imagine if the poms lost,japs and germans won we would be driving austin maxi mk9 and morry minor series 23
marte,
Sep 23, 7:49pm
Nah, supply chains & lack of fuel. Vehicles like tanks that were not expendable & had to be returned to the factory for servicing ( sound familiar? ) Though most German infantry were country folks & never serviced a vehicle in their life, so removing a tanks engine, which needed a crane anyway, to service it, was pretty much out of the average Huns league. Once the hours were up or they needed repairs, they had to be returned back to the factory, then again to the front. This used masses of much needed fuel. This ment supply's were late & soldiers were untrained in simple cold weather survival. Hitler's bailing of of the Italians at the time didn't help either.
Neat fact, the tanks often had air filters in near inaccesable places. In one area, the Russians planted 300+ kms of sunflowers, defended the front strongly untill just the right time, then retreated thru the 2 metres high ( how high? "This high") fields. Sunflower pollen blocked the air filters, they sucked up moisture from the ground, the seeds fed the rats, their height ment you couldn't see more than 2 metres, they blocked out any light & stopped other plants from growing, meaning there was not food to forage for, they covered over ditches, holes, chunks of stuff left to impead movement forwards & everywhere the Germans moved was mapped out on the ground & easily seen from the air.
But where every jap car or Holden it's just 2 simple bolts in plain view to change the thermostat. Audi has to be different, just watch. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WBqut7SEHTs
Notice the words "Plastic housing. " & that it's behind the Cambelt, which is behind the other belts, behind the covers, behind the fans, behind the radiator, front carrier & bumper, so remove that first. And this was caused by poor maintenance, not replacing the coolant in proper time. This complete job gets done every 70,000 kms, in a factory, where they have all of the tools, including the overhead crane to shift the front carrier away from the vehicle.
realtrader1,
Sep 23, 9:10pm
How absolutely horrible! Why would you ever own an Audi?
marte,
Sep 24, 3:45am
If it's maintained properly, it's not a issue. That was the problem, otherwise it's the same deal with most cambelted cars. Filters, oil, coolant, belts, seals, rollers & tensioners, waterpump, thermostat, housing & cambelt all get changed at the same time.
I gotta point out that that housing was Aluminium for the first 2 years, then plastic for 3, then back to Aluminium again. And if the mechanic knows what they are doing, removing the front of the car is easy & quick, the easy access speeds up the rest of the job too.
But if you just want to replace the thermostat only. Good luck. LoL.
howard24,
Sep 24, 4:52am
toyota all the way
richardmayes,
Sep 24, 11:46am
Thanks! Have suggested this.
pauldw,
Sep 24, 3:22pm
That was nothing new. Russia had been growing vast areas of sunflowers for the oil since the 1800s. The Germans should have known what to expect.
tegretol,
Sep 24, 4:44pm
I always thought cars with personality were big hairy noisy and smokey V8s. what personality has a Euro bumble-bee of a thing like a VW got?
realtrader1,
Sep 24, 4:57pm
It is NEVER if you want to replace the thermostat but if you need to or even if you just want to check it to eliminate an item due to an issue. And it should most definitely be easy to access and certainly for such an item no one should ever have to go to the lengths that you have to with one of these Audis! What year was the car? And did someone say it is every 70k that the front end all has to come off? What is actually worse in a way is that anyone could ever attempt to defend this kind of out and out rip off! People! Think! All this for a thermostat well and truly buried! This really is a shocking crime against humanity!
realtrader1,
Sep 24, 5:02pm
As well proper maintenance is not the issue. Parts can and do fail. It would be interesting to get a quote for a thermostat and housing install for one of these. Does anyone know? Of course there will likely be all the other bits incl belt, tensioners, pump, coolant etc. but does anyone know the likely dealer cost and then independent operator charge for on the one hand just the thermostat and then on the other the full works?
tamarillo,
Sep 24, 6:12pm
Doesn’t that need to be applied to all cars then? The Japanese are stringent about getting cars off the road at 7 years I understood. Hence our cheap imports. They’re are all designed with a limited life span in mind and the fact that parts of the car are recyclable doesn’t mean they are timed to expire. Ps. Have a 96 and an 03 German here both run superbly with great reliability and cheap servicing.
msigg,
Sep 24, 6:44pm
Well after reading lots of this thread, I would not like to get into a verbal slanging match with "mals69" , he has smashed poppy to a whimper.
gph1961,
Sep 24, 7:51pm
split
gph1961,
Sep 24, 7:54pm
lots lots more
marte,
Sep 25, 3:12am
Not if it's proper workshop/dealership work done. They used the original Audi parts which won't fail, and if they did, guaranteed. To them it's not a big job & they will do it several times a week. Probably have a guy who does just that job on that model.
realtrader1,
Sep 25, 9:23am
Of course its a big job! It simply means that small jobs on other cars are a major deal on this model and major jobs on other cars are catastrophic on this model. Hey it is JUST a thermostat and look at what has to be taken off!
jesus2000,
Sep 25, 9:57am
Someone these days would have to have rocks in their head to buy a German car.
sport_billy,
Sep 25, 10:26am
Had 3 x VAG group vehicles myself, all trouble free with just the regular servicing as required by any vehicle.No hassles, no big bills, no concerns.
Not interested in the discussion that japanese vehicles 'dont need the same servicing' - you'd be a muppet to not ensure they are so each to their own.
I'll openly admit I've also had japanese vehicles in my ownership, and all have had more niggly small issues over time - not deal breakers at all, and have been comparative in vehicle type/age/km's/service history etc.
I'm sure some of you will just say I am lucky.
Don't forget that japanese vehicles are also designed as, and used as, throw away appliances just like the german ones. Maybe consider that we have more older japanese ones imported here as those importing know what a cash cow they can be for the NZ market based on NZ's perceptions, and also the ease of getting them vs importing other makes from other markets/locations,
realtrader1,
Sep 25, 10:46am
mh1989 wrote: Just replace the thermostat when the cambelt and water pump are changed and there is no issue. It is very easy to do the cambelt on the v6 and v8 engines[/
The fact is that life does not always happen that way. IF you do not need to replace the cambelt and all the rest of the associated parts but you DO need to change the thermostat, what then? Your logic does not hold up. Do you see that and can you acknowledge that? Fact: the thermostat should never be in such a silly location. It does not have to be. It is done for a reason.
realtrader1,
Sep 25, 10:58am
So you believe that parts can not fail prematurely? You will find difficulty getting traction on that score. It is a part that should be accessible and it can be. Simple.
richardmayes,
Sep 25, 11:20am
He's not the only one who's a bit confused.
I've never had to do a timing belt or chain, and yet I've had to replace the thermostat on every car I've owned. They are a replaceable service item prone to failure without warning, and they are mounted accordingly in accesable positions on mopst sensibly designed engines. Or they used to be.
kazbanz,
Sep 25, 11:23am
hey Tam -Im NOT looking for a stouch with you but some of your information is a but screwed up. You are correct in that Shaken (Jap wof/rego) inspection gets tougher and closer together so that's an encouragement to buy new. BUT the strongest market in Japan for USED jap cars is actually the Jap domestic market. Stronger in fact than ALL exports of used cars combined. Minor factiod. NZ is currently at number 8 on the used export purchasers list for the past few months we were at 7 but esc laws really restricted us. You still see 20-40 year old cars out on the roads in Japan. A jap car can and does at times pass through several Japan based owners in its lifespan especially the cars that become desirable to a younger and younger age group as the car ages. The MAJOR difference between jap used stuff we have been getting and the euro product is the biodegradable requirement Euro's had (have) for their plastic components and in some cases wiring. By DESIGN the plastics break down in a certain time span. The japs went directly down the use of recycled and recycleable plastics rather than biodegradable. That means that a jap plastic part as a rule wont crumble into dust at a certain age where the same euro component will. In fairness I don't know enough about the biodegradable plastics to comment with certainty if it breaks down with chronological age or with usage cycles. Logic says it should be use cycles or parts for older euro cars sitting on shelves would melt away into dust.
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