Audi A3 Temperature Issue (Car running cold)

bromster said:
I have a diesel. After about 4 Min of stop and start driving in the morning, followed by 3 Min on the highway, the oil temp starts to move. After a further 2 or 3 minutes, it's at normal operating temperature.

What blowdart asked about the heater air temperature is useful to see if the water is actually running cool, or the dial is just lying about it...

When the car should hypothetically be at normal temperature, put the heater (no A/C) on maximum and see if the air is nice and hot. If so, perhaps a sensor or the gauge itself could be at fault. If the air is luke warm, then the stuck thermostat could be over-cooling the water.

(Putting the heater on maximum is also a useful trick if your car is overheating. Engine water gets fed through an additional radiator which might cool the water enough to limp the car home)

Sounds to me like a stuck thermostat as earlier stated.
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Thanks for the feedback
 
OK, so I timed mine this morning. Keep in mind mine has got a digital gauge with bars, not a physical needle, so not sure if that makes a difference. When the car is started, it will be on one lit bar.

It took 20 minutes for it to add the second lit bar, and then about 3 minutes to get to 3 bars which would be the quivalent of the needle being in the middle of a car with a analogue gauge I believe.

Should I worry?
 
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Ockie said:
OK, so I timed mine this morning. Keep in mind mine has got a digital gauge with bars, not a physical needle, so not sure if that makes a difference. When the car is started, it will be on one lit bar.

It took 20 minutes for it to add the second lit bar, and then about 3 minutes to get to 3 bars which would be the quivalent of the needs being in the middle of a car with a analogue gauge I believe.

Should I worry?
Click to expand...
That sounds quite long. Maybe the bars work different but in the 2 audis I had before this the temp went up in around 5 to 10 mins max. The problem I have is that mine didn't get properly up the whole way to work,which is around 30 odd minutes.
 
my jetta takes long as well, car need to be driven for a while before

well all my VWs took long to hit the middle

not anywhere near 5-10 mins
 
I have just heard back from the manager, after they chatted to Audi about the issue they are ordering a new thermostat. Hopefully that should resolve the issue
 
I.am.Sam said:
my jetta takes long as well, car need to be driven for a while before

well all my VWs took long to hit the middle

not anywhere near 5-10 mins
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I suppose it also depends on the outside temp. Even with this issue I find it warms up more/better if I drive in the middle of the day compared to morning or night.
 
I always work on the the 5-10min range, but if the thermostat is stuck open (the default failure position, because the opposite would be a pretty terrible design) then you will likely never reach the optimal operating window.

The best way to tell is if you can get a number reading and note that it's never hitting the operating window (even after an hour of driving).
 
ands45 said:
It does get warm but that drops the temp even more. It also takes a long time before any warmth comes through
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Thermostat probably gone, your car uses a heat exchange and that takes coolant from the system to provide heat to the vehicle.

If the thermostat is stuck open, then the coolant is constantly running to your radiator and back through to your heat exchange.

If the temp sensor was faulty then that air coming out would be hot.

We used to test this by feeling the pipes for heat but rather prefer you not stick your hands in the engine bay.

****************************

If you driving down the highway or a long road does the coolant gauge also go down ?
 
blowdart18 said:
Thermostat probably gone, your car uses a heat exchange and that takes coolant from the system to provide heat to the vehicle.

If the thermostat is stuck open, then the coolant is constantly running to your radiator and back through to your heat exchange.

If the temp sensor was faulty then that air coming out would be hot.

We used to test this by feeling the pipes for heat but rather prefer you not stick your hands in the engine bay.

****************************

If you driving down the highway or a long road does the coolant gauge also go down ?
Click to expand...
Yes, when I drive down the highway on open road the temp goes down. Took a video here https://youtu.be/1QVlyl7K9sc

So they have ordered a new thermostat now so hopefully that should fix it
 
blowdart18 said:
If you driving down the highway or a long road does the coolant gauge also go down ?
Click to expand...

Mine did that a few weeks ago on long road going away for the weekend. Went down a long down hill, had the car in 5th and by the of the downhill it went from 3 bars down to one bar, then after a few minutes of driving and giving petrol it went back up again. What does that mean? Problem????
 
Ockie said:
Mine did that a few weeks ago on long road going away for the weekend. Went down a long down hill, had the car in 5th and by the of the downhill it went from 3 bars down to one bar, then after a few minutes of driving and giving petrol it went back up again. What does that mean? Problem????
Click to expand...
I would imagine it is supposed to stay constant once up to temperature. It shouldn't drop
 
Ockie said:
Mine did that a few weeks ago on long road going away for the weekend. Went down a long down hill, had the car in 5th and by the of the downhill it went from 3 bars down to one bar, then after a few minutes of driving and giving petrol it went back up again. What does that mean? Problem????
Click to expand...

Not a BIG problem but not ideal.
You should get it checked. It's easy to test a thermostat.
 
Sinbad said:
Not a BIG problem but not ideal.
You should get it checked. It's easy to test a thermostat.
Click to expand...

Just made a booking for the car at TATA for Friday. Spoke to the service head and explained and he said it is definately not normal for the car to take 30 minutes to get up to temp. It should be 5 minutes, 10 MAX. He said it shounds like a sticky thermostat.
 
Ockie said:
Just made a booking for the car at TATA for Friday. Spoke to the service head and explained and he said it is definately not normal for the car to take 30 minutes to get up to temp. It should be 5 minutes, 10 MAX. He said it shounds like a sticky thermostat.
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Yip, sounds like a similar issue to mine
 
Hopefully it's not located in a spot where it will take hours of labour to get to it. My old Astra G had the same problem, thermostat was cheap but they have to take off the cam-belt to replace the thermostat as it was close to the water pump. Ended up paying much more for labour than the part.
 
Rouxenator said:
Hopefully it's not located in a spot where it will take hours of labour to get to it. My old Astra G had the same problem, thermostat was cheap but they have to take off the cam-belt to replace the thermostat as it was close to the water pump. Ended up paying much more for labour than the part.
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heh.
My SLK (and my ML)'s thermostat is R300 bucks, right on the top of the engine at the front. You don't even need to drain the coolant, you just spill a litre or so. Two bolts and a hose clip
 
Rouxenator said:
Hopefully it's not located in a spot where it will take hours of labour to get to it. My old Astra G had the same problem, thermostat was cheap but they have to take off the cam-belt to replace the thermostat as it was close to the water pump. Ended up paying much more for labour than the part.
Click to expand...

KE? Aint the thermostat located by the radiator as that is where the valve is that is either open or closed depending on the temp to let the coolant flow or stay put?
 
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