Hi all,

 

I have a Mk2 VRS FL diesel.

 

ive noticed it takes anywhere from 15-20 mins for the oil temp and engine temp to get up to 90.

 

Is this normal or should I be looking at getting thermostat or even glow plugs replaced?

 

thanks

My Diesel is slow to warm up when the weather is cold so sounds normal enough.The  glow plugs only work to start the car if it is starting well I would leave them alone 

20 minutes is a long time for the coolant to show as at 90*oC even if the ambient temp is about freezing.

 

So what is the outside temp and how many miles are you travelling in that 20 minutes.   

 

The Oil might well take 6-10 miles or even more to show at near to 90*oc, but then that would depend on the outside temperature and speed you are driving at.

Twenty minutes, sometimes more, is what my 1.6  takes at current cold temperatures in urban driving. Only warms up fast on motorways or fast dual carriageways. Heavy loads and hills get it up to temp quicker still.

I have a regular three mile each way evening drive, returning a few hours later. At the end of the outward urban journey the temp needle has risen to about half way to 90. On the return journey it hits 90 about a mile before I arrive home.

Another similar but faster urban journey get the temp to normal at about four miles.

Sounds like yours could be similar but may be faster with the 2 L engine.

My previous Mk 1 Octavia was similar.

To be fair it’s mostly town driving but half of that is at 50mph around the outskirts of town. The outside temps have varied from 0 to 10 degrees and the car takes a little longer to warm up on the extreme lower of those temps.

 

ive noticed it seems sluggish to start from cold as well taking a little longer then I’d expect to turn over. This is why I thought glow plugs.

 

I think in any case I will get the glow plugs changed and grab a new thermostat whilst I’m at it on a preventative basis 

I bet there is nothing wrong with the glow plugs, slow startup at this time of year is pretty common. The battery is not capable of delivering the same CCA in cold temperatures, add in the thicker oil due to lower temp and the battery has one heck of a job to do.

 

Both my old Superb MK2 and old Octavia MK2 (Both 2.0 TDi) used to take ages to warm up in the winter, 20 minutes of town driving was about the norm before I got anywhere near 90 on the temp gauge.

 

I would not bother changing anything, your car sounds pretty normal in its cold weather behaviour.

1 hour ago, phil08 said:

To be fair it’s mostly town driving but half of that is at 50mph around the outskirts of town. The outside temps have varied from 0 to 10 degrees and the car takes a little longer to warm up on the extreme lower of those temps.

 

ive noticed it seems sluggish to start from cold as well taking a little longer then I’d expect to turn over. This is why I thought glow plugs.

 

I think in any case I will get the glow plugs changed and grab a new thermostat whilst I’m at it on a preventative basis 

Hi its your money you can do what you want but I agree with the above post I would leave alone no point spending money you don't need to.

At least measure the resistance of the old plugs first

Mines take bout 20 min to get to dash reading of 90 but that’s because iv had egr and egr cooler deleted , do you still have your fitted .?

My Octavia 2.0 TDI also takes quite a while to get to 90 degrees in the cold weather..... Diesels usually take longer to warm up than petrol engines

I’ve had plenty of diesel and petrol cars but this one defiantly takes the longest and this is the newest car I’ve had.

 

Car is 100% original. I’ll keep an eye on it and possibly wait on warmer weather to see if there is a problem or not