Just took car out of storage.. a couple minor problems

[haas1714]

Hey all.. I just took my car (2001.5 6spd) out of winter storage because i sold my winter beater for an obscene amount.. having two technical difficulties:

The low beam headlights / DRL's dont seem to be working. checked the bulbs and both fuses.. all appear to be fine. when the switch is pushed up to turn on the interior lights/ low beam headlights all the red lights on the dash come on and the indicator on the dash does as well.. however the headlights never turn on... my high beams function as normal (so ive been blinding traffic for the last 3 days after nightfall).

I have a Canadian car that doesn't have the xenons.. so im wondering if there is a relay i should be checking on first. is it possible for the switch is broken even though all the other lights in the car come on.

Secondly.. the coolant temperature gauge is currently not moving when the car is started.. at first after a few starts it would work as normal and then the next time it would stay at 0. a couple times it went up to 87~90 afgter start up and then slowly fell back down. also i have not experienced a CEL as of yet. rad hose at front top of engine bay gets warm, gauge doesnt move if allowed to idle either.. and still blows warm air.. also.. one time the gauge climbed to normal operating temp when it was sitting at zero after an hour or so of driving... all leading me to think it is a sensor problem and hopefully not the thermostat.

I live on prince edward island .. there is no audi dealer here and sourcing parts has become a chore.. this is the only reason i ask such newb questions. its not as easy as running to the store to grab a relay or sensor to make the potentially simple fix haha..

[black99.5a4]

headlight switch is bad. when the headlights dont come on, but you can push the high beams to come on, then its the stalk. its common on b5's.

sounds like the coolant temp sensor could be bad, but I would try to find VAGCOM (might be hard) to check and see if the gauge isnt bad in the cluster itself.

[haas1714]

when the key is first turn to power up the accessories (engine cold or otherwise).. the gauge does move up ever so slightly.. does that mean anything or could it still be a botched gauge

[black99.5a4]

that's hard to say.. my gauge when the car is cold, doesnt move until the engine actually warms up

[haus4]

It sounds like your coolant temp sensor is bad. There known to good bad on our cars. As for the headlights, the stalk is place it could be bad. I would check the relay and see if your getting power. Also see if the relay pulls in and is working properly.

[haas1714]

the relays are located behind the fuse panel correct.. i noticed that they all have different numbers on them. which is the one that i am after or is it in the manual or written anywhere on the car

[ashrafnisar]

I disabled my DRL's because I'm running HID's in my car, and I believe it was relay 209, position #9. That's just from memory so please double check it or I'll check for the relay in my car and get back to this thread. GL.