My first post! Sweet. Too bad it has to be about an issue...

Among ~5 other things currently wrong with the car (all minor), 2 are sticking out that I need help with:

1) The fuel gauge is posting faulty readings. It shows full when it's full, but takes too long to fall, thereby reading 1/3 of a tank or so when it's really completely empty. Left us stranded on the highway once already. Is there a recall for the sensor? I vaguely remember reading something about it...

2) The coolant temp gauge, when sitting in traffic in moderate to high temps, will go all the way up to 3/4 of the way up the dial. You can smell stuff literally burning off underhood when this happens (and a light coolant smell) so I know it's not normal. The coolant level has not changed. The cooling fan does kick on, but seemingly only in short bursts. Once you get moving again, everything's fine. Car has not overheated yet (knock on wood...)

Any opinions? Thanks.

-Dan

 

1) This is a common problem. The newer fuels contain some sulfur compounds that create deposits on the fuel senders. Chevron's Techron will usually clean this up. Pick up a couple bottles at a Chevron station or your local autoparts store. Dump one bottle in your tank in each of your next fill-ups. This should usually clean it up. Short of that you may need to replace or clean the sensors in the tank. It's not the fault of Audi, it's the fault of the EPA's gasoline formulation requirements.

2) How many miles on your TT? Have you done your timing belt yet. Even though Audi recommends it at 110K, those of us experienced in this world recommend that you do it at 60K. At the same time you need to replace the tensioner, water pump and the thermostat. Your problem sounds like a bad water pump. The stock pump has a plastic impeller. When I did my TB at 60K the impeller was broken. The replacement pumps have steel impellers.

 

Thanks. The car has 85,xxx miles on it. It's my girlfriend's car, and she refuses to do any maintenance on it until something actually breaks down. Me, on the other hand...yeah...let's not even go into the preventive maintenance I do. (and the sh*t I get for it).

I figured it'd be the water pump. I'm imagining this repair (WP, TB, Therm, etc) would be close to $1600-1700, am I right? How easy is something like that to do yourself? We're a pretty tech-savvy family that likes working on our own cars.

 

I had mine done at an independent shop in San Jose, CA last year for $700. There are many that have done it themselves. A dealer will charge you around $1100. Here is a How-To if you are so inclined to do it yourself. Most people are buying the DieselGeek complete kit. You don't want to let this go until something breaks. The 1.8T is an interference engine so when the TB breaks, pistons hit valves and you are looking at $5000-$7000 in repairs.

 

Thanks!

Was that just for the TB though? Or was that $700 for everything? (water pump, therm, etc)

 

The whole deal.. about $250 for parts and the rest labor.

 

that link to dieselgeek is very useful.. Thanks XCLR8TT