could anyone let me know if anyone has had this problem ref overheating only when driving the temp guage goes from 90 c to 120 c and as soon as i pull over and let it idle it goes down i,ve lost no water and the fans are cutting in.i can leave it idling for a hour and the temp keeps at 90 c.a bit of a weird situation. :confused:

Looking at your 'mods' is the car breathing ok? No blocked filters etc?

Sounds like the temp sensor is duff....common problem.

If you can get VAGCOM have a check of the error code.

yeah filters are alright its a bit confusing cause you would think the air coming through when driving would cool it more than when sitting idling and it does it when driving on motorways and that air must be cold engough to make b*****ks the size of peas

i thought that at first but it only does it once its up to running temp not like first thing in the morning or when engine slightly warm etc

I had that.

Turns out that the big fan wasn't working (you have 2 fans behind the radiator. Mine had siezed and needed replacing.

I had something similar too, but in my case it was the sensor connection had come loose, its located at the bottom of the rad on the right hand side as you face the engine bay....

water pump

water pump

Hmm not a nice thought but water pump mybe breaking up :thumbdwn: .

Don't quote me on that though. Just a thought

I had exactly the same problem.... and unforunately the water pump was the culprit.

I'd say its begun to break up, its working for slow driving/ low revs but higher speeds it isnt enough to keep cooling the engine. Its a very common issue with the 1.8t engine. Oh btw...expect to get a new cambelt also.

It could well be the water pump as mentioned or the temp sender. Does it flash up a warning to check coolant when driving at speed, ie, out of town? Or does it get hot when stationary?