1.8T, my car overheats when turbo kicks in

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lukescotty

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hiya guys, i'm new to the forum, tried searching for my problem but can't seem to find a post relating to my problem

I have 1.8T A3 51plate, i don't know much about turbo'd cars as this is my first one.

My car's temperature is fine when I'm driving normal until I kick in abit of turbo, as soon as the turbo kicks in, the temperture rises to the maximum. Does anyone know what the problem maybe?

The fans work, but in my opinion they don't start kicking in early enough.

Also should I be able to heard the turbo whilst driving?

and does any one know what a standard 1.8T red lines at?

many regards lukescotty
 
seems a bit odd to be honest, when you say it shoots straight up, do you literally mean as soon as you go on boost the temp gauge goes all the way to the top from a normal 90 ?
 
yeah, normal driving = 90 degrees, but as soon as I put the foot down and allow for the turbo to boost, the temperature will rise to maximum from 90, if i pull up, fans kick in, and after say about 40 sec its fall back down to 90
 
Its fairly normal if you are not running aircon for the temp to rise under boost/spirited driving as not all the fans are in play and generally speaking the speed you are travelling 'should' help keep things cools... however... if you are saying the temp gauge rises to over 90 and you get an overheating icon on the DIS then this is most likely water pump failure...

A damaged impeller can keep things cool under normal conditions but if driving harder at higher revs it can't keep up and stuff will over heat... water pump impellers can also detach themselves completely and then the engine over heats as soon as you start moving...

If running with aircon off try turning it on and see if the temp remains ok... else it could well be the pump...

<tuffty/>
 
this is an odd problem in my eyes, when you say max do you mean 120 on the gauge, if so, i really do not see how simply going into boost for a matter of seconds would rise the temperate by 30 degrees, then again, 90 on the dash can actually mean 80 - 105, but even a 15 degree instant increase seems a little weird

have you looked at the temp on the centre console? channel 49 ?
 
hmm, just been running the car for a while, idling.. and it looks like its just over heating in general... so what you guys reakon? faulty pump?
 
Yep... sounds like it is... when was the cam belt done? they normally get changed at the same time... if yours wasn't then its almost definitely the pump...

<tuffty/>
 
any ideas how much it costs to replace? the car is going in for a service on monday, so hopefully he can do it then. Do they have to take the cambelt off to change the water pump? is it a big job?
 
lukescotty said:
any ideas how much it costs to replace? the car is going in for a service on monday, so hopefully he can do it then. Do they have to take the cambelt off to change the water pump? is it a big job?
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same level of work as changing a cambelt tbh... thats why its normally done at the same time...

I would check when the belt was last done on yours and maybe get the lot done (get the tensioner damper changed too) if there is more than 30k done since the last belt change...

<tuffty/>
 
almost certainly waterpump broken up, i had the exact same problem with my old a3 18t, the impeller breaks away from the shaft and so no longer circulates the coolant, there prone for it mate.... made if plastic thats why!! not sure if they do an alumnium replacement? would be the best option, although there only about 60 quid from audi..

get the w/pump and cambelt done and you'll be fine.... make sure to fish all the broken bits of w/pump out the system tho when its replaced otherwise a broken part of the old one will get lodged in the new one and trash that aswell..
 
cheer for the info dudes!

Service is costing me £140, how much extra cost, should i prepare myself for if i get the water pump changed + labour etc, (with or without cambelt change)

thanx for the replies people!
 
£200-£300 on average for cam belt, water pump and tensioner damper (only the belt and tensioner pulley typically gets replaced... tensioner dampers are known to fail but never get changed....)

<tuffty/>
 
i managed to get cambelt-tenioner and w/pump from TPS for 160 odd quid, then paid a guy to fit it for me for another 100, worth getting the bits yourself mate as if you just chuck it at the garage and say do this your basically writing them a blank cheque..!!
 
just thought i'd give u ad update.

So its been overheating, and i took it to the garage I know n trust pretty well, anyways they booked me in the next morning, had the car about 7 hours, check everything, took it for a drive.... and guess what... they couldn't find anything nor could they get it to over heat. head gasket checked, water pump etc... hes put it down that it could be an electrical fault somewhere. weird hey?? hmm at least i dont need to pay for a new head gasket which i was expecting. Good guys, a dodgey garage might have scammed me and told me i need a new head gasket or sumit :D happy days
 
since I had it back, no over heating (touch wood) I wonder if they've readjusted something when they checked everything, how is the temp stat checked? could it have been outta place, and they've put it back correctly without realising ?
 
Weirdly I have once had this issue with the exact same symptoms as described however it was on a Celica GT4 St185 Carlos Sainz Edition

Cutting a long story short it actually turned out to be a cracked cylinder head.

It had no other symptoms of overheating, perfomrance issues, oily coolant, mayo under oil cap, reduced compression etc etc and we were convinced it must have been a strange electrical fault. Eventually I decided to strip it all down just to double check and was confronted with a hairline fracture on the head which was penetrating the water jacket but only under boost. It was instantly superheating the coolant whenever you gave it some boost but then when you backed off and drove normally it would cool right back down quickly and you couldnt tell anything was wrong !
 
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