hello all

i think my CTS is failing

started my car tonight after it had been parked up for a few hours gauge was showing stone cold after a few mins idling the gauge still showed cold but the fan kicked in. the gauge always seems to work rite as i would have thought never goes over half way and goes up in what id have thought would be correct but i just can't see to think why the fan would kick in when its cold outside and the car had been parked up for hours.

any ideas?

thanks

chris

Yep CTS sounds like it needs replacing.

When mine went it went the other way though, it went into the red which made me panic but the coolant was actually still at around 90 degrees.

The fan will kick in if you leave it idling but I think it needs a good five minutes before it gets hot enough

ok cool

so are they expensive? easy to fit? where are they? can they effect the cars performance?

ok cool

so are they expensive? easy to fit? where are they? can they effect the cars performance?

Nope...

Yes...

Left side of the engine, you don't need to remove any covers etc.

Not that I noticed.

I got mine from Joily after someone on here suggested them, cost about £15 delivered and took 5 mins to swap but do it when cold as the coolant will empty onto your hands, you loose the header tank coolant but that's it.

5 mins to swap but do it when cold as the coolant will empty onto your hands, you loose the header tank coolant but that's it.

Only if you are slow!

Only if you are slow!

Fair point, I was a bit slow faffing about!

Fair point, I was a bit slow faffing about!

Prep is the key on this one, I found disconnecting the wiring loom plug difficult in situ, so removed the old CTS and o-ring, quickly inserted the new CTS with a new o-ring back in the hole, secured and then faffed about with the plug.

When you order the sensor see if you can get a small bottle of G12++ then you can top up any lost coolant with the correct mixture of G12++ and water rather than just water, just in case we get a really cold Jan and Feb.

I've got some g12 in the garage from my mk4 golf tdi would that be the same?

if the engine is cold (as in left over night to cool) there will be ABSOLUTELY NO coolant loss. the hotter the engine the more coolant you loose. did mine about 3 months ago so i can confirm the words i'm writing. either way, you only risk loosing about a cup of it, so nothing to worry about

Just been quoted £25 + vat from tps I thought they was cheaper then that.

Mine was £29 from TPS I think back in 2010. They can be bought cheaper online but they might not be genuine ones. I bought a Febi one online (http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2544) for less than a tenner and it failed a few days later so my local garage ordered and fitted the £29 genuine one.