GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: sellers on 09 March 2005, 22:46
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seeing as we're on the subject of engine temp, mine has always sat below the centre since i got it 3months ago, but latley it sits just on the right edge of the thick white line? the car runs fine with no problems? im just a bit wary?
cheers guys
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when was the last time you changed the oil?
when I changed mine it dropped 1/2 of the distance behind 2 lines. if you get that lol.
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i changed it about 2 weeks ago but surely it cant be this low?
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if you think about it the air temp has been about -2 or -3 for the last couple of weeks! which made everything a little colder! :wink:
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my 8v runs at about 3/4 temperature (ie. 1/4 away from max).
I was a bit concerned about this, but the rad fans kick in fine.
What could be wrong with mine then? should I change the coolant? and the oil?
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Check the lower hose, it should stay stone cold untill the fan kicks in or just after. If it gets lukewarm quickly then the thermostat has failed open or partially open. It has been rather cold recently though ;)
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Check the lower hose, it should stay stone cold untill the fan kicks in or just after
Fan kicking in? ow whats that? it never does, iv only heard it once when my car was running for about 15mins without moving?
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It wont normally at idle unless its warm out or you've just stopped after a long run. If you want to test it hold the revs at 2k that should get the fan to kick in :)
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There are ways you can check the thermostat - if you take it out somewhere embossed on the stat is usually a t/stat opening temperature, so you can suspend it in water with a bit of wire and heat it up and using a device to tell you water temperature you could see if its opening at the correct temperature.
But to be honest this is too much hassle and for the cost of a stat you might as well replace it (if you are in doubt) and you anti freeze if it hasn't been done for a while.
I would also suggest that the thermostat should be open, the bottom hose hot, and hot air coming from your interior fan indicating the coolant is circulating correctly before the cooling Fan cuts in when sitting at Idle. The Idea of a thermostat is to maintain a constant running temperature and to get the vehicle to that temperature as soon as possible, and when driving normally the stat is open, the coolant is circulating constantly and getting cooled when going through the radiator.
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Yeah that sounds more like it tbh, the fan wouldn't kick in untill the radiator is hot since thats where the rad sensor is! Like you say it should switch on after the bottom hose gets hot. Hot air from your intererior fan should start coming through very quickly though, as the heater matrix gets hot water direct from the engine (unless the bypass valves are knackered!)
Depending on the efficiency of the rad the fan might take a while to kick in from cold, so hold the revs to 2k to speed things up.
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I am going to change the stat, and flush the coolant on the weekend.
Also, my heater doesn't work (I get a bit of hot air at the start of the journey, and after that, its all a bit random!). Could this be linked to the fact that my car is running quite hot?
In traffic yesterday, the temp gauge moved up to about 5mm away from the top. I was very worried at that point.
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It depends why your heater isn't working. If its clogged up, then chances are the coolant channels in your block are too! When I took the head off mine to do the exhaust I found that nearly all the channels thru the head gasket were clogged up with crap, once they were clear my engine ran a touch under halfway rather than a touch over halfway.
I'd start by removing the bypass valves and make sure you do a thourough flush & reverse flush on the block, rad and matrix whilst you have the thermostat out.
The matrix does help to cool the engine a bit, its just a small radiator after all :)