please help guys

kettle

kettle

Audi S4
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had a bit of a problem yesterday with my a3, my rad fan was stuck on so i called the aa he just disconnected the battery so the fan would not run it down. and said that i could reconnect it and drive to a garage to get it sorted. so i did this but as i was driving my car the engine caught fire luckily i was near a petrol station ran over grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. there is damage to engine parts but not the bodywork. at the moment audi have sent someone to look at the car and have sent the fan off to germany for testing.

bad parts i dont really know the best way to get it sorted my warranty run out three days before it happened (do people reckon i have a chance in hell with them because of the nautre of what happened?)

insurance have said something about they do not cover machanical fires? i cant find anything in any paperwork that i have which says this?

or if it is because of the part is it down to audi?

bit unsure about what to do i want to be careful as iam young and dont know if a can afford to pay for the repairs myself

would appreciate any help or info if anyone has been through something similar feeling very depressed at the moment as it took me a long time to save up for this car
 
Assuming that you have serviced the vehicle to the Audi recommended level and there aren't any electrical mods that may have caused it, I would expect Audi to pick up that tab.

I would seek professional legal advise and make sure that you record any conversations, emails, phone calls etc with Date Time and their Name.

Paul
 
i have no modifications to the vehicle and had the car serviced two weeks previous
 
audi upgrades
Gti Jazz Blue said:
Assuming that you have serviced the vehicle to the Audi recommended level and there aren't any electrical mods that may have caused it, I would expect Audi to pick up that tab.

I would seek professional legal advise and make sure that you record any conversations, emails, phone calls etc with Date Time and their Name.

Paul
Click to expand...

What even if its out of warranty??

I feel for you Kettle, at least your quick reactions stopped it from turning into a rolling fireball.

Hope you dont have to pay a bean cos 3 days is just pure **** luck, but ive got a feeling if its out of warranty, they wont touch it...
 
at the moment i am waiting to see what the report says.

but ive got a feeling if its out of warranty. They wont touch it...
Click to expand...
that is what im kinda expecting will happen.
i just dont know, as it is clearly a fault with the part!!!
 
Your insurance won't cover it? So what happens if the car was completely burned out??
 
i bet if it was burned out it would be fine but because i put it out and its only the engine they will be trying to find a way out of it!

i need to do some research into my insurace company and find out for certain but i was told they dont cover mechanical fires. by the way im with more than
 
kettle said:
i have no modifications to the vehicle and had the car serviced two weeks previous
Click to expand...

I'd try to use that to your advantage as much as possible but, to be honest, I don't think Audi have any responsibilty as it's out of warranty. Hopefully though, with such a potentially dangerous fault, they'll do it as a gesture of goodwill.

Finger crossed for you.
 
Sale of goods act anyone.

3 days out of warranty and a major incident like an electrical fire and I'd expect Audi to foot the bill. You have already mentioned that the fan has gone back to Germany for analysis.

I suspect that the likes of Watchdog would also expect Audi to pick up the bill.

As I say seek legal advice.

Paul
 
I suspect that the likes of Watchdog would also expect Audi to pick up the bill.
Click to expand...
that would be last last resort but i have considered watchdog if no-one is accepting fault

I'd try to use that to your advantage as much as possible but, to be honest, I don't think Audi have any responsibilty as it's out of warranty. Hopefully though, with such a potentially dangerous fault, they'll do it as a gesture of goodwill.
Click to expand...
fingers crossed but not got much hope

legal advice may be an option will have to see what happens, when i have more info from audi will update on the situation

i will let you lot know if i end up on watchdog

cheers guys seriously appreciat all info and advice
 
davemk said:
I'd try to use that to your advantage as much as possible but, to be honest, I don't think Audi have any responsibilty as it's out of warranty. Hopefully though, with such a potentially dangerous fault, they'll do it as a gesture of goodwill.

Finger crossed for you.
Click to expand...

Oh yes they do

They have responsibility to ensure a car, inside or outside of warranty does not self combust and kill people -
 
this is more like it, i want to hear more positive things like this!!!!!
 
A friend on another forum I use sent me a link to another site. It's answering a question on a similar problem to yours, elbeit on an A4. Not sure if it helps but I hope it does!

"The main cooling fan runs directly off the battery, and is triggered by a thermal switch, usually at the bottom of the radiator. I believe there is also a relay involved. In order of suspects, I would suspect the thermal switch first, wiring second and relay third."
 
I've got to agree with whats been said. Considering your circumstances I'd say that the dealership should sort it out for you as a gesture of goodwill. I mean it is fairly serious... your car cought fire! If it was an engine mount going or suspension then they might fight it but this is all together a lot more serious! Especially if you say that it went into service 2 weeks before hand.

Hope it all gets sorted with minimum hassle.

Coss
 
i had this problem of the fan overrunning and it worried me so i disconnected the battery and every time i tried it the fan was still going nuts.

i booked the car into midland vw and audi specialist and i was ensured that the car would travel 20miles fine with the fan on so i went but by the time i got there the fan had stopped and the garage ran it for faults on vag-com and it came up with no faults.

however i really dont want it to catch fire like yours and i really feel for you matey. i may go to audi stafford and explain this is happening to our A3's and see what they say about it. it seems to be abit of a common fault and should be fixed by audi.

keep me updated mate because im sure the problem on mine will come back and smack me in the face.

i wish you good luck kettle

lex

edit : btw cheers davemk for texting me about this thread
 
cant say thanks enough guys.
lil coz

lex my mate is an audi mechanic he said there is a problem with the fans on the a3's just not sure if mine is the first that caught fire from the problem
which is why it got sent to germany which im not supposed to know yet. so im actually waiting so see whether they tell me all the correct information
 
audi upgrades
it was the fan that caught fire i believe as that was the location of the fire.
i hadnt disconnected the fan
 
alright kettle

when your fan was over running was the ESP light on?

mine was while i had this problem then went away with the problem
 
The thing I wonder about this whole thread, and others like it, is which fan it is that is running. There are 2 fans in the engine bay of an A3. Both are used for engine cooling I think but the one on the right (as you look into the engine bay from the front) can operate independently as the air con condensor fan.

If you have your air con on and then stop the engine this fan will normally continue to run for an unspecified time. Even without the ignition on as the feed comes straight from the battery and not the ignition.

Of course the fan should not be running for 3 hours, even more than 10 minutes would be unusual although the higher the ambient temp (and the temperature in the engine bay) the longer it will run.

If it is just this fan running after stopping the engine and it goes on for a long time then there may be a fault with the air con system. Most likely a sensor.

If it never stops running then there is a fault somewhere of course. If the fan does eventually stop of it's own accord then try this: Drive the car as normal but turn on ECON. This should prevent the condensor fan running unless the engine temp requires both fans to run. If the fan does not run after switching off as it had done on previous occasions with the ECON off then I would say there is definitely a fault in the air con system (again if the fan would normally run for hours before stopping).


All A3s have a battery checker built in and will inhibit certain circuits if the battery voltage goes too low. Whether this circuit is included or not I don't know. But of course this only adds to confuse the issue!


I hope this may help someone in the future anyway.
 
lex my esp light did not come on

staz it was the larger fan of the two which is the one on the right. im afraid mine definitely had a fault as it was stuck on for hours the night before and then straight away when i reconnected the battery.

still waiting to hear back from germany, but atleast i audi have given me a courtesy car but it is a 1.8t which is gonna cost me more on fuel going to work. but cant complain!
 
ah see it was the left hand fan ( the smaller one) which was over running on mine
i think the larger fan is just the aircon fan (i may be wrong)

we may be having a different problem

today it was 25 degrees and had my aircon on full blast and when i stopped my car to take the dogs for a walk the fan was going and still going when i came back it was still going so i turned off the aircon and when i got home it was off.

i think my aircon is the problem on mine.

lex
 
Lex said:
ah see it was the left hand fan ( the smaller one) which was over running on mine
i think the larger fan is just the aircon fan (i may be wrong)

we may be having a different problem

today it was 25 degrees and had my aircon on full blast and when i stopped my car to take the dogs for a walk the fan was going and still going when i came back it was still going so i turned off the aircon and when i got home it was off.

i think my aircon is the problem on mine.

lex
Click to expand...

Sounds like it. Are you sure it was the one on the left though? Left as you look from the front but the right of the car I mean. I'm 99% sure it's the fan on the left (of the car) that's the condensor fan. It was last year when I looked.

The ECON mode is the best way to self diagnose though.
 
I had this problem on an A4, used to drain the battery right down over night!, I was told by Audi assistance to pull the fuse till they got there, which worked, of course doh!, but they tried 3 times to find the fault never did till the 4th time when it was discovered, that the "sender" on some Audi's were faulty!
Never understood it then still don't but I think Audi will help you out on this one!
 
kettle said:
well glad that has solved your problem lex:icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

still have to get it sorted but im happy enough

i wish you the best of luck with audi

lex
 
Hey Jazz-Paul how you finding the FSD's, sorry of track on this issue of fire.

As for the fire, the fans do seem to be moving to newer gens aswell cause the 8L had a similar issue of always on, this was down to 2 things, 1st the fan faulty but I suspect this became faulty because of the thermostat sender on one of the water pipes was faulty which was fairly common on the S3's I've been told, well was on mine & my mate in parts who has gotta be the best parts guy ever says they are common ones to go.

Funny how it seems to be across multiple cars the same fault.

I would question the fact they serviced it 2 weeks before & now its on fire, urmmmmm I would use that to your advantage cause before that it never had an issue, use some reverse psychology mate for once audi should cough up, if it was me I would say the fan had been running all the time since the service, this then puts you in good way of getting them to deal with it, I would play this line to them mate to be honest & keep pushing this line, call them & say you're not particularly happy this has happened since the service etc etc
 
I had the problem with the engine (cooling fan) staying on and flattening the battery on my previous A3, a 3.2Q Sport. Same solution from the AA in pulling the fuse but luckily the dealer is very close so no problems getting the car there. The AA guy did check this first and offered a speedy knowledgable service. The car was under warranty and the part replaced by the dealer. I would reckon this is a known problem (from memory they said it was a sensor problem) so I am sure Audi will see you OK.
 
just thought i would give an update as so what has been happening with my car.

its has taken a few weeks as the part was sent off to germany for testing but they have accepted it was a faulty part and are paying for the repairs.

audi have ordered the parts and will be putting it back together this week:yahoo:
just have to wait and see if how it feels once i get it back!!!!

but so far audi have been very helpful and cant complain
 
cheers guys cant wait to get my car back although i have been driving a brand new a3 but its a 1.9tdi and they are so slow.
i also had a 1.8t for a couple of weeks wasnt really impressed with that, dont acutally think it was as fast as the 2.0tdi.
 
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