Hi,

My wife was driving to work this morning when our 2.6 B5 A4 started leaking coolant.
After swapping cars and topping the water up several times, I got the Audi home and have taken of the fuel rail, injection manifold, and have found the leak.
It's in the pipe that runs from the LHS of the radiator, around the back of the motor, splits into two and under the fuel injection to the front of the block.
These is a split in the Y join which shouldn't be too hard to have welded by a friend who is an expert welder.
However...I am having a real problem getting the heater coupling off this pipe.
It is a solid joiner with a spring clip.
I removed the spring clip, but I can't get any movement and as I don't want to break anything, I thought it better to ask for some help.

You can see the connection just below the red nut, how do I get this connection off???



Thanks in advance

 

As is the case with all of the coolant pipes on the B5, you're gonna have to pull. HARD. Once the spring clip is off, there's nothing but gunk holding those two pipes together. Make sure you pull straight. When you start twisting and turning stuff is when you're going to break something. Don't worry about pulling too hard, as long as you pull straight the pipes will come apart before you break anything.

 

Thanks for the quick reply cca4, I'll give it a gon in the morning.

 

Agreed. I've used a thin metal pick to try and scrape inside the seam and break the scum loose. Chris is right - pull and jiggle it slightly as you do and you'll get it loose.

 

Yeah wiggling is ok, but if you try to twist it like you're unscrewing a garden hose you're gonna have a bad time

 

Also spray some penetrant and let it soak in, it helps liquefy the gunk.