Hey guys, new to the Audi world. I used to be a Honda guy. I just bought my first Audi, a 97 A4 Quattro 2.8 five speed. The car runs great, handles great and rides great. But I've been having a few issues. First off, the temperature gauge won't move past the Cold mark and the heat doesn't blow warm at all. However, both radiator hoses are warm and the engine seems to be pretty warm. Also the oil temp gauge hovers right above the 150* mark. I'm not really sure how warm it's supposed to get honestly, I just found that kind of odd. I figured it should be in the 250* range? Anyways, I'm leaning towards the thermostat, but I wanted to get a few opinions before I tear into it for no reason. I have a friend that has a VAGCOM so I'm gonna have him look into it and see how warm the car really is.

Next, sometimes when I start the car the tachometer and speedometer both stay at 0 the entire time the car is running. The tach seems to "bounce" at 0 while the speedometer just sits there. I'm thinking it probably needs a new cluster, but again I want a few opinions before I waste $100 on a new one. It just gets very frustrating trying to drive without knowing what's going on.

And last but not least, the car sometimes dies after it's been idling for about a minute. It seems like it idles fine until then, and it just drops down to about 300 rpm then dies. If I give it some throttle it'll rev back up to 800-850 which should be about normal and usually doesn't do it again until I make another stop. I'm guessing the IACV might need cleaned or just need replaced, because I'm pretty sure the 97 had an actual IAC instead of the one on the throttle body.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, as I'm pretty new to this type of car. Hondas are MUCH easier to work on but the ride quality and overall feel of the Audi is amazing.