What temp does your S3 run at?

[TurboDave]

Got a quick question, since I have had my 2000 plate S3 I have noticed the temperature is a bit dodgey i.e. when driving with the heaters on (thanks to the British weather) the water temperature will fall to around 60-65 degrees and when stationary the temp will gradually rise and settle at around 90 degrees.

I know it sounds like a suspect thermostat, but do other S3's temperatures behave in the same way before I get a new one?

Also I think my car running a lower temp may also be causing worse fuel economy, is the "choke" controlled by the water temp of the car?

Thanks
Dave

 

[alijames]

Yep. Almost certainly thermostat, and yes, it would affect fuel economy.

Once warmed up, mine stays solid at 90 no matter what the outside temp is, -8 to +40.

Cheers,

 

[HTC]

Should be 90° all the time once warmed up.

 

[TurboDave]

Cheers guys will get a new one asap .

 

[fingermouse]

could be temp sender also, they are about 20 quid to swap

 

[TurboDave]

I cant see it being the sender as the temperature doesnt fluctuate like an electrical fault, just goes to 60 whe driving and 90 in traffic which is classic thermostat but I just wanted to make sure.

Cheers

 

[metricspaces]

I had the same problem with my engine temperature being well below 90. I got a new thermostat and it sorted the problem out - now after less than 5min driving it's up at 90 and sticks there.

Your thermostat is possibly stuck open...which ends up in the engine being cooled constantly, so you never get up to 90 degrees.

 

[Nilz]

Mine is always stuck at 90 once the car has heated up and is driven, no matter what the temp is out side.

 

[Raggy A4]

Correct me if im wrong but the temp gauge on the dials is an oil temp is it not?

Anyway if it goes beyond 90 C you will have a cracked/leaky head gasket, so just hope its a faulty gauge sensor mate.

 

[Raggy A4]

Oh and another thing do you have an air filter? If so it might be sucking in too much cold air due to winter weather (if you have a cold air feed) this will make the temp drop below 90c, until your car is at a stand still then the temp will go up, due to no cold air intake. Hope this helps mate. (I had the same problem with my Mk3 Golf, always sitting at 75-80c)

 

[TurboDave]

Correct me if im wrong but the temp gauge on the dials is an oil temp is it not?

Anyway if it goes beyond 90 C you will have a cracked/leaky head gasket, so just hope its a faulty gauge sensor mate.

Oh and another thing do you have an air filter? If so it might be sucking in too much cold air due to winter weather (if you have a cold air feed) this will make the temp drop below 90c, until your car is at a stand still then the temp will go up, due to no cold air intake. Hope this helps mate. (I had the same problem with my Mk3 Golf, always sitting at 75-80c)

It is water temperature and not oil temperature and tbh to say if it goes beyond 90 degrees its a cracked head or leaking HG is a bit crazy there are numerous things which could cause a fluctutation in temperature such as a sticky thermostat, blocked rad/pipe, detonation, etc etc I'm not being funny but need to state it incase somebody reads through the thread.

With regards to the air intake this would only have a tiny effect on running temperatures and EGT's because the air is superheated and compressed as soon as it enters the tutbos compressor .

 

[666markyboy]

Interesting thread.... my Quattro was always around 90 in the summer but in this cold weather it's been down at 60 cruising on the motorway... i just put it down to the cold weather... think i'll change the stat and see what happens... are they a dealer part or will the local BMS have them ??

 

[ScottSummerhayes]

Mine doesn't move off 90C !

 

[NHN]

IMHO Its perfectly normal to do that tbh, 90 is standard most of year, when you stick heaters on a fair whack in this cold weather aswell it takes heat of the car anyway so the temp drops given its water temp not oil, had my S3 for 7 years & it was perfectly normal to drop down like this to 60, remember the old days when the car was overheating & you had to get to the garage to fix, you stuck the heaters on & it dropped the temps down massively so didnt blow, anyway if its anything its the temp sender on the front right pipe, the ever so common green one is replaced tbh, these are feck all to buy & take about 1 min to replace.

But I dont think you need to replace anything, but given how cheap do what you want fella, but I wouldnt worry tbh

 

[[Dave B]]

It's the thermostat, i've had the same problem. It's not the temp sensor, I tired that first and it had no effect.

 

[golf]

Mine also does this, does anyone have the part number and price for the thermostat? Might as well get it sorted.

 

[TurboDave]

Mine also does this, does anyone have the part number and price for the thermostat? Might as well get it sorted.

Cheers for the infor guys, I rang my local trusted motor factors and I'm having one tomorrow £8.50 all in with a new gasket .

 

[metricspaces]

The part number is for the thermostat is 050121113C. The seal to go with it is 038121119B.

You might also want to replace the tempsender. The part number for this is 059919501A, the seal to go with it is 90316802.

 

[bantam1]

Yep this is thermostat - some really good misinformation at points in this thread!!

 

[metricspaces]

It might be a good idea to create a sticky thread for common problems with S3's. Like

- Thermostat
- Tempsender
- Clutch pedal snapping
- MAF
- Window sticking down
- Volume problems with Concert I

You could include the following info with it

- Symptoms of Problem
- Part numbers
- Info\links to how to fix it
- Cost of parts\labour

Other useful ones would be info (part numbers + prices, labour) on services so

- Oil change (oil filter, oil)
- Yearly service (oil filter, oil, air filter, pollen filter, etc.)
- 20K service
- 40K service

 

[NHN]

Dont be daft, would take all the fun out of it & be to sensible, lol

Nah good idea tbh, but a quick search of the site would find alot of this info already anyway, just laziness mostly as you keep seeing repeat threads asking same things cause no one wants to bother searching, cant have a sticky for everything, you'd be scrolling forever down until see new threads

 

[metricspaces]

True, can't sticky everyting! But you could have one sticky for common problems and one sticky for service info.

Either way, this site is great. I use the search and get lots of info. Only wish I didn't have to keep having problems!

There's always something. I resprayed my bonnet about 4 months ago...and last week, bang, a truck hurls a stone up and three nice big deep scratches on my nice spotless bonnet..grrr..more money. I'm tempted to just get one of those companys that paint scratches...but probably just best to get the entire thing resprayed, again.

 

[NHN]

bonnets are ***** for repairs, but for what it costs its worth a try, got mates who do that & they can come of with a totally oem job as though nothing was there before repaired

Yeah but site has all this info already to search it out, for example the popular ones on 8P are RNS-E & FBMFSW, do they search, do they feck, lol, they start new thread & round we go even though there's maybe hundreds of threads with all install info & answers to all questions, laziness if we're honest & to a point all guilty. I keep getting PM's asking technical info even though it says on my sig as below, I'll happily help on something I know but on the thread not PM so everyone learns from it huh

 

[dan-quattro]

Mine once warmed up never moves from 90c

 

[Mr.G]

Well said NHN!

 

[HTC]

IMHO Its perfectly normal to do that tbh, 90 is standard most of year, when you stick heaters on a fair whack in this cold weather aswell it takes heat of the car anyway so the temp drops given its water temp not oil, had my S3 for 7 years & it was perfectly normal to drop down like this to 60, remember the old days when the car was overheating & you had to get to the garage to fix, you stuck the heaters on & it dropped the temps down massively so didnt blow, anyway if its anything its the temp sender on the front right pipe, the ever so common green one is replaced tbh, these are feck all to buy & take about 1 min to replace.

But I dont think you need to replace anything, but given how cheap do what you want fella, but I wouldnt worry tbh

I see your logic, but it is not normal. Common yes, due to the unreliable thermostats fitted from the factory, but not as Audi intended. The engine is designed to run at 90°C. The cooling system is very efficient, so the thermstat has to do more work, ie controlling flow with heater switched on. Extended fluctuating or low cooling temps can speed up engine wear and is not desirable.

 

[TurboDave]

Replaced the thermostat today and however I drive and whatever I have the heaters on the temp still sits at 90 which I'm well happy about!

Nobody told me how much of a nightmare they are to change though! I'm going to be having nightmares about that bottom 10mm bolt tonight!!

 

[HTC]

Glad you have it fixed.

 

[Westy]

Replaced the thermostat today and however I drive and whatever I have the heaters on the temp still sits at 90 which I'm well happy about!

Nobody told me how much of a nightmare they are to change though! I'm going to be having nightmares about that bottom 10mm bolt tonight!!

If we'd told you how much of a nightmare it was you would have put it off for months like some of the other people on here

 

[TurboDave]

If we'd told you how much of a nightmare it was you would have put it off for months like some of the other people on here

Good point , Idd much rather do it myself than pay a garage £50 or something silly to do it, plus now I know its done properly now!

 

[Westy]

I did mine myself too with the help of a mate. I lost my cool with that bottom bolt and my mate had to do it for me as I was close to launching the socket set into the nearest bush!

 

[TurboDave]

I kept dropping the socket down off the ratchet but I dont some breathing exercises and continued! Undoing it was the hardest bit and the loom for the alternator kept getting in the way, after about 30 minutes I was setting the wratchet up to take the alternator out of the way but I had one last go and it undone!

 

[HTC]

I use some silicone to hold the bolt to a 5mm ball headed allen key. Proper fiddily though.

 

[Nilz]

OK just noticed yesterday morning that my temp needle is reaching 90 and then fluctuating between 80, 85 and 90...Is this a sign that the thermostat is going, or is it normal and nothing to worry about??

I do mainly motorway driving and usually have the heaters on, I did post earlier that it normally sticks on 90 no matter what, but obviously I have jinxed it!!!

 

[jimbo_123]

Temp neddle should normally stick at 90 no matter what the ambient temp (especially in the UK) or driving conditions are.
I would say that you stat is playing silly buggers or something wierd going on with the electrics... I hope this helps!

Cheers,

 

[S3 Rav]

nilz mate get your thermostat changed

 

[NHN]

I use some silicone to hold the bolt to a 5mm ball headed allen key. Proper fiddily though.

lol, I use superglue on some jobs like this, works a treat

OK just noticed yesterday morning that my temp needle is reaching 90 and then fluctuating between 80, 85 and 90...Is this a sign that the thermostat is going, or is it normal and nothing to worry about??

I do mainly motorway driving and usually have the heaters on, I did post earlier that it normally sticks on 90 no matter what, but obviously I have jinxed it!!!

Well if you're going down the motorway at 70-80 with heaters on then it will drop a tad cause you're effectively taking heat away from the engine cooling & given the temps have droped again IMHO I'd say its normal, its when it gets down to 60 or below that the therm could be an issue, but saying this I never had that issue & saw it at 60 a few times, I think some people are reading maybe a little to much into this issue, just keep an eye on it for any major fluctuations then worry about it mate, I dont think you've got anything wrong at the moment, but of course everyone's been wrong at some point but yours doesnt seem to suggest anything bad

 

[Nilz]

it doesnt seem to go below the 80 point at all and it only started yesterday (that i noticed anyway)

Am i going to have probs, or will it cause any damage??

 

[NHN]

TBH if its only doing when on motorway with heaters on & in cold weather then for me that tells you alot, if it starts to change to much lower then worry, shouldnt cause any issues tbh, but if it gives you piece of mind change it mate.

 

[Nilz]

Cheers for the replies guys, I will keep an eye on it and if its drops around town, then I will look into getting it changed, also for info, has anyone got a diagram/pic or info on where i would find it, if i was to change it, also would it be better to get from somewhere like GSF or Euro Car Parts, or better to get from Audi directly??