Kriss
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 06:09 PM |
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Vag tdi - very low water temp . Help and pointers needed
My thirty mile motorway commute is a breeze to drive. However, my a4 1.9tdi is Reading 70ish, rather than the normal 12 o'clock position 90
degrees.
Is it simply the bastid cold weather?
Any checks I can do myself?
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RichieW
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 06:21 PM |
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Thermostat stuck in open position? Does the top radiator hose get warm straight away if you have the engine idling on the driveway from a cold start?
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 06:35 PM |
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Temperature senders fail for a pastime on these, give low readings. Try the heater for an idea how hot things are.
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
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Kriss
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 06:43 PM |
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New gsf temp send fitted 8 months ago as there was no Reading at all
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steve m
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 07:01 PM |
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Your all wrong
A/c button is on
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ChrisW
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 08:07 PM |
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My VAG diesel takes ages to warm up in this weather. Like 8-10 miles before the gauge is in the middle. On a motorway I'm guessing 30 miles
might be needed?
Chris
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 08:47 PM |
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True last year I was getting a good 20-30 miles before it got to full temp. Bear in mind that using the heaters takes that heat too, making it longer
still to warm up
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goodguydrew
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 09:01 PM |
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My new Octavia 1.6 Diesel takes a long time to heat up too, although it is below 0 up here lately.
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Kriss
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 09:27 PM |
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Both the hoses are warm after a ten mile town drive, but it won't move past 70. At say 10 o'clock on the dial. Fuel tank range seems to
have dropped 50 miles too on this tank. Normally 700+.
Just read my haynes and the stat looks a bigger to do, especially with freezing cold hands in this weather. Thants if it is the stat of course
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DRC INDY 7
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 09:28 PM |
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The wind chill factor will keep the temp low my focus tdci runs around 75 in this cold weather
i lost 100 miles to to the tank full due to the snow/cold weather
plus i had a vauxhall vectra diesel in 2 weeks ago customer saying the cars not getting up to temp took it out for a run after check it over first
with the diag scanner pluged in it was reading 70c which is the bottom/cold line on the temp gauge
I have just hit the toyo tyres number of posts
[Edited on 12/17/2010 by DRC INDY 7]
https://www.facebook.com/groups/462610273778799/
Puddle Dodgers Club
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austin man
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 10:12 PM |
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My Golf has started doing the same this ais a 1.8 turbo petrol, the air from the heater vents is warm when driving but gets hot when stationay so for
me it looks like the stats coming out tommorow to be changed
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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zetec mike
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 10:13 PM |
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I'd say stat stuck open. Start it from cold and check the top hose stays cold untill the engines nicely warmed up, if it warms up gradually
I'd go for a stat.
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RichieW
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 10:15 PM |
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If the engine is not up to temp the ECU will run it rich a bit like using the choke on carb engine. I don't know much about diesels but I
assume the principle is the same as for petrol engines.
If both hoses are warm after a short drive and the coolant has not hit the temp that the thermostat is supposed to open at (check Haynes for the temp
figure) then it would suggest that the thermostat is stuck open and needs replacing.
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chrisxr2
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 11:18 PM |
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2 miles
2 miles or so to the gym in leon 1.8 t 210 an d temp is 90 by the time i get their, i know i know short hourneys kill cars and i should get rid but on
the right road right conditions tis an epic carand i earn enough to have acrs as a pleasure not a necessity.
Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
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nick205
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 11:23 PM |
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Interesting!
My Alhambra 1.9 TDI (Y 115 bhp) has been taking 20+ miles to get to 70 degrees in this weather and struggling to deliver warm air - I assumed it to
be a stuck stat.
My old Leon 1.9TDI (04 150bhp) used to hit 90 degrees within minutes and sit there whatevever the weather. My current 2.0 (57 140 bhp)TDI Passat is
the same, heats up quick and stays there all day long.
Tempted to replace the stat first and see what that does. Trouble is it's SWMBOS car and as there's no complaint as yet it's not
become a priority yet.
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tony-devon
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| posted on 17/12/10 at 11:59 PM |
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my golf GT TDi does exactly the same thing
I have left it sat outside my work for 40 minutes and it wont heat fully
mixed commute of short fast bursts on the A roads and sitting in traffic, rarely goes above 70, if it does, then it goes back down as soon as you
moving
on mine the thermostat looks easily accessible, until you look at one of the bolts, looks like alternator off, and possibly its mounting bracket
also?
mines going in to have it replaced anyway soon, as I need the car to be warm, often doing long journeys 300 mile etc and with young child in the car
its not nice to be cold
and I have to confess that I hadnt even thought of this being linked to the recent drop in fuel range etc, just put it down to the rising cost of
diesel, as I tend to think in value rather than litres
£60 fills the tank, 47 litres, normally get 470 miles from that just commuting round town etc etc, but last couple of months thats dropped to 420ish
on at least the last 3 tank fulls
hmmm £30 thermostat plus fitting, got to be worth a try.
if you buy it yourself from VW remember to check for the O ring, last time I bought one, the O ring was a seperate item, VW typical, the only people
not to include it LOL
[Edited on 18/12/10 by tony-devon]
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craig1410
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 12:05 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Interesting!
My Alhambra 1.9 TDI (Y 115 bhp) has been taking 20+ miles to get to 70 degrees in this weather and struggling to deliver warm air - I assumed it to
be a stuck stat.
My old Leon 1.9TDI (04 150bhp) used to hit 90 degrees within minutes and sit there whatevever the weather. My current 2.0 (57 140 bhp)TDI Passat is
the same, heats up quick and stays there all day long.
Tempted to replace the stat first and see what that does. Trouble is it's SWMBOS car and as there's no complaint as yet it's not
become a priority yet.
Nick,
I used to have one of these and I'm afraid you could be in for a shock - it might be the auxiliary water heater which is something like £650 to
replace! If you are lucky it might just need a new glow plug in the heater which is £20 or so. It could also be a faulty ambient temp sensor. Or of
course it could be a stuck 'stat.
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, have a look under the car in the region of the front of the rear wheel arch on the left
hand side (IIRC) and you will see a little flattened exhaust pipe. This is connected to a little square box of tricks which contains a fan assisted
diesel heater. It takes diesel from the tank via a small 6mm or so pipe and burns it in a combustion chamber with help from a glow plug. Once lit a
fan will spin up to force in fresh air and then it operates a bit like a space heater. It heats a little boiler which helps to heat up the coolant
water otherwise you will get low temperatures when descending hills (ie. not using much throttle) or in cold weather. It is used on the Alhambra
because the diesel engine doesn't generate enough heat to heat the cabin. It generates something like 5kW. HGV lorries use a similar thing for
the night heater.
My Alhambra was much worse because it generated huge plumes of white smoke due to the fact it wasn't lighting properly and was terrifying at
traffic lights when it would envelope the car in smoke. I ended up disconnecting the heater which left me with the low coolant temp problem. There is
an ambient temperature sensor under the wipers in the bulkhead which could be faulty - this is what I disconnected in order to stop my heater working.
It only works below 10 degrees C if I recall correctly.
I hope I'm wrong but I fear I'm not...
Cheers,
Craig.
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matt_gsxr
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 09:52 AM |
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I had an 98 A4 1.9Tdi and did a lengthy commute (Reading to Oxford). Mileage used to drop in the cold weather, by at least 50 per tank.
It was a few years back but I don't remember the water temperature dropping but it was a while ago. I do remember the engine taking ages to
warm up in the cold weather (the price you pay for efficient diesel engines) and the car tending to steam up a bit in the cold owing to A/C condenser
freezing and the pollen filter being soaked. I used to get 600+ per tank (not 700+) so maybe you are driving too slow!
I don't think this is hurting your fuel economy at the moment. I would leave it until the spring to see if the temperature comes back.
Regarding later VW engines warming up more quickly, in some cases there is an auxiliary heaters using electrical elements. Not sure how it works, but
don't be fooled.
Matt
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 10:15 AM |
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Stuck open thermostat will give a hit on economy, especially when combined with the cold weather.
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dazzx10r
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 11:34 AM |
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check your water pump, the impellers are plastic and self destruct, this happened to my gti. GSF replacement ones have a brass impeller
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 12:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by dazzx10r
check your water pump, the impellers are plastic and self destruct, this happened to my gti. GSF replacement ones have a brass impeller
Loose or broken impeller will cause overheating and no warm air from the heater. As said already the anbient temperatures are much lower than normal
so it's harder for the engine to reach normal operating temperature. It may be that the temperature gauge isn't accurate , might be worth
checking with an Infra Red temperature gauge? If it was my car I think I would try a radiator blind of some sort like we did years ago!
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craig1410
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 01:32 PM |
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A radiator blind won't help if my diagnosis of the auxiliary heater is correct. The Alhambra has so much internal space to heat that the
internal heaters will soak up all the heat produced by the engine in cold weather when on low throttle. The engine temp will only rise above 70C when
under high throttle and will then fall back when you lift off again. Cabin heat will be very poor.
It's very easy to test in this cold weather. When you start the car you should get a sound like a jet engine comings from under the car just in
front of the nearside rear wheel arch. You should also see exhaust gases and steam etc coming from the aux heater exhaust. If you don't then
this IS the cause of your problem. It might just need a new glow plug which you can replace yourself in around an hour or two. Unfortunately mine was
more serious than this in the end.
I have also had a broken water pump impellor on my Alhambra and this had the symptom of normal temp most of the time but high engine temp on high
throttle where the cooling system couldn't dump heat fast enough. It only happened when going up hills or overtaking. I got the pump replaced
along with the timing belt.you can check the water pump impeller by sticking your finger into the thermostat housing and feeling for the impeller
blades. If you can move them with your finger (engine off obviously) then all is not well... This won't be your problem here though since you
have overcooling not overheating.
If you do need a new aux heater then you can get one from a Galaxy or Sharan or Alhambra. They all have the same issues.
Good luck,
Craig.
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craig1410
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 01:39 PM |
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Here you go. A how to guide on diagnosing aux heater issues and glow plug replacement.
http://www.fordmondeo.org/threadattach/1231366309-AuxHeater.pdf
Lots of pictures to help make sense of what is was talking about earlier.
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austin man
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| posted on 18/12/10 at 02:23 PM |
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well thats mine fixed a new stat and hey presto but mine is the petrol not diesel model so hope your fix is as cheap as mine
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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nick205
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| posted on 19/12/10 at 11:07 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
Here you go. A how to guide on diagnosing aux heater issues and glow plug replacement.
http://www.fordmondeo.org/threadattach/1231366309-AuxHeater.pdf
Lots of pictures to help make sense of what is was talking about earlier.
Craig,
thanks for the detail on this, a bit of googling confirms exact symptoms I have too. Got Beru glow plug p/n so will order one a see if that sorts
it.
Fingers Crossed for ££ and not £££ 
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