Audi Cabriolet V6 2.6e - Performance?

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Mon 9 May 2005 14:16
Audi Cabriolet V6 2.6e - Performance? - Matt
I have had this car for a couple of months now and on the hole it is great. I have noticed however that when the engine is cold the performance is noticeably better than when it warms up. When trying to accelerate hard suddenly when the engiine is warm, the car seems to hesitate and then feels restricted compared to when it's cold.

Another minor problem is that the car seems to have a stuck thermostat. The engine only heats up to normal temp when in traffic or slow town driving - the rest of the time the temp guage is just off cold. Are the stats in these engines easy to replace and could this be the cause of the performance issues?

Finally the gearbox has begun to whine (just a little) in fifth gear - is it worth changing the gearbox oil now or it is curtains - the car's done 144k miles...? Any experience with these 'boxes?

Any help much appreciated.

Matt
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Tue 10 May 2005 22:04
Audi Cabriolet V6 2.6e - Performance? - Matt
Please can somebody help me - I've never been let down by the forum before! You guys always seem to be able to offer really useful advice...

Thanks.
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Tue 10 May 2005 22:20
Audi Cabriolet V6 2.6e - Performance? - El Dingo
We have this engine in one of our cars...

I agree that the lack of warming could be a stuck thermostat.

However, I wonder if there is any connection between the engine coolant temperature and the performance issue? Hmmmm. I'd be thinking about a blown head gasket... are you frequently topping up the header tank? Is there 'mayonnaise' on the oil filler cap? Even if not, the head gasket could be leaking between cylinders without losing coolant. Also the coolant system could be partially blocked, causing overheating in one cylinder block.

However, these are domesday scenarios. Look for clues (as above) and post us back what you find.

Cheers,
El Dingo.
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Tue 10 May 2005 22:21
Audi Cabriolet V6 2.6e - Performance? - El Dingo
Sorry, forgot about the whining in 5th gear. I blame Vicky Butler-Henderson (he he he)...

El Dingo.
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Wed 11 May 2005 01:34
Audi Cabriolet V6 2.6e - Performance? - Matt
Thanks for the help. Coolent level never seems to need topping up and no "mayonnaise" under filler cap so probably is thermostat then. I think eratic power is connected to engine never fully heating up. Will let you know any progress!


Thanks again.
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Wed 11 May 2005 14:04
Audi Cabriolet V6 2.6e - Performance? - BB
Although the thermostats on VAG cars are a bit suspect, don't just change the thermostat as it could be the temp sender.

A diagnostic check will identify the cause.

I have had numerous VW Golfs with thermostat probs, but 2 of them were faults with temp sender.

Cheers
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