i have a 98 a4 1.8t and my radiator never gets close to warm and theres a sound like the car is weezing. last night there was a disgusting smell and when i popped the hood the turbo was red like if you put metal in fire. the fan on the passenger side doesnt work and the hood is always really hot. i really hope its not as bad as i think and does anyone have any idea of how much a repair would be?

 

If your temp gauge doesn't rise, you probably have a sticking thermostat. Weezing? Gunna have to be more specific on that. At night, you will see the hot side of your turbo glowing, it's normal, and cool. The fan on the passanger side is the 2ndary cooling fan and normally only comes on when you have the ac on. A hot hood is pretty normal as long as it's not glowing red too

 

a sticking thermo. would cause some of those other problems. i wouldnt drive the car too long b4 gettin it fixed though. over heating could cause a lot more problems then it sounds like your having.

and no i woulnd say your car is fvcked. just fix it b4 it is.

 

thermostate is easy enough to fix just a little bit of time.

 

thank you that was a relief. the weezing sound sounds like theres something clogging your throat and your trying to breath hard or like a asthma attack and it happened after my girlfriend fell off a curb one day and i feel like it might of bumped the exhaust up and loosened it or cracked it in the manifold. the other problem i have is if the windows are up it sounds like the car is spitting or gargling in the engine.

 

check the flex pipe in the exhaust for that. problems w/ noises are hard to diagnose online w/o a video, so you should go to your mechanic to have them check it out unless u can post a vid.