Radiator shutter/cover on 50tdi

[Nowa]

Hi all

I recently bought a used 2018 Q8 (50tdi) and I noticed one interesting detail/difference between mine and a 2020 Q8 (also 50tdi)

The 2020 Q8 had a plastic "radiator shutter" behind the grille whereas my 2018 Q8 does not, the radiator is visible straight through the grille on mine...

I am now just wondering if someone knows if that is normal? Is a "active radiator shutter" just something that Audi decided to ad on newer generations of Q8 or has my (first generation of Q8) perhaps been repaired or similar and a shutter was simply never fitted...

Can someone perhaps check their Q8 and say whether your have a plastic shutter covering the front radiator or not and what year your Q8 is?

Many thanks!

Edited May 21, 2023 by Nowa
misswrote

[Francis007]

Morning Nowa

Not sure whether this helps as I have a Q8 55 TFSI so maybe the cooling requirements of a petrol engine would be different to a diesel.

But up early for a morning cuppa and I've read your post and just gone out to have a look at my car in the drive and it doesnt have a shutter. You can see straight through the grill to the radiator situated behind.

And I bought my car new so no repair or work has taken place.

Frank

[Nowa]

Many thanks for checking Frank, I'm new to the 3.0TDI engine so also unsure of the cooling requirements and/or any extra options on the Q8 that might mean a active plastic radiator shutter is fitted at the front of the radiator.

I was just being curious as I just took delivery of my used 2018 Q8 and I need to take out a little bit of engine oil as it seems the dealer must have overfilled it slightly during its last and very recent service. I get a "yellow" warning message to "Please reduce oil" every time the car is on for more than 20min.

Anyway, this I can do myself as I have done most of my oil services myself on my 2016 A6 2.0TDI, but as I was looking for the location of the "dip stick" pipe on the Q8 to suck out some oil I noticed the lack of this radiator shutter on my Q8 and I remember seeing it on a 2020 Q8 50tdi at a dealer.

The frame around the radiator seems to be "prepared" for these shutters but they are not there and I simply started to wonder if this is due to a "generation change" or a extra option, or perhaps something else?

But thanks for checking on your petrol version

[Francis007]

Hi Peter

Enjoy your wonderful car. And I think your 50tdi engine probably fits the Q8 better than my 55TFSI.

More driveable and torque when and where you want it . For the last 20 years before my current Q8 I ran V6 diesel large saloons like the A8 and the VW Phaeton and I was a diesel fan

However the PC herd have now decided that diesel is Satans fuel so I reluctantly went for the petrol version when I got mine in 2020. Please dont get me wrong. The V6 is a mighty fine and smooth engine with decent power of 340 bhp .

But going twice a year to Germany like we do, many cities there are now making it quite difficult to get in to with a diesel engined car. So we went with the TFSI and that's what I have ordered again for delivery at the end of the year. 

Also can I say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the retained value of these cars. So much better than the 2 A8's I had and of course the 2 VW Phaetons !

So, have fun with your car and I hope it gives you many safe and enjoyable miles in the future.

Frank  

[Nowa]

Thanks for the input Frank, If the Q8 with its 50tdi will perform at least as good as the 2.0tdi that I have been used to in the past then I'll be happy.

 

In the meantime I am still trying to figure out the mystery of these radiator shutters...

[Francis007]

Hiya Peter

How are you getting on with your new Q8 ?

Re the radiator shutter, I am in the process of ordering a replacement Q8 for the one I have now, so I have been studying specs, colours wheels etc.

Just looking at some stock cars on Youtube that Audi dealerships already have in and most....although not all strangely enough..... do have a shutter between the front grill and the actual radiator itself. It doesn't seem to differentiate between model or engine type.

Isn't that strange !

Frank

  

 

[Nowa]

Hi Frank, thanks for your update, so for all good, I am quite happy with the Q8, coming from an 2016 A6 2.0TDI... Feels very different but I think I can get used to it...

I extracted about 0.5l engine oil which the dealer had overfilled it with and no more warnings. 

Its going back to the dealer late next week to have the rear door cill light repaired as I just noticed that its broken and will be repaired under warranty.

I will then ask the dealer about the radiator shutter as I have still not made sense of it

[Francis007]

Peter

May I ask whether you have solved the radiator shutter thing yet ?

I have decided not to wait for a 25 week lead time for Factory supplied new Q8. For many reasons now that doesn't make any sense when there are a fair number of new Q8's with the Dealerships at the moment.

So , I have been touring a few Dealerships to see what they have in stock and yesterday I went to one who had about a dozen new Q8's in their new car lot. All still had their protective gear on and there was a mix of 55TFSI, 50TD i and 2 RSQ8's. 

And some had a shutter and some did not and it wasnt reliant on a particular model. Only sales staff around and they didnt have a clue when I asked why ! 

[Nowa]

Hi Frank,

 

interestingly, no, my Q8 is at the dealer having a light issue repaired but I will make sure to ask them about this at pick up which should be in a week or so.

 

in the meantime I have been looking at quite a few 2019 Q8 50tdi and all of them did not have the radiator shutter.

I have however seen some 2022 Q8 50tdi that DO have them, so I am inclined to beleive that this is a generation change that probably came in to effect 2022 on the 50tdi engine