We've had the new Fabia for coming up to a couple of weeks now and I just wanted to ask a question regarding the water temperature gauge on the dash.....

 

Basically when using the car from cold (Left overnight for instance) the water temperature gauge goes from 0 to 90 extremely quickly...... And by extremely quickly I mean for the first 30-60 seconds of driving it doesn't really move (As you would expect) but from 60-120 seconds it goes from 0 to 90!!!! Is this normal for the 1.0 TSI???? I've never seen a car do this so quickly saying the coolant is up to running temperature within 2 minutes of starting the car!!!!

 

 

I was thinking of mentioning it to the dealer but thought I'd check here first to see if it's just something this engine does.

Edited 18 August, 20196 yr by WaveyDavey

Well, that seems rather fast even though, by imbicilic design, once the water temperature goes above a set value, it goes pretty much straight to "normal" (say 88C) and stays there more or less until the engine boils or cools down.

Watercooled exhaust manifold makes temps go up quick

However it does not bring the coolant to 90*oC in 2 minutes in an ambient temp of say 20*oC.

I wish i had a fast boil kettle or Pressure Cooker that can get 4 litres to that temp in 2 minutes.

depends. i live right next to a 40 mph uphill road. so mine can get upto the middle of the dial in 2 minutes quite easily most of the times its about 4 minutes depends on hes driving conditions i guess i dunno

 

12 hours ago, WaveyDavey said:

We've had the new Fabia for coming up to a couple of weeks now and I just wanted to ask a question regarding the water temperature gauge on the dash.....

 

Basically when using the car from cold (Left overnight for instance) the water temperature gauge goes from 0 to 90 extremely quickly...... And by extremely quickly I mean for the first 30-60 seconds of driving it doesn't really move (As you would expect) but from 60-120 seconds it goes from 0 to 90!!!! Is this normal for the 1.0 TSI???? I've never seen a car do this so quickly saying the coolant is up to running temperature within 2 minutes of starting the car!!!!

 

 

I was thinking of mentioning it to the dealer but thought I'd check here first to see if it's just something this engine does.

 

Likely to be normal behaviour. 

Firstly, as Ken suggests, the indication of 90° doesn't necessarily reflect the true coolant temperature, I seem to remember that our Fabia gets to an indicated 90 when the actual coolant temperature as seen by the engine ECU is only 60-odd. 

Secondly, it's a small recent engine, designed to heat up really fast for emissions type-testing performance.

 

As above... it all depends on where you are driving.

Wife's EA189 golf will get up to temp in about 3-4 mins with 'blasting' heat from the heater. Why?

Her commute starts with about a mile on the flat followed by two miles up a steep hill. All at 50mph +



 

There are three cooling circuits in that engine controlled by ECU and valves. Once the cylinder an head reach the necesary temperature, some valves open and a rush of hot coolant goes to other circuits, this is also why the needle suddenly moves to 90.

 

Like they have said, for emissions and so on... 

Edited 19 August, 20196 yr by krigl

I spoke to the service desk at the local dealer during the week and to be honest they couldn't say whether it was normal or not!!!! In the end they seemed to edge towards it being normal behaviour...... 

 

My Fabia III 1.2 TSI when new in June 2016 would go up to 90 C within two miles of starting from cold.

 

It now takes about three miles in the summer and 4-5 miles in the winter.

I put this down to the engine being tight and new.

 

Also you can look at the oil temperature ( via the MFD ) which rises slower than the water temperature.

This doesn't start to show a temperature until the oil reaches 50 C.

 

The heater in the Fabia Petrol works very quickly especially compared to my previous Diesel car.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Temperature gauges in cars haven't been accurate for more than a good couple of decades. Manufacturers got bored with customers who worried when the engine was working hard and the temperature went up a bit, or when coasting downhill the temperature went down a bit. Better to think of it nowadays as a customer reassurance device rather than an actual gauge. Log your temperature sensors via the OBD port and you'll see how inaccurate the "gauge" is.

it seems a very good design from the video I posted. Less wear and tear, faster warming in winter, and significantly better fuel efficiency.

Isn't that more "Why does VW have an exhaust heated water jacket"?

The engine has a water jacket around the exhaust manifold (which is build into the head FYI).

This is designed to get the entire engine up to normal running temperatures as fast as possible so it is most efficient (cold engines are not efficient!).

 

Another benefit of this is you get your heater quicker in winter!

 

If coolant goes over 90c then you can worry but otherwise it's exactly as intended.

 

@inspectorman i wonder if there's any way to force it to show the exact current value, i'd be interested in doing that! (i drive a little more spritely than most)

17 minutes ago, FabiaGonzales said:

@inspectorman i wonder if there's any way to force it to show the exact current value, i'd be interested in doing that! (i drive a little more spritely than most)

Most (if not all) cars will have little variance in coolant temperature even if you thrash it, as water has a huge specific heat capacity. Noting that coolant is not 100% water but it's the water that does the job of cooling :P. Also noting that you should never thrash and then either immediately idle or shut off the engine.

In terms of thrashing, oil temp is vastly more important. (i don't know if any fabias have oil>water coolers but it would be nice if they did!)

 

6 minutes ago, abaxas said:

Most (if not all) cars will have little variance in coolant temperature even if you thrash it, as water has a huge specific heat capacity. Noting that coolant is not 100% water but it's the water that does the job of cooling :P. Also noting that you should never thrash and then either immediately idle or shut off the engine.

In terms of thrashing, oil temp is vastly more important. (i don't know if any fabias have oil>water coolers but it would be nice if they did!)

 

 

The Oil temperature reading seems to max out about 108c (ive not seen it go above that, generally its below 100 when im just dribbling about around town, or around 105 ish on the motorway).

@abaxas

Happens that your Anti Freeze / Summer Coolant has H20 in the mix, Waterless Coolants do not. The Coolant with water has a different freezing point and boiling point from water, 

it is pressurised and the ratio is important.

 

The Coolant heats to get the engine and engine oil to temp, then the Oil is a coolant & lubricant. Coolants job is to bring the Engine / Engine Oil temp down to the efficient operating temp, in the low 90's as soon as it can when it is higher.

The Radiator / Air is what cools the Coolant by air passing through, pushed through while driving, and drawn through if the fan is behind when a fan or fans run.

Its the way Water Cooled engines have been for long enough.

Edited 30 August, 20196 yr by Roottootemoot