temperature question

[greenbert]

I got my 91 ecodiesel back from the shop and this is the first time i'v been able to put some miles on it since I bought it. Anyway, the temp needle sits above half, right around 3/4 on the gage, it sits just under the 4th line from the left. I would post a pic that I snaped with my phone wile I was driving but I don't know how to post a pic. Just wanted to know if thats normal operation.

[jtanguay]

that sounds about right.  just over middle is where mine stays with a nice 87C or 190F tstat

[RabbitJockey]

i have a 200 degree themostat and mine sits a little bit past half

[burn_your_money]

sounds about right to me. It's pretty close to max temp though, much hotter and you will warp your head :evil:

[Ziptar]

My 91 Eco was always at 3/4 but, last month I ran some Zerex HD Radiator Cleaner through it, flushed it, and added a 50-50 mix of Zerex G05 and H2O. Now it is always just under the halfway mark.

Could be the thermostat is stuck open, I haven't checked it yet.

[clbanman]

Mine sits right between 1/2 and 3/4.  On a related note, does anyone know how precise the factory VW temp sensor/gauge combo is?  I know some manufacturers have the factory gauges set up in a non-linear fashion so that the needle reaches the optimal range quickly and then doesn't read hot until the engine is quite warm.  Apparently the rational is to keep from alarming people until the heat is definitely past max designed temp.

[shegel]

i had that same problem i thought the radiator was bad. so i bought one, but when i pulled the old one out i found that there was this weird like rats nest material stuck between the radiator and the ac condensor. i blew it all out and now i sit right at the middle.


what would be the efects of running a cooler thermostat. i know on gassers it may cause predetination(SP) but what would be the negative effects on a diesel

[burn_your_money]

Loss of economy I believe

[jtanguay]

i had that same problem i thought the radiator was bad. so i bought one, but when i pulled the old one out i found that there was this weird like rats nest material stuck between the radiator and the ac condensor. i blew it all out and now i sit right at the middle.


what would be the efects of running a cooler thermostat. i know on gassers it may cause predetination(SP) but what would be the negative effects on a diesel

wouldn't a cooler thermostat help prevent predetonation?  i've ran a 160F t-stat.  great for the summer, bad for winter.   car never overheated, and on a cold day it sat half way between cold and center of the gauge.

[DCC]

One day, I was meeting a friend of mine (has a '91 mk2 golf KR), I was waiting at the lights, and saw the temperature quite high. I put the heating to full, and drove with my windows open. A good way to lower temperature.  

I bought and changed the thermostat, but the problem got even worse!

I drove to a friend's garage, and there I took off the radiator. I flushed it with hot water and a mild detergent. I'd say only a third of it worked (was filled with hot water), there was something blocking it.

After some time of shaking the radiator, all the garbage of the world (including some tiny pieces of rubber, from the old thermostat) came out.

Since then, the t gauge stays in the middle, and climbs to 3/4 when going uphill.

[Quantum TD]

I sold an Ecodiesel over the summer and was creeped out by the temps. I thought the HG was bad. But everyone here seemed to confirm that the needle sits about 1/2 to 3/4 most of the time. If you read the owners manual (the VW one, not the bentley), it actually states that anything in that range is normal. When it hits the right end, then it's hot.

Here's my original thread:
http://vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=9958&highlight=ecodiesel

I actually flushed the sytem (with a sytem flush, and the radiator separately), installed a new fan switch and thermostat, and refilled with phosphate-free coolant and distillled water. It made no difference.

I guess the best thing to do is to flush it out and see if there's an improvement. I don't think that there will be. You could also try a lower temp thermostat, but 87 C (190F) is about optimum on these diesels.

Ziptar: the low temps on yours sound odd. It sounds like your t-stat might be stuck open. ON that EcoDiesel I sold, I flushed the car without a T-stat and the temps ran at about 1/4 to 1/3 on the gauge. When I put the t-stat back in, the temps went back up to 5/8 to 3/4.

It's not the end of the world in FL, but it may affect fuel economy.

[burn_your_money]

I think going by the stock gauge is somewhat useless anyways, it's best to get a gauge with number on it, then you really can tell if your thermostat is working properly

[smutts]

One thing that can cause coolant weirdness is VW's solution looking for a problem on a thermostat of bonding a rubber ring to the thermostat port on the 1990 GTD I had. To allow this rubber to bond to the metal, a dozen 4mm holes are drilled around the disc and then a rubber perimeter is bonded to this. But when the rubber perishes, it peels off, guess what happens to the coolant temperature regulation? It gets a bit irregular. Lumps of rubber wandering about the cooling system don't do good either. Make sure the replacement doesn't have this usfull feature. :wink:

[RabbitJockey]

i had that same problem i thought the radiator was bad. so i bought one, but when i pulled the old one out i found that there was this weird like rats nest material stuck between the radiator and the ac condensor. i blew it all out and now i sit right at the middle.


what would be the efects of running a cooler thermostat. i know on gassers it may cause predetination(SP) but what would be the negative effects on a diesel

wouldn't a cooler thermostat help prevent predetonation?  i've ran a 160F t-stat.  great for the summer, bad for winter.   car never overheated, and on a cold day it sat half way between cold and center of the gauge.

when do diesels predetonate?  the only time i heard a diesel knock was when my dad put too much kerosene in his

[Turbofan]

I recently acquired an '86 Golf from FL (I'm in MA). After re-timing it and getting it on the road, I was seeing high temps on the cluster too. When I drove to Boston this weekend, I thought I was over heating the whole time as the needle was nearly pinned around the high mark! I drove sloooow, pulled over contantly, had my fan wired to high. When I got there, I checked my coolant pressure. After cautiously removing the cap, all I got was a normal "Pffffffft". I checked the oil too, to make sure the capacity hadn't increased since my oil change just before I left, which hadn't changed. I believe in my case I have a bad temp sender...