So last Thursday I was driving my car home from getting lunch, about two blocks from my house my overheating warning came on. I made it home and saw that I was low on coolant. I let it cool off and filled it up that night. Took her out for a test run and after 2 miles she started to overheat again. Took her to the shop on Tuesday...long story short they puta new thermostat in after which they said one side of the radiator was getting hot, and one side was staying cold. Their verdict is I need a new radiator. They just called and said it'll be done on Monday. What do you guys think? Did I really need a radiator or could it have been something else. The shop comes highly recommended as being honest. Also when I took my car their they had a brand new S4 waiting to be worked on that belonged to the dealer I got my TT from. So I'm pretty confident in them.

 

I probably would have asked them to flush the radiator before replacing it, but I'm not a mechanic by any means.

 

Yah i would have flushed it. If you didnt see any visible leaks the raditor should be good.

 

I guess I'm a little green, but I just assumed they would try that stuff first then move on to replacing it. But now that I'm saying that out loud it sounds a bit naive. Like I said though, a guy I really trust told me they were really honest dudes and they'd always done right by him. So I guess I'll have to have a bit of faith.

 

Why did they need to replace the thermostat to find that out?
My limited experience with radiators has tought me that the radiator has to be complete trash to have to be replaced. They have the ability to bypass coils and can made a radiator useable even if it is pretty messed up. I would try and at least flush before replacing.

 

just like every other 1.8t in the world... it's a water pump.

 

So here's an update on my situation. When the shop called me last to tell me I needed a new radiator I asked the guy if he could check the timing belt b/c it messes the waterpump up. He kinda laughed and said there was no way that was the problem. So I said, ok do what you have to do. Afterall he's the mechanic he should know what he's doing. Today he calls me and tells me that guess what...my waterpump is melted. So I need a new waterpump, then he suggests that I replace the timing belt also. So it took him a week to figure out that the most common problem (so it seems from reading this forum), is the only issue. So now I get to pay for a radiator (that I didn't need) and labor costs. I'm now over $1k in repairs at this point. And I haven't had my car for a week and a half. I'm so po'd. Everytime this guy calls me the phone calls get more and more expensive. The worst thing is I have my coworker constantly saying "I told you not to buy an Audi blah blah blah". Then the shop owner suggest that I get rid of the car. What do you guys think? Should I be fine after this? It's an '02 225Q with 75k miles, and soon to have a new radiator, waterpump, and timing belt.

 

amir, take it to audi on w.broad and have a used car check done to it. they will be able to give you a list of things that might be wrong with it...they check the haldex, radio, etc... hate to say i told you so bro but we had talked about it online everything should be in working order once they've changed the timing belt and waterpump (twas only 280 including s+h from ecs btw for the whole timing belt kit). we gotta meet up just to take a quick look