Hi There,

I recently had my car at the mechanic to fix a problem where the engine would run and drive but would cut out when idling. the guy said he cleaned the throttle body and hooked it to the computer to reset it.

However before then the oil and water tempreature dials did not work, now they do and my engine temperature is reading over 100 degerees C and the at one point the warning light came on.

I don't know if this is related to what the mechanic has done or if the temperature was always this hight but just not registering.

I looked in the engine bay and although there are two fans in front of the radiator only one was going and I'm not sure where to check the coolant levels.

One other strange thing is that when i turn the heater on with the temperature set to high it is blowing cold no matter how long it is running for.

My engine a 1.8 petrol any sugesytions would be appreciated.

 

faulty thermostat?

 

Oil temperature gauge doesn't matter but water temperature means a bad coolant temperature sensor which will make the engine run like crap. If your engine is overheating then you also have a bad thermostat and/or a clogged something (e.g. radiator).

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

If the thermostat is broken would that not stop the radiator fan from kicking in (which it does, at least one of them) and also prevent the dash temp gauge from showing the correct temperature?

Could it be something worse like a water pump failure?

Where do I check the coolant levels just to make sure there has not been a leak and the coolant level is not low?

Sorry for replying with so many more questions but I plan on getting a new car and I'm hoping this one holds out until then.

 

One fan is belt driven, and you need to feel the top rad hose, and see if its hot, after the car "overheats" Also, what color is your coolant ?? pink? brown? green? do you see build up?

 

If your coolant tank is as dirty as mine you will have to just look inside the coolant tank to see if you got any.

The thermostat is in the coolant lines and will open and close to the temp of the coolant running through it. The temperature reader maybe faulty which would operate your second fan and the temp reading in your cluster gauge.

If your water pump isn't working I would think you would here it and your car would over heat really fast but I am unsure on that one.

 

Two fans, one for engine cooling, the other is for the air conditioning. If you have the AC on (ECON light off on the HVAC) and the can sitting, running, at operating temp (temp gauge point straight up) you should have both fans running.

You have to check you coolant resevoir to see how much coolant you have. It's up in the driver's side of the engine bay, close to the back of the engine bay. If it's low, you need to find out what kind of coolant you have in there before you add more. Audi uses a special coolant, G12. If you have pink stuff in there, you need to find some G12. If it's green, then you need to top off with more green stuff until you can get a good flush and replace with pink G12.

No heat, and overheating could mean a couple things. It could be as simple as bleeding the system: open the coolant resevoir, turn the heat on blast, and let her run for a bit. Or, it could mean your water pump is shot, so the hot coolant isn't making it to the heater core, and the hot coolant in the engine isn't moving, just getting hotter.

You're best bet is to try to bleed it, and see if it helps. If your car is overdue for a timing belt, then knock it all out at one time, TB, WP, ect. ect.

Best of luck.

 

Oh, didn't notice he hadn't even checked the coolant. Heh.

Water pump could be bad, too, but I think the temperature sensor would read it if so. It doesn't need flow to read temperature, but it does need coolant, so if he is very low on coolant then that'd do it.

 

Hi Guys,

Turns out it was the coolant, the mechanic had removed the hoses beside the throttle body but had not tightened the hose clips properly when he put them back on, we have had a lot of snow recently so I did not see the leek until yesterday, and the coolant resovoir was so dirty it was hard to see if it was low. so I tightened the clips topped it up with coolant and it seems to be runnig fine.

Once again thanks for all the replies.