Car went into local VW specialist today had gearbox oil replaced. Gearbox feels a lot better now. Had a pressure test done suspected head gasket failure but luckily was a rad hose but you couldn't tell it was leaking so saved me a few pennies. Temp gauge was always reading a bit low al the time so they changed the temp sensor. As the thermostat was working fine etc and cutting in bring the fan on. On the drive home in usual rush hour traffic, the temp gauge did rise quicker but as i just started to get on the motor way the needel went to 3/4's then past the dash temp light started flashing and i immediately pulled over. Checked that the water bottle hadn't lost any water etc... Phoned the garage which now by this time were shut. So waited for car to cool down and drove home really slowly. Got home told the old man who asked was the fan cutting in? I didn't know coz the oil temp didn't get past 92C so we left the car idling on the drive and at about 100C the fan cut in! The temp gauge was between 3/4 and max and the water light on the dash flashing! Now a question for all you mechanical buffs. What the hell is going on? I'm hoping its just a flaty sensor. Any advice well appreciated.
flashing light is your level sensor...if that's flashing when you have coolant in your header tank, then i would guess the sensor is stuffed...
also fan cuts in when water temp reaches a certain point (can't remember) but 100C on idle seems a bit high for oil temp!
I've had a similar fault with the temperature gauge warning lamp when I fitted my 9A and , funnily enough after I had a leaking hose, I just made sure the water was circulating and topped up the coolant and it was ok
having said that i drive an 8v not 16. Don't know if 16vs run hotter or not. Things like your timing can affect the running temp of your engine!
If the oil temp is around 100c and the fan cuts in, then I'd say that this is fine. The temp needle on my gauge sit just over half way on mine. The coolant sensors are crap on MK2s. You just have to look at them and the led starts flashing! Maybe it got knocked when they were working on the car?? 16vs do tend to run a bit hotter than 8vs. (Oil temp anyway).
