ESP Light On Temp Guage Falling to Min

[donsajid]

Hi everyone,

As per the title, recently, when the car is getting up to temp the esp hazard triangle illuminates, and when it does i notice that the temp gauge will fall to minimum. After maybe 20 seconds - 3 minutes, it varies, I will see the temp gauge shoot back up to where it should be and then the esp light will go off. Anyone seen this symptom before? I am thinking maybe temp sensor, but as I do not have access to VAGCOM thought I would check on here to see if anyone has had a similar problem.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

 

[Malko]

Temp sensor. Had the same symptoms on my old b6 1.8t and no problems after I changed it. Part number is 071 957 147 - impulse sender. Cost me about £60 but that was with a mates discount.

 

[donsajid]

Thanks mate. That has confirmed my suspicions. I think I am going to leave it for now as it is only doing it intermittently and even then never more than for a few minutes.

 

[Malko]

No probs, left mine for prob 2 months before i finally figured out what was causing it and get round to fitting the sensor. It did get progressively worse and eventually would stall/cut out and not restart until it had cooled down . . . This was when i thought enough is enough as got me into a few tricky situations!
I also got to know the exact time the ESP light would come on as travelling same route to work each day, lol.

 

[donsajid]

this problem of mine has been like this now for the best part of 4 months. It hasn't gotten worse or better. Did you have a fault code which pointed you to the impulse sensor? Is that the same thing as the temperature control sensor?

 

[Malko]

I really can't remember what fault codes came up. Probably misfires amongst others . . .

Yeah its the same thing, that's just what they called it on my bill statement.

Does it ever cut out and struggle to start when still warm?

 

[donsajid]

I never had a problem with it starting when warm or cold for that matter. The car does not misfire either or cut out or even threaten to cut out. Apart from the light on the dash and the temp gauge falling, no mechanical symptoms at all. I think I am going to leave it until it gets worse.

 

[Turkster]

you may find your car is using more fuel than needed if it thinks the engine is colder than it is...

 

[donsajid]

the temp will fall for about 20 seconds or so when the esp light is illuminated before shooting back up. It only ever seems to do it when the temp is getting up to 90 and not once it gets to 90, and will only ever appear once in any given journey. I haven't noticed any drop in fuel consumption.

 

[Malko]

Strange that you don't have any other syptoms!? When my ESP light came on the car would shut off briefly and then come back to life with the light on, if i was moving when this happened the revs dropped as if engine was off and came back to life with ESP on, if i was stationary, then the car would stall and this was when i would struggle to start.
So the car runs fine with ESP on? No boost probs? limp mode? high revs? anything feel lumpy?

Its beginning to look like something other then the temp sensor i'm afraid.

 

[donsajid]

actually, occasionally the car will jerk momentarily just before esp light comes on. On other occasions as I slow to a stop with the esp light on, it feels as if the car is about to cut out but never does. I think my car has a milder symptom of the same disease that yours had, and I think best thing for me is to just let it get worse before I change the sensor. Thanks for all your help.