My A4 2002 tempature guage stays very low. I've owned the vehicle for over a year. Until about 1 month ago, the engine use to warm up and the gauge sat in the center. Now it only goes to just under 1/4, when the air temp is around -15. Ithink this would be a thermostat but my repair shop (not the dealer $) was not confident that this would fix the issue because the only code he pulled from the diags was a 1330 (central ECC comfort defect). Any validations to help point to the faulty device?

Thanks - Tony

 

dont know about that codes but usually how long are your drives, i know my car takes forever to move to the first notch on the temp gague and after about 30 minutes of driving it just under the halfway point, oh and this is with a bit of cardboard infront of the radiator. im fairly sure its because of the temp, since the gauge does move you can for the most rule out the ECT, and as long as you get heat inside then thermostat is morethan likely fine.

 

Run-time to half way wasabout 10 min. Now, even on a 50 min drive, temp is still at about 1/4. Yes, I forgot to mention, while engine temp/efficiency is one of my concerns, the main concern is lack of cabin heat. The cabin will 'warm' but it remains drafty unlike last winter. More info in case it's related - recently had the timing belt replaced (and water pump), had to disconnect the 'alarm in the boot' as it was 'panic beeping' from low battery, just replaced the antenna amp and I did have the radio out of the dash to help diagnose.

Other thoughts?

 

"Lack of cabin heat" and the temp guage only goes to the 1/4 mark ? That's what a properly functioning t-stat is for.... to get the engine coolant up to a temperature so you have lots of heat inside, and the temp needle should be at about 1/2 mark.
Your thermo-stat is stuck in open position, which is better than stuck in closed position, which would cuase engine to over-heat. Replace the t-stat, your engine is not running efficiently and will use more fuel since it never gets to proper operating temp.

 

Yes I completely agree with Wolf....If you were getting warm heat inside it would be a different issue but the fact that it is "drafty" along with a guage reading cool tells me it is the thermostat stuck open or theframe of it is broken which happens often because it cant handle the force from the spring over time

 

Thanks for the replies and the concensus. I'll have the part replaced and report back. It was a cold ride this morning (9 degrees F).

 

As others have mentioned in this/other forums, try using cardboard in front of radiator, cover it no more than 3/4, this should get you some heat in the cabin.... until a proper fix.

 

Success! My repair shop took the car apart on Mondayto find a broken thermostat housing. Since they only had a spare thermo without the housing. I had to wait another day for the correct part. But for only 2 days of inconvenience (and $320), I have HEAT and a more efficient engine. Thanks for all your help.

Broken part....

 

OK, so I'm not sure if there's been conflicting info or if I'm just being a retard, but in the case of a low gauge reading on a 2.8 30v, if I wanted to put in a new t-stat, do I need to remove the timing belt and tensioner to get at it? As I said, I may be getting stupid, but it seems like I read on here that the t-stat on this engine is behind the tensioner and it has to be removed to get the t-stat out. Is this the case? I'm going to change my CTS as well, but I can't recall for sure if the t-belt setup has to come off to change the t-stat as well.