 5 and 10 bucks.