Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Ill admit, changing the water pump seems a bit goofy to me. Why fix something that isn't broken?
Welcome to German car ownership.
Some of these items, like water pumps, have been known to fail prematurely with dire consequences. That is why many people replace them preemptively. It's just cheaper than having to fix an overheated engine.
On my BMW for example, I had the entire cooling system overhauled at 70K miles. Other than a cracked coolant expansion tank, nothing was yet broken, but I have seen enough horror stories to coax me into doing the whole thing. These engines give you very little warning when something seriously goes wrong.
My best advice is to join a forum specific to this particular audi year and model, and find out what the common problems are. Then act accordingly. Sometimes that means having to be proactive about some things.
Could not have said it better myself. My BMW, having overheated 3 times, finally blew it's head gasket and I sold it cheap. Back in the Mazda/Toyota/Nissan/Honda camp now.