what is a normal reading on the temp gauge?

[jstaton]

Hey guys, after several weeks of me getting my 91 1.6 N/A a rebuilt head and a new timing belt, it is on the road tonight. Because I acquired the car before the new head went on, I am not sure where the needle should be sitting on the temp gauge. I am worried that the car is running to hot. Of the 5 tick marks, it is sitting between the third and forth mark, a few degrees to the right beyond straight up and down. In other words, it looks like it is using 3/4 of the gauge. Once warmed up it sits there and does not move beyond. Not having owned a VW, it seems odd to me that it would be beyond the halfway mark. Does this sound right or do i have an over heating problem.

[jtanguay]

it should be between the 3rd and 4th ticks.  basically between the tick to the right of the middle tick.  tick tac toe!  :lol:

If it never moves from that position when really cold outside, then consider yourself lucky to have a genuine bosch thermostat, or a really good one.  

it can even climb a bit higher, into the 100 range or so which is around 4th-5th tick.  (should only do this on hot summer days)

i guess one way you could test it is to open the hood say after coming back from work, and maybe revving the motor a bit while hood is open and be careful of the rad fan.  keep revving until the fan kicks on and go look at your gauge.  if you're fast enough you can find out what temp is what on your gauge before it falls back down from the fan cooling it

[burn_your_money]

Mine sits at about 3/4 as well. It's the 92 degree thermostat. Defintly a cheapy as it moves down to half if the heater is on

[jstaton]

Thanks guys. You gave me the confidence to drive it 25 miles to work this morning. The temp gauge needle does move more than other cars I have driven. It was just as you have explained it right in between the third and forth tick. I am in Rochester, NY, it is 35 F and snowing out, but I was still afraid it would run too hot!
When I put a new head on, I did not replace the injector heat shields and am worried that this would cause a heating problem. Plus I have never seen the fan run on the car and wasn't sure when it would turn on. From what I have read in rest of the forum, it won't come on until after the forth of the five tick marks.

[Doug]

I noticed that after a flush, new thermostat, new cap and clamps that mine sits at about the 5/8 mark too. I was a bit concerned but from all descriptions this is normal.

[LeeG]

one needle width right  of centre driving around town or at 120km.  2 to right is about where my fan kicks in.  One left of centre =  going down a long hill on cool day.  

Mine used to swing between 2nd and 4th tick, replacing the tstat made it behave as above.  almost 200,000km later it may be on its way out again as the temp is dropping off more than I am used to on hills (down to 2nd tick)