Around 3 years ago I bought andold Audi cabriolet from eBay. Fundamentally in good condition, and well maintained... But it was running cool on purchase, and needed a new thermostat. Not complicated, not expensive, but it obviously needed doing as the temperature gauge barely moved in normal use.
Around 2 years ago I had a brief foray into the world of petrol V8s with the purchase of an A8 4.2 Quattro. That should be a small 'q' but it keep autocorrecting ;). It to was running cool, and it to needed a new thermostat. But it had also been regularly maintained. I had it fixed. Less than £50 all in I seem to recall.
My most recent purchase, an Audi A2 1.4, also runs cool. The temperature gauge will move a bit, so I suspect, again, it needs a new thermostat.
Are thermostats known for going faulty with age? Is it just an Audi thing? And also, how can someone drive a car and not notice that it's running very cool? Given the level of maintenance all of them have had I'd have expected the owners to notice and have it fixed. Failing that, surely it could have been noticed by the servicing garage and mentioned to the owner? Unlike a garage to miss an opportunity to charge for something!
If it is an Audi thing then I'm slightly concerned, as the e-tron doesn't have a temperature gauge, just a warning light... So how do I know if it's running cool? When the engine's on that is!!
Last edited by: PeterS on Sat 16 Apr 16 at 18:48
|
Not sure, maybe some people just think Audis are cool?
Yeah, don't worry, going out soon...
;-)
|
If the Audi A8 still runs cool, replace the thermostat next to the gearbox or behind the radiator on some engined models.
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1273965/d94175b128fcf37e.jpg
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1273965/Screenshot%202015-02-22%2017.01.26.png
as if this one fails,it allows coolant to flow the whole circuit through gearbox, aux heater and radiator all the time.
Last edited by: Shiny on Sat 16 Apr 16 at 19:27
|
|
The A8 was fine after the thermostat was replaced, and common sense (fear...) got the better of me, and it was sold after a year or so!!
|
|
Is there an instrument cluster hidden menu (as in BMWs and Fords) to get an engine temperature read-out ?
|
|
Good thought; I'll do some googling! There is the ability to display a real rev counter in the central DIS (the car has a power meter where the rev counter would ordinarily be, so it works whether the cars running on petrol or electricity) so perhaps in the depths of the software are a few more useful bits of info!
|
> Are thermostats known for going faulty with age? Is it just an Audi thing?
They can yes, sometimes the seal for it, sometimes the plastic can fail.
And
>> also, how can someone drive a car and not notice that it's running very cool?
Quite easily, most people driving have no interest at all in how they work or notice anything wrong bar it grinding to a halt.
|
>>
>> Quite easily, most people driving have no interest at all in how they work or
>> notice anything wrong bar it grinding to a halt.
>>
Which would explain why more and more manufacturers are eliminating them from the standard set of instruments :(
|
Which would explain why more and more manufacturers are eliminating them from the standard set
>> of instruments :(
Tbh a warning light is better than a gauge, most gauges only operate between a range of temperatures anyway in the normal/hot/cold ranges anyway.
|
|
Oddly the 3 Series has a fuel gauge and an oil temperature gauge flanking the rev counter and speedo
|
|
Funny, RP: my older 3 has a fuel gauge (still useful) and an 'economy gauge' (entirely useless) below the main instruments. No indication of temperature anywhere, although apparently it's available through the OBC display if I perform a fiddly set of button presses that would take my mind off the road for a dangerously long time. So I don't bother but it seems OK for now; at least the Verso had a blue light that went out once it was warm.
|
|
Yes, and I'm happy with a warning light for it being to hot...but if it's running cool will a warning light still, well, warn? Or will I remain blissfully ignorant!
|
Jazz and Yaris both have a "cold engine " warning light.
But then they are designed by engineers..
|
The Skoda Popemobile has no temp gauges or oil pressure gauge. I'd say it tries to make a virtue of simplicity except that it sports a large rev counter.
There is a blue thermometer that stays on until the injun reaches normal operating temperature, and (I hope) a red light that comes on when it overheats.
The Mk2 MX5 has oil pressure and coolant temp gauges. Neither has numbers on. It's well known that they are just logic gauges, pointing at specific places according to low, normal or high ranges. The Mk1 instruments are real. Some people put the Mk1 ones in their Mk2s, but it isn't a simple switch.
|
>> The Skoda Popemobile has no temp gauges or oil pressure gauge. I'd say it tries
>> to make a virtue of simplicity except that it sports a large rev counter.
Mine is similarly equipped though the handbook suggests some versions have a temp guage as well. Whether it would blow the whistle on a failed 'stat I don't know. Stays on for about a mile, longer on cold days, so certainly enough for engine temp to be well off a gauge's bottom stop but would it show 60 rather than 90?
The Berlingos and Xantia before had gauges. An aware driver would know what was 'normal' for the car although it differed between the three. Certainly flagged up pretty well fact the older Berlingo thermostat was stuck open.
|
Audi - Common fault? - Runfer D'Hills
