Hot in the city! power loss?

Karl-g

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Hi all, having a little trouble with my A3 1.8t, I commute across London daily (yawn) over the past few very hot days stuck in traffic I have noticed the temp gauge creep up over the 90 mark slightly, when I accelerate off the car seems to have very little power then gradually builds up speed (limp mode?) Then the temp seems to drop back down to 90 again and the car runs fine.

Not sure if this is something to worry about or if its just hot city driving choking the car!

Anyone have a similar problem? Any advise would be great....

Cheers

Karl
 
Cheers for that, had a quick look into heat soak and it sounds like the most likely cause.
 
The ECU will remove timing advance as the Intake Air Temps (IAT's) get hotter.. compensation doesn't typically kick in until just over 30deg IAT but given ambient temps are 30 or more then I would not be surprised if IAT's are sat at well over 50 deg when sat in traffic... I have seen nearly this easily over the past few weeks and at that point the ECU will be pulling a lot of timing advance out and this is what makes the car feel flat... no timing advance = less torque = less power.... its protection for the engine

<tuffty/>
 
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Are you referring to the coolant gauge going over 90 degrees? If so that's a little strange, regardless of ambient temp the coolant shouldn't go above 90 in my experience.
 
[Dave B];1924863 said:
Are you referring to the coolant gauge going over 90 degrees? If so that's a little strange, regardless of ambient temp the coolant shouldn't go above 90 in my experience.

The temp will go up but the dash won't report temps higher than 90 degrees until the temp gets to over 100 degrees (might be 110 degrees, can't remember off hand)... this is a feature to prevent your typical car owner from panicking over coolant temps rising in standing traffic etc...

I have seen coolant temps (especially in this weather) rise to 93/95degrees but the gauge will stay at 90...

<tuffty/>
 
The temp will go up but the dash won't report temps higher than 90 degrees until the temp gets to over 100 degrees (might be 110 degrees, can't remember off hand)... this is a feature to prevent your typical car owner from panicking over coolant temps rising in standing traffic etc...

I have seen coolant temps (especially in this weather) rise to 93/95degrees but the gauge will stay at 90...

<tuffty/>

Exactly, I assume the OP refers to the gauge going above 90, if so then that seems unusual. Might be worth a quick check of the expansion tank...
 
[Dave B];1924863 said:
Are you referring to the coolant gauge going over 90 degrees? If so that's a little strange, regardless of ambient temp the coolant shouldn't go above 90 in my experience.

Agreed, bang on 90 is where its at, if its creeping over then something is wrong...
 
Hmmm mine sits at 90 on the dash but a consistent 97 degrees using 49c on aircon trick. Seems a little high to me?
 
Hmmm mine sits at 90 on the dash but a consistent 97 degrees using 49c on aircon trick. Seems a little high to me?

Mine stays at 90 on the dash but runs around 90- 103 at the climate control on setting 49. On a moterway at 70mph, it won't drop less than 100c. Always been like this.
 
Glad to hear that high 90s is normal.

Patrick - Recirc and up on the climate control unit, then scroll to 49c and press recirc. This will then show you the engine temp as the ECU see's it. For more info have a look at this as you can view many other things: AudiWorld Tech Articles
 
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Great info, thanks a million guys, set my mind at ease. Must try the aircon trick.
 
Sweet :) mine works I was told you can get boost pressure is that possible ?
 
Still having some trouble with my coolant temp, I have noticed that only one of my fans is running (left fan when facing the car) am i right in saying this is the AC fan? Could this be a temp sensor issue? Both the big rad pipes are hot, top one is the hottest. Freakin hot weather is hurting my car!!
 
Both fans run at slow speed with AC is on... I do notice that if I turn AC off the coolant temp rises over 90 deg so if one is not working this could be your problem...

The speed 'controllers' are built into the fan so could be the slow speed part thats fecked... new fan if thats the case...

<tuffty/>
 
Tuffty you are the oracle mate! Got a fan from the breakers and with a 30 min swap..... Sorted!

Cheers man.
 
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