NEW to VW's First golf Problem

[MikeB]

Hi Guys and Galls, im  new to all this VW stuff having recived delivery of a nice clean R reg Mk3 8v GTI this afternoon, unfortunately those mechanical gremlims have struck already!! Don't worry it hasn't put me off the car, i just want to fix them.
Ok problem 1 is, no matter what temperature the car is, stone cold or crusing down the motorway, the coolant guage is ALWAYS in the middle until i turn the ignition off, where upon it drops to zero. Any ideas?  
Problem number two, the car has a Piranah Cat 1 alarm, and i just put my sony stereo in.  Every time i fully arm the car the power gets cut off to the sterio so i have to enter the code again (Which is a bit annoying realy) has anyone had this problem before? is there a quick fix???

If theres anyone out there that can help that would be great!

Cheers
Mike

[15 inches]

THE TEMP GAUGE USUALLY GOES TO THE MIDDLE ON ALL THE GOLFS IVE HAD,iF THE CAR IS GETTING TOO HOT THE FAN SHOULD KICK IN EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE PARKED UP.
THE ALARM SOUNDS LIKE IT IS USING THE SAME LIVE FEED THROUGH THE IGNITION AS YOUR STEREO.
YOU COULD TRY TAKING A TEMP LIVE FEED FROM YOUR BATTERY WITH AN IN LINE FUSE ON,TO YOUR STEREO.IF THAT SOLVES IT ITS AS I DESCRIBEDYOU COULD LEAVE THE LIVE FEED FROM THE BATTERY,BUT REMEMBER TO SWITCH IT OFF WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR CAR!!!

[golfvr6]

Do you mean the temp is in the middle when you first start the car? if so faulty wiring or temp sender.

[AdamB]

regarding the stereo - you should have two power inputs to the back, 1 is a permanant live (as 15inches stated) the other is the ignition live, this is the one that will allow the stereo to turn off or on with the ignition and need to be conected to a 12v supply that disappears when the ignition is switched off (the cigarette lighter may be a source if the real one has gone - bit gash, but does the job). The permanent live can be wired in as 15inches stated. This one controls the memory of the stereo and will help store all the settings and stop you programing the code every time
Best of luck

[modulater]

Sounds like your temp sender has packed up, Best way to test is to remove the wiring from the sender and earth the wiring to the block, turn on the ignition and the gauge should read maximum hot, This is normally always the case.

As Adam B said you should have two feeds to the radio, One constant for the memory of the radio, the other for ignition power on.

The sony will have a red which is power ignition feed and yellow which is memory live. make sure you've got them the correct way round.

Sounds like either the alarm has been wired into the stereo wiring or you have taken a feed for the stereo from the alarm.

Does the stereo stay off for the duration the car is locked by the alarm?

[stoat]

Dont worry about the temperature guage mine does that to and I have had no problems so far touch wood.

And the general message about the stereo is what I would suggest as well