Service Lock Position?

[ShadyBill]

Do you have to drain the coolant to get into service lock position? All the bolts came out of my accessory belt pulley.

[kday]

Yes, you need to drain the coolant to put the front end in service position. There are 3 hoses to the radiator that need to be removed. They all have reusable hose clamps on them. Audi thoughtfully used one-time-use clamps on the connections that don't generally need to be removed, so the type of clamp gives you a clue as to which you need to undo.

The Bentley manual says there are two coolant drains on the block, but I could only find one.

[V8weight]

I usually put a hemostat on the upper radiator hose, drain only the radiator, then disconnect the upper radiator hose. This allows more than enough movement of the lock support, and you're not draining the whole block. Saves on the amount of time to refill and bleed the cooling system, and you only lose about 3 quarts of coolant...

[ttboost]

I'm pretty sure you can get it in "half" service position without draining anything, MIGHT be enough room to get in there...save even more time...