not warming up

[MarkWales]

What is it likely to be fan constantly running or thermostat stuck open - are either of these common faults on a 2001 sharan/ alhambra TDI ?

got the car up to 90 on the dash climbing a steep hill yesterday on the decent it dropped back down to nothing - checked the heater temp and was far from warm

I dont drive the car often but the other half tells me it never warms up

Thanks in advance

 

[DPJ]

I'd say thermostat stuck open.

 

[GlanzaV]

Agreed.

 

[MarkWales]

thats what I guessed at also

 

[jynx288]

i have a 2004 alhambra which seems to take ages to warm up. imean i can do an 8 mile journey it it still wouldn't have reached a decent temp. could my thermostat be faulty??

 

[MarkWales]

going to have a look at this in the morning

down side VAGCAT is down it seems

 

[Lambchop]

Mine just started doing the same, so i changed the thermostat and it's STILL the same....
any ideas?

 

[DPJ]

Mine takes quite a while for the coolant to hit normal temps in sub-zero conditions. Much quicker when it's above zero outside.

 

[andycupra]

thermostat or temperature sensor/sender

 

[MarkWales]

got the thermostat - not fitted it yet

 

[Leonidas]

I find turning the recirculation button take less heat from the engine also. When the engine is warm I turn it off of course.

 

[baztdi]

Yes agree - got to be the thermostat (1st option) then sender (2),you would hear the fan if it was running all the time,obviously in the cold weather my car takes a little longer to warm up,but once up to 90 then the guage is fairly stable.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

I've got a similar problem with mine. Chances are your Auxilliary Heater has a fault. This heater is basically to warm up the coolant when the outside temperature goes below 4 or 5 degrees. Because TDI engines create so little heat normally they need a boost so the engine can warm up and the coolant can supply warmth for the in car heating. There are numerous possible faults that can occur - glow plugs, fuelling and the auxilliary water pump are a few. Easieat thing is to either ignore this, or get an independant to plug in to the fault memory to get the code.

 

[Nath.]

I've got a similar problem with mine. Chances are your Auxilliary Heater has a fault. This heater is basically to warm up the coolant when the outside temperature goes below 4 or 5 degrees. Because TDI engines create so little heat normally they need a boost so the engine can warm up and the coolant can supply warmth for the in car heating. There are numerous possible faults that can occur - glow plugs, fuelling and the auxilliary water pump are a few. Easieat thing is to either ignore this, or get an independant to plug in to the fault memory to get the code.

What have glow plugs and fueling got to do with the coolant not getting up to temp?

 

[Lambchop]

got mine sorted finally it turned out to be the Temp sensor, bit of a bugger to get to but once the fuel fillter was out of the way not to bad but if you have to do yours make sure you get a new "retaining clip" for the sensor as they're only plastic and brake easy

 

[bulls20042002]

What have glow plugs and fueling got to do with the coolant not getting up to temp?

On the TDI there is a second heater unit under the car buy the passenger door. Its a totally separate heater unit that runs like a generator when the outside temp drops below 5.
this has its own fuel supply & spark plug to run it.
these units always fail.
You need to change the spark plug & get the fault code reset.then the car will warm up is 2 mins

 

[James_R]

Hate to point out the obvious but WATER PUMP!?!

the heaters are the highest point in the cooling system and the water needs serious force to be pumped all the way to the matrix - any fault with it and you'll get crazy temps and cold heaters. the engine not getting warm could be a sign of blockage or poor circulation.

The function of the secondary heater is not a pre-heating system like you would find in extremely cold countries - on the alhambra it functions to keep the heaters warm when the engine has been turned off for any period of time.

you wont get coolant problems if the heater unit malfunctions and it'll make no difference with regards to heating the engine up as stated above.

 

[andycupra]

On the TDI there is a second heater unit under the car buy the passenger door. Its a totally separate heater unit that runs like a generator when the outside temp drops below 5.
this has its own fuel supply & spark plug to run it.
these units always fail.
You need to change the spark plug & get the fault code reset.then the car will warm up is 2 mins

ey???

 

[James_R]

ey???

its not correct mate, not correct at all.