HI

I have noticed a problem that only happend when it's cold so i have to wait each year to try and fix it, it's basicly a problem with keeping heat in the engine, I wondered if someone else with a 1.9 tdi can let me know if they have the same problem.

during the cold spells once the temp gets down bellow 5c i have the heating full on, if i am sat in a a queue of traffic with the fan on 1 then the engine temp starts to go down and it starts to get cold in the car, i have to build the revs up slightly to keep any heat comming out.

in the current weather conditions if i am friving at 50 to 60 with heat on full and fan on 2 the engine starts to cool down, if i am doing 70+ it seems fine and i can keep blower on 2 but not above as the engine starts to cool down.

when i fist got the car a few years a go, i bought it at end of feb so didn't notice the problem, I only noticed it near the end of the 1 year warrenty, so they only managed to replace the thermostat ( i know it's not got one of them but they replaced what ever it is that used to be the thermostat) this hasn't made any difference.

has anyone else seen this or have this problem as well.

thanks in advance

Tom

My Fabia vRS will loose engine temp in cold weather if i've got the heaters on and stationary, in fact, i keep the fans off untill the engine reaches temp, which can sometimes depending on the journey be 10-15mins..

Diesels are a more efficient engine, so produce less heat (wasting less energy) so will naturally be harder to keep warm in cold weather..

Kev

Edited 8 January, 201016 yr by Jabbasport

Can't say I've noticed this (1.9 Elegance, so full climate control).

it makes me feel better that it's not just my car. thank you it's a pitty really, i was trying to think of ways to stop the engine from llosing heat, like partialy blocking the front grill but that wouldn't help in queue's!

cheers

Tom

Turn on air recirculation when your stuck in traffic. [a] Less fumes get drawn into your car No cold air is drawn in so the heater matrix stays hot. Simples.

good idea, i'll be sat in traffic on the way home, i'll give that a go then, it didn't ocur to me to use that as i normally shy away from it as it makes the car hot and misty in the summer (should have thought about the hot)

cheers

Tom

good idea, i'll be sat in traffic on the way home, i'll give that a go then, it didn't ocur to me to use that as i normally shy away from it as it makes the car hot and misty in the summer (should have thought about the hot)

cheers

Tom

The air does get a bit stale if you leave it on recirc for too long, so best to use it when stuck in traffic and during initial warm up.

Same happens with 1.4TDI

Have you ever had the thermostat changed ? It should open & close to regulate the Engine temp, Sounds like your's is sticking open, They are not expensive & easy enough to fit.. A garage will not charge you the earth to do this & it should cure your issues.

On a vectra Cdti i owned it did the same & this was aggrevated in winter, Changed the Stat & it was rock solid once up to temp afterwards.

My Fabia diesel estate will stick at 90 Degs all day, stood still, fan on.Moving or not ....

Dean

Which proves pretty much nothing Dean; VAG design the temperature guages on the diesels so that they read 88 to 90 deg C any time the actual engine temperature is between 70C and 100C!

they replaced the thermostat (or what ever it's called now) when i first brought to there attention but it made no differance at all so don't think it can be that, the air recirc was a great idea it speeded up the initial warm up, forgot it was on at one point and noticed the windows were starting to mist but by then the engine was warm enough so i put it back to normal.

i would love a propper fix to this, i would get the thermostat changed again but with funds low i am reluctant to just go and do it a risk no change a t all again. to be fair it's not like it gets this cold very often and most of the time the temp in the car is spot on, so might just live with the air recirc, car is due a chnage in a few years.

my wife has a vectra estate which doesn't have the same problem but the eninges are so different that it's almost not worth compainring them in this respect

cheers

Tom

Which proves pretty much nothing Dean; VAG design the temperature guages on the diesels so that they read 88 to 90 deg C any time the actual engine temperature is between 70C and 100C!

Well it does prove something ... That a PD diesel engine can hold a indicated static temperature like many others, which is unlike the Posters car.....

paperclip69. As for a vectra Diesel engine being completely different, Well Yes, it is made by Fiat & No, It's not completely different, It's a diesel !! they compress the Diesel Oil & it ignites & as per all diesels they take longer to warm up in colder weather, especially if engine speed/load is low & in really cold weather (as per now) if the engine does not get up to the thermostats operating temps , it may will/probably drop in temp when idling Etc.. That is why a Thermostat was introduced ... Which is also common across all diesel engine's.

I was asking a question (Has the stat been changed) to which the poster answered

Another ....

Does the car actually get up to Temp ?

Did the Garage that changed the Stat, replace the whole unit, sender & all or re-use the old temp sender ...

What happens if you block half of your front grill off to airflow ... Does it get upto temp sooner & hold it ...

Or shall we just all Bicker & be as constructive as a Wrecking Ball....

Edited 11 January, 201016 yr by dfullb

Well it does prove something ... That a PD diesel engine can hold a indicated static temperature like many others, which is unlike the Posters car.....

Contrarywise, unless I'm misunderstanding something here. My point was that, unless the engine is less than half-warm or actually overheating, the guage will show the same value regardless of the actual water temperature, which can be significantly different to the guage value.

i am not sure how much the garage changed out when they did it, i would imagine it was just the thermostat as it was a warrenty job.

i was going to block half the grill but wasn't sure of what was best to use, and the temp guage never goes over the half way mark so i know the thermostat is doing something at least it's not going to ruin the engine by over heating.

i find it interesting that some people have noticed the same problem with the car but not others, i can't imagine that people would put up with it in colder countries where this sort of temperature is normal, so it still feels as if it's more like a fault.

cheers

Tom

Contrarywise, unless I'm misunderstanding something here. My point was that, unless the engine is less than half-warm or actually overheating, the guage will show the same value regardless of the actual water temperature, which can be significantly different to the guage value.

I was going by your statement

"VAG design the temperature guages on the diesels so that they read 88 to 90 deg C any time the actual engine temperature is between 70C and 100C!"

So surely if paperclip69's car Temp gauge is showing less than that (88 - 90), Then according to the above, The engine coolant temp must be less than 70 C.

I know that if a diesel car does not get up to operating temps, any point before that if the speed/load drops Etc, Then the temp display can show a fall/reduction.

As for the grill covering, Just try the good ole fashioned way of good quality triple folded Tinfoil Bling

Cheers.

Dean

Edited 12 January, 201016 yr by dfullb