Im headed out the door so i will just make this quick. The temp sensors have been replaced by green ones bc the gray ones were faulty.

 

I realize it's the resevoir, but the cap is also made to open at a certain pressure. When I opened the cap, it bleeds the pressure (steam/water) down through little passages made in the body of the resevoir itself. Kinda like the pour spout of liquid fabric softener....it has little holes at the base of the pour spout, this is kinda the same thing. I've replaced the lower coolant temp sensor, and I'm bleeding the system now. Still no heat, guage is still dead in the middle and the upper radiator is definately firmer, so wish me luck.

 

So I have a funnel small enough to fit in the bleed screw hole, so i've been topping it off via that hole. Once it stops burping that way (cool to watch the water rising and lowering in the funnel) I've started the car, cranked the heat, installed the bleed screw slightly, and let it just keep steaming. It never stops, the resevoir gets to the low mark, and the upper radiator hose is rock hard and thumps then car as if I was tapping it w/ a rubber mallet. Once I shut off the car, the pressure continues to bleed off and the hose finally becomes soft. I'm afraid the radiator hose is gonna burst or something beforehand, what do you guys think?

The guage is still dead in the middle, the dual electric fans finally stopped running after 5 minutes and haven't been on since....but there is still hardly if any heat coming from the vents. I can squeeze the upper radiator hose and feel it slightly burping, but I can't tell if the water is actually flowing through. When I touch the little bit of the radiator that I can see (silver one in the back, not the black one in the front) it's not even warm This guys supposedly had the waterpump and thermostat replaced, but from reading on other threads, it's a complete bitch and requires removal of the entire front end.....I hope to god these guys didnt cheap out and NOT do the work they charged him for. Help me out here guys, i'm open for other ideas here.

 

K, so im still bleeding....all I think i'm doing is letting out the overheating steam from lack of flow. The radiator is still bone cold, the upper heater hose is hot a firm and the lowe hose is soft (not completely, but I can squeeze it) and it's room temp at best. I just shut the car off, and the upper radiator hose just pops and clicks loudly, like a tack hammer.....something else is wrong her. I'm gonna drive this car off a cliff!!

 

I just pulled off all the upper battery covers...the upper heater core hose is cold, but the lower one is nice and hot. Should I pull these hoses off and run a garden hose through it to check for blockage/flow?

 

The thermostat is on the side of the engine block so its not that hard to replace. That could be the problem, its possible the one they put on is faulty.

Where is this bleeder youre talking about? I would bleed the system by leaving the cap off of the reservoir like everyone else.

 

I'm gonna flush out the heater core today, then i'll pull of the thermostat and double check it. I'm assuming since its not the usual mechanic type where I can just boil it in water, i'll have to see if there is a way to test it.

The bleed screw I'm talking about is under the engine cover, right in the center of the metal tube. It opens w/ an allen key, and has a slot down the side of the threads for air to bleed out. Problem is I did it like 3x and it still just let's out a ton of steam and never finally starts squirting water, so I either don't have waterflow due to blockage or lack of something pushing the water around. If its the waterpump, my only option is to give it back to the owner and have him pressure the shop for a redo.

 

Oops, I missed this post in my ramblings The green tops, from what I've found, are only for the upper engine 4 pin sensors. Even looking @ Autohausaz.com and calling Autozone, both show new 2 pin sensors to still be gray/black. I haven't called the dealership for pricing yet, but I'm guessing its not different for them. I installed the new gray 2 pin below, but nothing was different, so I just put the original one back in.

 

So the thermostat is buried under the intake in a most awkward place for me to try and get a torx bit onto it for removal. Since it's electronically controlled, i'm trying to remove it to see if I can touch the blades of the water pump.I've pulled and flushed every hose I can get my hands on, so short of filling it back up w/ water and re-bleeding, I don't know how else to verify if the waterpump or thermostat has failed. I've looked over the receipts and it's only been a year and 8k miles since it's been replaced....could either of these items really have failed that quickly?

 

Both could have failed this quickly, they could have been faulty to begin with. To get the thermostat off you have to remove the throttle body and the alternator. Heres a write up: http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=20435996 .