New owner with jobs to do..

Looks like Brent crude - can't believe you are ever going to get that flushed out without resorting to some sort of professional cleaner. Could that be caused by mixing the wrong coolants - I think I've read that can give a gel like substance.

Simon.
 
To flush the radiator connect a garden hose to the bottom rad connector , the one you have already removed. Wrap the outer diameter of the hose with plastic or if you have an old bike inner tube to make up the diameter of the rad. disconnect upper hose and direct it into a big container to try to catch most of the crap coming out. Start with the tap on slow and as it cleans out increase the pressure. Stop every so often to check progress and continue until clear as possible. Could be a while and messy. You could clean other hoses off the car while doing this. For the block i would use the thermostat housing connection for water in and the expansion tank small hose for the return. The cabin heater is the most difficult, you will see where the 2 hoses pass through the bulkhead into the car, work out a suitable point to flush from. Do you have a Webasto heater, if so its water pipes will also need flushing out. Reconnect everything and as @steveb suggests a couple of crushed dishwasher tablets in the expansion tank, fill with hot water and run car until 90 on gauge. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR LEAKS OR STRANGE NOISES AND STOP IF ANY FOUND, RUN WITHOUT EXPANSION CAP ON AND TOP UP IF LEVEL DROPS. Look at the expansion tank afterwards and see what the fluid looks like, if not too dirty run again with cap on until warm. If clear , drain system of as much fluid as possible even if you disconnect lower hose and blow several times into expansion tank to get as much out as possible. Change thermostat and temp sensor and slowly refill with correct coolant, run with cap off to help any trapped air escape, turn off , let cool and top up level. Fit cap and take for a run to get properly warmed up, check heater and look for any leaks. Top up and repeat as needed.
Sorry a bit long winded. Report findings back to us.
 
Thanks everyone for all your replies,
I'm going to tackle this methodically as mentioned and do it stage by stage..
It makes me wonder how this car has ever run any distance whatsoever.. I had it recovered to mine once i bought it so i know i haven't caused any damage but will investigate and let you know how i get on..
Thanks again..
Tony
 
Any cleaner now?
Hi audifan and all...
The flushing process is still on going and I've started flushing everthing independently with air to start with. This produced a good amount of emulcified oil. It was a very cold day when i started doing this and i don't think that helped the situation because, as the temperature has risen, the oil has turned less solid.
I'm about to release the heater hoses as i haven't done the heater matrix independently
yet and then I'm going to reassemble everything and with the help of a few crushed dishwasher tablets, run the engine (without the thermostat) for 20 mins to see what then comes out of the bottom rad hose..
I'll keep you informed as I'm still not sure if the head gasket isn't the issue...
I'll pressure test the cooling system once ive run it to see what happens...
 
I'm going to watch this one as it is a WOW moment when I saw the crud in the bottom pipe!!! I too have never seen such a congealed mess, and I've been around cars for nearly as long as Depronman!!!! fingers crossed its just someone who has miss filled the expansion tank....good luck.
 
Are you still having issues? How did the cleaning go?
Hi audifan,
The cleaning is still ongoing I'm afraid.. I'm going to have a full day on it again tomorrow, taking off every water hose and flushing with boiling water if i can...
I'm not sure if I'm getting a full flow as yet through the heater as its still freezing even after ticking over for 15mins or so..
I've bypassed the oil cooler and theres no sign of any leeks of oil from the cooler itself..
I dropped all the oil and there was no sign of water in the oil at all...
Still a little scratchy head but every days a school day and knowledge is power aoparently...
Thanks for thinking and getting in touch...
Tony..
 
Just to reinforce Simon's comments, the brown sludge may have been caused by mixing the old type glycol based antifreeze with Audis 'OAT' based G12 / G13
I knew they weren't compatible but was surprised just how bad it can be over time. This is just one of the answers I found with a random search -

Cheers Spike
 
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Just to reinforce Simon's comments, the brown sludge may have been caused by mixing the old type glycol based antifreeze with Audis 'OAT' based G12 / G13
I knew they weren't compatible but was surprised just how bad it can be over time. This is just one of the answers I found with a random search -

Cheers Spike
Thanks Spike and I bow to anyone's superior knowledge...
I've never seen anything like this myself before so just trying to work through it piece by piece..
Most of the pipes I can get to and remove and clean but the heater matrix and the webasto heater I've no idea how to get to..
Every time I have a clean and then pour hot water into the top rad hose and header tank, run the engine for 15mins or so, the thermostat housing,(thermostat removed), is full of this oily gunk..
What's your thoughts of putting a water soluble degreaser in the system.. Swarfega maybe... ??
I'll just keep plugging along...

Tony
 
What about getting a sample of some of the goo in a beaker and seeing what will break it down - hot water / detergent / engine degreaser....

Simon.
 
Drastic measures but how about removing the thermostat from the housing then doing the hosepipe flush as suggested earlier.
That way you should get a more complete 'flow' round the engine which should dislodge more of the gunge
I've not checked how accessible the flow and return hoses to the heater matrix are, but maybe it's possible to flush that separately

Cheers Spike
 
A major, major task without question, but looking forward, once you have successfully managed it you are going to have one of the most flushed, cleanest cooling systems anywhere!

LG.
 
As you probably have already removed the heater flow and return pipes either at the bulkhead or at their other ends, then either connect the garden hose directly to the heater outlet on the bulkhead and another length of hose to the inlet to reverse flush it or connect to the other ends. Personally I would try and connect to the bulkhead. Swap over the direction of flushing a couple of times. Then flush the rest of the system from the disconnected pipes. Be careful using chemicals and only use approved solvents for aluminium and rubber. Your 15 minute runs at idle are unfortunately not achieving anything. Give it a good flushing as I have suggested. Leave the thermostat out, connect everything else, fill with water and take it for a 20-30 minute run to get it fully warmed up. Let it cool and recheck how bad the expansion tank is. Rinse repeat a couple of times to help clear out the sludge. Flush agian and refill using a recommended radiator flushing chemical and run according to their instructions. Hopefully all now clear, again flush out and blow out as much liquid as possible. Now you can refill with the correct premixed coolant G12, G12+...G13.
Any strange noises or smells during the run or temperature issues STOP and investigate.
 
Here is a diagram for the 1.4 tdi cooling system.
Diagram of coolant hose connections
a2-2624.png

1 - Exhaust gas recirculation cooler or auxiliary heater
q Exhaust gas recirculation cooler is only fitted on engines with code letters ATL
q Fitting of auxiliary heater depends on equipment level
2 - Bleeder screw
3 - Coolant pipe
4 - Heat exchanger
q If renewed, refill system with fresh coolant
5 - Coolant pipe
6 - Coolant expansion tank
q With filler cap
q Checking pressure relief valve in filler cap → Anchor
7 - Coolant hose
8 - Bleeder screw
9 - Radiator
q Removing and installing → Chapter
q If renewed, refill system with fresh coolant
10 - Coolant hose
11 - Oil cooler
q If renewed, refill system with fresh coolant
12 - Coolant pump/thermostat
q Removing and installing coolant pump → Chapter
q Checking thermostat → Chapter
q Removing and installing thermostat → Chapter
13 - Cylinder head/cylinder block
q If renewed, refill system with fresh coolant
14 - Coolant pipe
q Going to heat exchanger on vehicles without exhaust gas recirculation cooler or auxiliary heater
15 - Coolant pipe
q To exhaust gas recirculation cooler or auxiliary heater
No 1 is the Webasto and No4 the cabin heater.
 
Drastic measures but how about removing the thermostat from the housing then doing the hosepipe flush as suggested earlier.
That way you should get a more complete 'flow' round the engine which should dislodge more of the gunge
I've not checked how accessible the flow and return hoses to the heater matrix are, but maybe it's possible to flush that separately

Cheers Spike
That's what I've been doing Spike.. I'm now trying a little Swarfega as my thinking is if it's good enough for my hands then how bad can it be in the cooling system...
Thanks for the thought and it's good as we're obviously thinking on the same lines...
 
Hi audifan.. Unfortunately I bought the car as a running repair and it doesn't have an mot at the moment so can't drive it but only run the engine on the drive...
I'm slowly working my way through it.. There's only the webs to that I can't get to properly... I'm going to try a little swarfega as that's a water soluble detergent and see what happens... It probably doesn't help as I work 6 days a week so only have very limited time to get on with it but I'm typing as I'm in the garage trying another flush... I'll post some pics after the next flush as the goo is getting definitely more watery at least...
Thanks again...
 
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