Audi A6: Fan is very loud after turning off engine - even after short drive

tomED

Hi folks,

Wondering if anyone knows if this could be a sign off an imminent overheating issues with my car.

I've noticed lately that even after a short drive (5-7 miles), when I shut off the engine, the fan sounds like it is working extremely hard and continues for about 30 seconds or so.

I've noticed that "overheating smell" (if there is such a thing) from when I had a previous overheating problem with an old car. However, the gauge inside the car never goes above half way.

So wondering if this is normal or should I get it checked out?

Thanks in advance!

dr.fuzzenstein

First port of call should be to check the coolant level. Don't drive it till you do.
When the coolant on my CMax was low, the fan would run a lot, even though the temperature gauge looked fine. Till it went off the scale on the motorway...

tossy

Have you checked it for coolant (when it cools down) the smell you are referring to is burning coolant a very distinctive and horrible smell (horrible on the nostrils and potentially horrible on the wallet lol )

EDIT : The good Dr. beat me too it.

Truckermal

What year is it??

tomED

Yeah coolant level is fine - and yes it definitely hurts the nostrils!

It's a 2006 2.0 FSI

dr.fuzzenstein

If coolant level is fine and coolant looks fine (pink or blue, instead of brown, sludgy or mayonnaise) it could be airlock, water pump or thermostat.
Water pump will be the hardest to check.
Also check the oil, to see does it look good and again check for sludge.

tomED

Thanks for the replies guys!

So I'll take it that this isn't normal and I should get it checked out!
(It was a struggle for me to know where the coolant went!! :P)

larchill

I'd a problem not unlike this with an A4 1.6. It was a temperature sensor.

dr.fuzzenstein

tomED wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys!

So I'll take it that this isn't normal and I should get it checked out!
(It was a struggle for me to know where the coolant went!! :P)

Better safe than new engine.

tossy

OP i know you are in Bray but if you want to make your way to Kildare i can meet you in Naas some day/evening and scan the car for you to see if you have any coolant sensor faults.

tomED

tossy wrote: »

OP i know you are in Bray but if you want to make your way to Kildare i can meet you in Naas some day/evening and scan the car for you to see if you have any coolant sensor faults.

Ah thanks for the offer!

I got on to my mechanic friend who is going to do this for me on Thursday, but thanks again for the offer, I really appreciate it.

tossy

tomED wrote: »

Ah thanks for the offer!

I got on to my mechanic friend who is going to do this for me on Thursday, but thanks again for the offer, I really appreciate it.

No hassles helping each other out - it's what a motoring forum is all about.

mickdw

My 1.8Tfsi A5 runs the fan for a significant period agreed switching off and it doesn't need to have done a long run either. It has done this since new and is not an issue. In your case, if you are smelling coolant, it needs to be checked but of itself, the fan running for a period may not be an issue.

tomED

Just a quick update on this.

After longer journeys (20-30 mins), the car started overheating on idle, sitting at taffic lights or in traffic for example.
I then went on a longer journey (over an hour) and along the way the car would overheat when under load (going up hills in particular).

Initially my mechanic suspected a problem with the water pump or impeller - but after consultation with an Audi mechanic, he suggested changing the thermostat, apparently they've seen it a lot with this model. At the time my mechanic wasn't convinced, but went ahead and changed the thermostat first on the Audi mechanics advice.

I've been driving it around now for a couple of weeks - after short journeys the fan isn't even coming on. Longer journeys, the fan is as loud as I would have expected it to be on engine shut down.

So thanks to all who responded and hopefully this will help someone else in a similar situation!

bear1

Glad to hear it seems sorted.
Do keep an eye on your levels, check under the car for the first few mornings to see if there are any pools of coolant.
If it was the thermostat then that's a poor choice by Audi as it means the thermostat fails closed or gets stuck closed.
That means that no coolant is entering the engine which in turn will kill it.
In Alfas for example the thermostat will fail open which means coolant still gets into the engine but the temp guage will show that the car is barely heating up which will make you use more fuel etc but it will not wreck the engine.
Hope all continues well for you

Codpeas

tomED wrote: »

Just a quick update on this.

After longer journeys (20-30 mins), the car started overheating on idle, sitting at taffic lights or in traffic for example.
I then went on a longer journey (over an hour) and along the way the car would overheat when under load (going up hills in particular).

Initially my mechanic suspected a problem with the water pump or impeller - but after consultation with an Audi mechanic, he suggested changing the thermostat, apparently they've seen it a lot with this model. At the time my mechanic wasn't convinced, but went ahead and changed the thermostat first on the Audi mechanics advice.

I've been driving it around now for a couple of weeks - after short journeys the fan isn't even coming on. Longer journeys, the fan is as loud as I would have expected it to be on engine shut down.

So thanks to all who responded and hopefully this will help someone else in a similar situation!

Just to add to the info for people I had an intermittent overheating issue with my 2008 A6 2.0TFSI some time back. Brought it to Audi and when they looked through their records my car had been in for a similar issue a year before I bought it but source of problem had never been found.

So, they reckoned the problem must be with the water pump and asked for permission to go in after it (removing front of car to do so) but that turned out to be fine. While they had the front of the car apart they spotted that an electrical connector block related to the fan was damaged - that turned out to be the real problem.

Wasn't a pleasant experience handing over 300EUR plus change for a replacement of a 4EUR part (which had to be ordered and took three days) but all sorted in the end.

tomED

Codpeas wrote: »

While they had the front of the car apart they spotted that an electrical connector block related to the fan was damaged - that turned out to be the real problem.

This was one of the first things my mechanic looked for when I first brought it to him as there were no other obvious signs of an overheating problem (at that time, the car never overheated on me - the fan was simply raging! )

Apparently this is another common issue indeed!