temp gauge going crazy?

[Mr.Audi]

Few questions for the guru's.

I was driving home from work when all of the sudden i notice the engine temp
gauge was moving in ways i had never seen. It warmed up fine and was holding at "normal" or in the middle for most of the ride. Now when i glanced down i saw it first go to mid way between cold/normal, then it went all the way down to cold.... It moved back and forth for the next few seconds from cold to normal, then back to cold, stopped in between cold and normal and then went back to normal where it stayed the rest of the drive. NEver went to hot/over heating. No cel's either. Coolant level is inbetween min/max... no problems there. Anyone ever hear or see anything like this?Thanks in advance for the time!!
jesse

ooooh, can anyone tell me how to reset the service message in the middle of the gauge cluster.... i tried the manual way and it didnt work!

[widgget]

i've always reset the message by clearing all the codes in vagcom.

about the gauge, that's exactly what i think it is, a bad gauge. I don't THINK a bad sensor is going to read like that and i also don't believe that even if it was working that it would be able to take readings that fast, so that leaves the gauge/dash cluster.

[ottyavant]

mine was going haywire like that about 6 months ago, my temp sensor went out luckily it was still under warranty

[ecjr173]

Few questions for the guru's.

I was driving home from work when all of the sudden i notice the engine temp
gauge was moving in ways i had never seen. It warmed up fine and was holding at "normal" or in the middle for most of the ride. Now when i glanced down i saw it first go to mid way between cold/normal, then it went all the way down to cold.... It moved back and forth for the next few seconds from cold to normal, then back to cold, stopped in between cold and normal and then went back to normal where it stayed the rest of the drive. NEver went to hot/over heating. No cel's either. Coolant level is inbetween min/max... no problems there. Anyone ever hear or see anything like this?Thanks in advance for the time!!
jesse

ooooh, can anyone tell me how to reset the service message in the middle of the gauge cluster.... i tried the manual way and it didnt work!

Its your temp sensor. i just replaced mine about a week ago. My gauge was jumping from normal to cold and then back. As far as the reset its in your manual.

[Mr.Audi]

now it has only happened last night on the way home, is that something that i can take to the dealer and explain what is happening and they will just say..." oh yeah it is this.." and fix it. Or will it be a case of, " well its not exhibiting the issues at this time, so were not sure whats going on, or nothing is wrong."


Should i be worried that the car could be running hot/overheating and i may not be aware of it?


And it is just the coolant temp sensor, not the thermostat..., I never lost heat in the car,
or could it be anything eles?? what do you guys think?

[CyberPMG]

It's the coolant temp sensor starting to go bad. There might be a code thrown that they can scan to see and then replace the sensor. Several people have had this exact same issue.

[illaudiill]

sensor problem

[Mr.Audi]

THNX everyone!

[b6onboost]

coolant temp sensor. get the green top replacement at ECS. $15 fix.

[JeffAhn]

I've had similar issues and it ended up being the gauge itself - when my ECT went, car didn't even want to hold idle.

The ect however, is cheap enough to replace so that's recommended...but install is a bit of a pain.

[JumboBlack1.8]

Could also be your T-stat....I was having the same problem too. Changed my temp sensor and it did nothing. Changed the T-stat, and now I'm back to normal. But start with the sensor first, since its cheaper and easier to replace

[suds_zville]

Yup, sounds like ECT. Replaced my last month - boy that thing is squeezed in a tight spot.

$7 from Autozone.

Here's a link for a DIY.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng47.shtml

[Turb_Oh_A4]

Autozone. thats where i got mine too, and it works perfectly.

[doublezero30]

Its your temp sensor. i just replaced mine about a week ago. My gauge was jumping from normal to cold and then back. As far as the reset its in your manual.

correct. it is the temp sensor. its about a $25 sensor, located in the back on the valve cover. a4mods.com has a write up on replacement. i have replaced mine as well.

[Turb_Oh_A4]

Im guessing that guy forgot to read^^

[doublezero30]

^^and why is that? because i am agreeing with everyone? or because i listed cost at the dealer and not autozone?

[Turb_Oh_A4]

Dealer

Why would you recommend that?

[doublezero30]

because i mean, for fucks sake its only $25 and you drive an audi. i would never put autozones crappy parts in my audi. my 99 POS nissan maxima was another story.

[Turb_Oh_A4]

Well, for your 25 bucks, you could have gotten me, you and the OP a new sensor and us all double cheeseburgers to eat once we got done installing them.

I'll never give the dealer any more of my money because they are crooked piece of shit business people. i saved 17 bucks on a sensor that i bought for 70 at the VW dealership. So would you buy the 282 dollar transmission mount that the retard at the parts counter couldnt even point out, or go with the $70 dollar one from somewhere else? oh, and if you buy the mount the 300 and something dollar subframe is recommended also.

[Mr.Audi]

took it to the dealer and had them check it out...
and it was a bad coolant temp sensor. Covered under warranty(aftermarket) they also caught to oil leaks from behind the timing cover also... only cost me $100 for $1350 worth of repairs!! not to shabby

[EBG 18T]

Could also be your T-stat....I was having the same problem too. Changed my temp sensor and it did nothing. Changed the T-stat, and now I'm back to normal. But start with the sensor first, since its cheaper and easier to replace

same here. tried the green top sensor first. ended up being the thermostat.

[fitch303]

I had the same problem, turned out the thermostat was bad.