Started it up the other day after a normal drive - started fine - and noticed a puff of blue smoke. So I popped the hood to see if I could see anything amiss and check the oil, and immediately saw that the expansion tank was full of chocolate milk - didn't even need to open the cap. On checking the oil, the dipstick was full of "sand", so I'm assuming that's the HG leavings.
I had to drive the car home from where I was - about 4 km - and on getting home, the turbo had developed a suspicious, high pitch low volume whine, so I'm guessing it's getting starved for oil with HG clogged pickups.
The wagon lasted just a hair under 300,000 km and 23 years, so it's ready for retiring, I suppose. I've seen far, far worse, and I've seen better.
To add insult to injury, I picked up a 2006 Audi A6 3.2 FSI with an almost new engine (90k km), so I won't be stopping in here that often - at least not until I get loaded and get a new V90
. So, job well done to a very well behaved 850 T5, and hopefully its pieces will live on for a while, transplanted to other wagons in need.
- S
