Hole in pocket

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New2Audi

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Just had new heater fan and relay switch (hazard light), parts and labour done for £200, on my A3 1.6! Is this too much? Could've done it myself I suppose.

I need to have thermostat put in and the quote with parts and labour is £110! Can I do this myself, and if so, what tools do I need and where is the part located under bonnet?

Much appreciated!
 
You can get a new fan for about £60 and changing it takes about 15mins, never done the hazard switch so cant comment on that but doubt it takes very long or cost much.
I think £200 is a bit much as is £110 for the stat.
 
Where did you go? Audi stealership? I'd suggest taking it to a local independant specialist, unless of course you are in which case find a different one!!

£200 to fit a fan and a switch is daylight robbery if you ask me. As for the thermostat it's been DIY'd many times, a quick forum search should bring up a how to guide I'm sure.
 
I would highly recommend you post your issues on the forum before letting a garage do you over... The prices you stated are shocking for the amount of work involved. Live and learn, I guess.
 
leshkin said:
I would highly recommend you post your issues on the forum before letting a garage do you over... The prices you stated are shocking for the amount of work involved. Live and learn, I guess.
Click to expand...
Excellent advice
 
What tools I need to fix the temp guage not working? Cars drinking loads juice because of this, you think? I've read the forums and seen its a big possibility. I've had it recommended by the same guy to get a thermostat and that costing £110 with parts and labour! Not taking it there, since you guys say its daylight robbery :-/
 
Keeno - I took it to a former employee of Audi (VAG specialist). Guess he whacked me per hour rates per how Audi work... :(
 
How do you know that your thermostat is not working? The dash temp gauge gets it's temp reading from an independent temp sensor, when that goes, you get funky temp readings on the dash.

Here is how to test the temp sender on a 1.8T engine and I would assume that the logic is same for 1.6:

If you have climate control try this first: http://www.wak-tt.com/climate/climatecodes.htm (it's for a TT, but should work in an A3)

Check the value under 49C. This will tell you the actual temperature of the coolant. If the temp you see there is about 90-100C after the car has warmed up properly, then the thermostat is probably working properly and it's the temp sender that is most likely the cause of the issue.

If you do not have climate control, warm the car up while stationary with the coolant expansion bottle open, then get a needle-type thermometer and measure the water temp. Be careful with the coolant. It will be quite hot, so make sure the bottle is open before you start warming the car. Otherwise you get covered in boiling liquid when you open the bottle with the engine hot.

It might still be a thermostat issue, with it not closing properly and not allowing the coolant to reach it's optimum temperature, but I would imagine the temp to rise at least a little bit even with a fully-open thermostat. My car had both, dodgy temp sender and a bad thermostat, so you can imagine how much fun the guys at vagcheck had diagnosing them :)

There is loads of information about this issue on this forum, so do a search on 'temp sender' or 'thermostat' and you will see many discussions about this. Both issues can easily be fixed if you're moderately competent with a spanner.
 
leshkin said:
How do you know that your thermostat is not working? The dash temp gauge gets it's temp reading from an independent temp sensor, when that goes, you get funky temp readings on the dash.

Here is how to test the temp sender on a 1.8T engine and I would assume that the logic is same for 1.6:

If you have climate control try this first: http://www.wak-tt.com/climate/climatecodes.htm (it's for a TT, but should work in an A3)

Check the value under 49C. This will tell you the actual temperature of the coolant. If the temp you see there is about 90-100C after the car has warmed up properly, then the thermostat is probably working properly and it's the temp sender that is most likely the cause of the issue.
Click to expand...

thats not true. we had a good look into this on the S4 board. the guage and climate control read from the same sender. the sender in question is two combined sender. the other sender gives its reading to the ECU

so what you want to do is get on vagcom and look at the water temp reading there and contrast that to the guage or climate control
 
ok I've done test on 51c and whilst the vehicle is stationary the temp goes up, aswell the reading on guage. The heating was off though, and even when switched on the reading was 90. When driving the guage goes down to 60. this has been the norm. so I suppose the stat is ok, correct, and the temp switch needs changing?
 
no. the water temp shouldnt move from 90 once its up to temp, so the stat is definately dead
 
Assuming 51c is the Coolant temp, going from the link 'Leshkin' provided and its correct that 51c is for the Audi 1.6?
 
Last edited:
It does sound like your thermostat might be on its way out, which is confirmed by the fluctuating temperature, but as Matt82 pointed out, the temperature information on the aircon might be coming from the same sensor, so the temp info you saw might be incorrect (Although, I'm not sure how different the S4 and A3 sensor set-ups are). This might mean that the temp information is being reported incorrectly.

I would say to be absolutely certain use the needle thermometer method I told you in my earlier comment or get someone with VCDS to check the ECU sensor data.
 
i think its actually 49c for the reading. Went for drive to supermarket and saw it rising slowly to around 59/60c reading. Then when I parked up and stayed idle, the reading on display went up along with the guage reading.

So I suppose if stats gone/going, thats why petrol is being used massively?
 
Well, the reading should be at about 90-100 for a fully warmed-up engine. From what you describe, the temp seems to be being reported normally - although without checking this reading against another sensor or thermometer, you will not know for certain.

If the temp reported is correct, then your thermostat is likely to be stuck open and is not letting the engine warm up fully by allowing the coolant to circulate more freely around the engine block, which will most definitely cause the increased fuel consumption.
 
the low temp will be causing it to drink more

just get a new stat in, its a simple job and it will save you a load of bother
 
49C reports the from the same sensor as the guage

youll have to use vagcom to see what the ecu is seeing and tbh... if the temp drops whilst the car is moving, that is infinately more likely to be the stat than a sensor or guage.
 
Got the thermostat changed. £5 for part and £25 for labour. Gauge is now working fine :)

Only thing now, is to see if petrol consumption is back to normal...Should be I hope. :-/
 
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