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Cooling question....its bass ackwards.

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S

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
If I allow my car to idle it will warm up to a maximum of half way on the gauge, at which point the fan will cool it off. It has never gone past the half way mark. Now here is the question, when on the highway the temp gauge is in the middle of the white block on the left hand side (@ approximatley 100 km/h). On one trip I took the old beast past 150 km/h and the temp gauge was as far left into the "cold" area as it could be. What would cause the temp gauge to give these false readings, I hope they are false readings.
Thanks,
Mike
BTW Its a 90 8v Jetta with Digifant
 
R

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#3 ·
Re: Cooling question....its bass ackwards. (Swollen)

Actually, (guys, let me know if I'm wrong) your engine will run cooler at higher speed. The faster your engine is turning, the faster the oil circulates, also the faster current of air helps remove excess heat from the bay. If you've ever been stuck in traffic and watched your temp, it starts to get hot, eventually your fan turns on. But once you get moving, the engine starts to cool down.
BUT, mine never sits all the way to the left, even on a super cold day.
 
O

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#5 ·
Re: Cooling question....its bass ackwards. (Swollen)

Still sounds like the thermostat... I thought it was normal too, but one day coming home on a long trip it dropped into the cold like that and the car started to run like crap. I had to stop and let it warm up, drive for 10 miles, stop etc.... eventually i stuck a piece of cardboard in front onf the radiator to get it home
. Still had barely any heat though and it was arse freezing cold out! Replaced theromostat and it was as good as new.
 
V

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#6 ·
Re: Cooling question....its bass ackwards. (Red2)

The engine warms up (half way on the gauge) the stat opens and closes to keep the engine at it's optimum temp (half way on the gauge), as you drive along the radiator cools the water more than the engine heats it as a result the stat closes a bit to keep the engine hot (half way on gauge), in traffic you loose the air cooling on the radiator, that makes the stat open fully and shortly after the cooling fan will come on (a little over half way on gauge). The engine has to be hotter than normal for the fan to come on or it would be on while driving.
If the stat's stuck open the coolant will get colder the faster you go, that will result in a temp sensor thinking the engine needs more fuel.



[Modified by Vdubs, 11:11 PM 11-28-2001]
 
G

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#10 ·
Re: Cooling question....its bass ackwards. (Swollen)

Thermostat. Yes your car will run cooler at higher speeds because of the airflow but that much of a drop is not normal. Mine did the same and replacing the thermostat raised the temp up to a little below 1/2way instead of it falling down to almost cold again.
 
N

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#12 ·
Re: Cooling question....its bass ackwards. (Swollen)

Highest My temp gauge will hit is just a little over half, but that's on a hot day, running the a/c, running pretty high rpm's - Usually about a third of the way across the graph is normal operation though.
 
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eastcoastdubs
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