Temperature gauge not working

[gareth60]

Hi all,

just driven 500 miles from uk to France and noticed my temperature gauge doesn't go above 60. Only had the car just over a month and to be honest, haven't noticed if it was working before.

Any ideas anyone?

Many thx

[Shoppinit]

Which temperature guage? Oil or water?

[gareth60]

The one next to the fuel gauge, that water isn't it?

Thx

[Shoppinit]

That's the water temp. Probably the temperature sender is faulty. It's quite an easy fix. If you're unlucky it'll be a broken thermostat which means a timing belt change, too.

A vagcom would probably give you some insight into where the problem is exactly.

[gareth60]

I have a third party vag-com, so I'll have a play. The engine fan works, so I suspect it could be the sender.

Where is this located?

Thx again

[Shoppinit]

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/2975/image1fvh.jpg

[Aronis]

My water temp gauge got stuck at lowest setting. This was a failed sensor, I checked it out with VAG-COM.
It was a $150.00 repair, took an hour at dealer.

But be careful of the hoses in the rear of the engine from the Secondary Air Pump system. When they did the repair the tech tore one of the hoses (driver's side). I fixed it myself, but can see how it happened. Taking the air cleaner off is tricky as the wire harness connections for the MAF sensors is really tight on the driver's side.

Mike

Addendum:

See item 15 in the above picture! That is the hose they tore LOL...

[Shoppinit]

Thanks, Mike. Always good to have the opinion of someone who's been there and done it.

[gareth60]

Just done a vag-com, got the following;

1 Fault Found:
19497 - Powertrain Databus Implausible Engine Temp. Message from Inst. Panel
P3041 - 004 - No Signal/Communication - Intermittent

[Shoppinit]

EVerything points towards the temp sender. Should be a nice easy fix (fingers crossed).

[gareth60]

Hope so, i'm google'ing now.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I reserving the temptation to have a look now as i'm 500 miles away at my dad's, although I might source a new sensor on the internet and change it regardless when I get home at the weekend..<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Thanks for your help.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>

[Shoppinit]

Cool. Let us know how it goes.

[gareth60]

Will do thx.

Just found one on ebay which looks ok, if I get it now, it will have been delivered by when I get home on Saturday;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-TEMP-TEMPERATURE-SENSOR-GREEN-A2-A3-A4-A6-A8-TT_W0QQitemZ180393881961QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Cars Parts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2a00503169&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Thx

[Aronis]

Just done a vag-com, got the following;

1 Fault Found:
19497 - Powertrain Databus Implausible Engine Temp. Message from Inst. Panel
P3041 - 004 - No Signal/Communication - Intermittent

If I recall correctly, the code I got was different 13000 something. I'll have to check when I get home tonight.

Apparently a common issue to many older Audi and VW car's not really a big deal. It's just great that you can diagnos it with the computer and not get stuck when it fails completely.

My concern was weither or not that sensor and it's electronics had anything to do with the cooling fans staying on after you shut down. There is a cooler for the turbos that runs after shut down. Not the same as that "Turbo Timer" thing, but the cooling fans for the main cooling system. That's what concerned me when I saw the fault. I did not however ever see that engine warning light come on. That was a bit of a surprise.

Mike

[alexo]

HI shoppinit,

Where did you get the diagrams? Do you have a repair manual? Where did you get it need one. Even all the diagrams will do.

Thanks,

[Shoppinit]

Did you get this sorted, Gareth?

[gareth60]

Yes and no.

When I left France, it was ok and has been ever since. How I did use my car last week (it was raining, lol) and on the way to work it didn't work but on the way home it was ok. I have the part and will replace, but want to change the car hifi first and I'm currently building a wiring adapter to replace the Bose amp.

I will post back when I do change it, but I'm 90% sure it's the sensor. Have done a vag-com and no other errors exist apart from the sender.

[hahnmgh63]

The sensor is a quick fix and if you have the replacement in hand and ready to go you won't loose very much coolant (release the coolant cap to release any pressure then replace it in order to slow any coolant flow when you pull the old one). I replaced the hoses that Aronis mentioned and many others with Silicone hoses when I had my air cleaner off. Those cheap cloth covered German rubber hoses never last, Porsche still uses many of those same hoses too.

[gareth60]

The only thing I was worrying about was getting an air lock

[gareth60]

Sorry for resurrecting a really old thread, but i've just got it sorted and I thought i'd report back.
<O:p
I had the Temperature sender changed to a eBay item listed in a earlier post as part of my service, but the symptoms changed and the gauge worked, but was registering really low. The garage told me I probably needed to replace the thermostat, which as you all know, is not a simple task.<O:p</O:p
<O:p
After talking to a friend, a VW mechanic, he said why not just try buy a genuine vag part, it won’t do any harm and it will cost a lot less. I did this, sometime at the beginning of the year and it sat in my garage waiting for me to fit!
<O:p</O:p<O:p
Shock, I actually got time to fit it, it took 2 1/2 week to do the job, but, it's in. (one of the bolts going into the head that holds on the airbox was threaded, so I decided to fix that).<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Well, finally took my 6 to work today and brilliant, it works. For the first time since i've had the car, it reads 90* after 10 minutes of driving and stays there.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<O:pThanks</O:p

[hahnmgh63]

Congrats on the fix. Glad it wasn't the Thermostat, as you said, not an easy fix.

[ben916]

Congrats on the fix. Glad it wasn't the Thermostat, as you said, not an easy fix.

nor a cheap one!