Coolant flange

Cass

Howdo all.

Have a subtle, very subtle, coolant leak in my 2006 Audi A6 C6, 2.0 TFSI (auto) After much struggling i traced it back to the coolant flange on the rear of the engine.

The part is cheap and the fix seems obvious, but it looks an absolute pig to get to.

Has anyone done one or have a "how to" guide on how to tackle it?

Thanks in advance.

Mad_Mike

I know its an A4, but I assume it's same process as this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsGIuuPLgZE

Youtube embed doesnt seem to be working, so the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsGIuuPLgZE

Cass

Actually watching that at the moment.

It's not identical, but i'm hoping (and it seems) it close enough.

Cass

Yeah its close enough to considered exact.

He changes a few more bits than i intend to and i've already done the vac-pump (which i notice he says causes the o-rings to swell and fail so might be what caused this in the first place), but its a good guide and as i thought will be a pig, but a doable pig.

Thanks.

Mad_Mike

Yeah, it certainly seems to be a pig of a job for ultimately what's a very simple swap. Best of luck with it

Cass

Well it was every bit the pig of a job i was expecting.

I'm sure a garage could have done it in less than half the time but all in it took about 4.5 hours. The issue is space. There was only 5 torx head bolts to remove and the clasps on the pipes but they were welded on and without access to break the seal of each pipe it was a case of prise it, twist it, pull it, all at once and avoid damaging anything in the process.

Three and a half of the four and a half hours was the stripping and figuring out how to make tools fit into the limited space, but once i had it apart i had it back together in less than an hour. I also lost 25 minutes trying to fish out a torx bit i dropped

The old flange was in bad shape. An inch of the "lip" was broken off, there was what seemed to be PTFE tape around the neck of the flange and the rubber o-ring was flat and perished. Seems the previous owner had it off at some point and half arsed it in repairing which is odd as the part was a tenner.

Still all done and the video above, while more than i was changing was perfect and a huge help so thanks for the link to that. Took it on a short test drive and there is no sign of leak around the flange or pipes so all good.

Thanks.

Mad_Mike

Excellent. Glad you have it sorted now anyway. I have to say, it really did look like a horrible awkward job in the video alright.

Seems totally mental that someone would previously botch it as the work involved in getting into it would surely warrant replacing the part while in there!! I'll never understand the mentality of some people.

kirving

Cass wrote: »

I also lost 25 minutes trying to fish out a torx bit i dropped

Did that myself on a similar job, had to call it for the day and buy another bit, turns out it was only 20mm from where it was dropped but couldn't see it.

Well done on getting it sorted yourself, perseverance pays off, and always a great feeling at the end of the day!

Cass

I was blessed in a way.

The previous owner, which shows his laziness, never removed the skid pan from underneath the car when servicing it, instead choosing to break a hole in it to allow access to the sump bung without having to remove the entire skidpan. When the torx bit dropped i was prepared to start stripping the skid pan after having no luck finding it from above, but chanced a quick feel around and low and behold the bit was actually sitting right inside the 2 inch hole for the sump bung.