Water temp light..normal?

[rubjonny]

oil temp sounds perfect to me, id say its just the sender or gauge under-reading

[Bob Hewitt]

ok - thanks for the help on that one. i'll have a look myself over the weekend - as it's going to drive me mad eventually!!

[Goops]

Just an update...
stopped by mechanics and mentioned the coolant light etc...
he definitely reckons its the sensor or the clocks, getting a new tank with sensor....
any opinions on the GSF one?

Think i might jus fork out the extra 20ish quid and go for the VW dealers!

Thanks,
G

[rubjonny]

unplug the level sensor plug, and put a piece of wire between the pins.  if the light stops flashing its the level sensor, if it doesnt then its not the level sensor

[JimR]

i've had this problem with both my current 8 valve gti's. on my '89 it was a faulty sensor - causing the red light to come on for no apparent reason (both water and oil temp ok). you could switch off the engine - and it would be fine when you started up again straight afterwards.
i've just started running a '90 gti as well - and today on an 80 mile round trip, when the oil temperature got to 102 degrees - the water temperature light strats to flicker!
now here's the strange part - on my '89, the water temp needle is bang in the middle - and never overheats - but is slow to warm up.
the '90 warms up quickly - but the needle is never more than up to the 1/4 mark (i've never seen this on a mk2 gti).
i spoke with the guys at wilsons of rhuddlan north wales - who have looked after my golfs for the past 20 years - and they said it was ok.
there will always be the odd faulty/sticky guage and sensor - or dodgy warning light - don't worry too much if the car is running ok - and shows no other problem signs.

As an aside to this, my 8v 90 spec coolant temp never goes above 1/4 either, unless in traffic where you might see 2/3, fan never comes on either way so may check/replace fan switch and temp sender before too long just incase. Oil temp doesn't work on the mfa but i think its the sender in the oil filter housing, just nee to earth it to the block to see if i get any reading from it.

[rubjonny]

sounds like the thermostat is missing or stuck open, possibly this was done to work around a dead radiator switch problem...

[Goops]

I know this is kinda old but thought I would update on the temp light thing..

Today,I finaly changed the water tank with new one from VW, was driving for an hour and behold the light came on.
So, it is definitely not the level sender!
Next step, change the coolant temp sender?

The car is not overheating etc so I am hoping it is ok to drive etc as per norm?

Thanks in advance,
Goops

[rubjonny]

put a wire between the pins of the level sender plug, if it stops flashing you know its that

[Goops]

Thanks John,

It deffo is not the level sender, have you got a diagram/photo of where to locate the temp sender on the actual block?
I am guessing it will be a pain to remove due to corrosion etc!

Alternatively, I  can choose to ignore the light as long as water temp gauge and coolant levels are fine. Then get the sender changed when I do the gas flowed head and 2.0l conversion!?   

Thanks for the patience btw 

G

[rubjonny]

if ya looky on the side of the head, there are 3 small single pin sensors.  All 3 are the same type/rating, the one for the gauge is the re/yellow one.  If you warm up the engine then swap the red/yellow wire to each of the 3 sensors, check the gauge reading and if any change significantly you found yourself a faulty one