Temperature gauge

[Stupra]

I have a 170PS Exeo ST. Very pleased with it, but I want to get others help on a query.
In this very cold weather, the temp.gauge takes ages to register "normal" (shall I say a vertical needle on the dial)

If I am going with the traffic, say 50 ish MPH, the gauge will actually never reach normal temp, but the heater works fine. I have actually seen it go DOWN as I drive along. I realise it is the thermostat no reaching ideal operating temperature, but has anyone else had this in these cold conditions??

 

[andyj]

Same here.

I think that the interior heater is actually a specific heater unit, and is not powered/heated by the engine coolant as on older models (eg a heater matrix), hence why the air is hot, but the coolant is still cold in these freexing conditions.

I have to admit though, the Exeo is the quickest car I've had at de-frosting the windscreen and the rear window.... This morning we had a very heavy frost in Derby, but I was heading off the drive within about 5mins of walking out the front door.

 

[Cbeal]

In my 8 hour (17 mile) commute home on Monday, I found it was always bumping along the bottom. It seems, that unless the engine is doing some real work it's not generating any real heat. It does take ages to reach operating temp. I put it down to being a diesel

 

[OFC]

I've noticed the same behaviour in the 2-3 hundred miles I've driven so far. The temperature gauge was showing 60-ish degrees whilst I was still pottering along in traffic (with a cold engine); it took me a good 30 mins to get out of town and I believe it was only when I hit the dual carriageway and was doing 60+ miles that the temperature gauge actually registered the "normal" you'd expect to see.

 

[chrispy]

Mine (diesel 143 SE) gets up to 'normal' (middle) temperature after about 5 miles.

Chris

 

[Loonyjuice]

Diesels are more thermally efficient than petrol engines, which is part of the reason they are more economical. Drive gently, on a cold day, and your temperature gauge will be slow to register - more so if you are using the heater, which is just another radiator don't forget! As already mentioned, slow warmup is part of owning a diesel.

 

[Stupra]

ITS COLD AGAIN!

Temperature gauge is at it again!! Heater works, but engine needs to be worked to register normal again. Sitting in traffic, it goes down.

 

[andyj]

I seem to recall either being told, or reading somewhere, that less than 10'C Diesels should have parts of the radiator covered, to reduce the amount of cold air getting to the rad, and therefore cooling the engine.

I also seem to recall reading about one of our Scandinavian Exeo owner friends, also doing something similair.... will have a search about this morning.

 

[jlindstrom]

I can definately confirm this.. cold weather -> engine not reaching normal temps. I'm also one of the scandinavian members and we have also had our share of extreme colds during the past couple of weeks. Last monday being worst, we had record colds at -22C. It's been the coldest november in something like the past 30-40 years.. worst parts of Finland hit over -30C.

Anyway, I have a 143 tdi exeo st. I had a really long drive on monday, covering a round trip of close to 700 kilometers. The engine _NEVER_ reached normal temps. Most of the driving was on country roads at around 80km/h. I even tried using lower gears (4th or 5th) for extended perioids.. it helped a little, but still wasn't good enough.

Despite this, cabin was nice and warm since exeo has electric heating elements in the air ducts which take care of the cabin at cold temps.

Tuesday wasn't as cold as monday but still around -16C and I had a 140km round trip to drive this time at speeds of 110km/h for most parts. At steep inclines the engine would reach normal running temp but on the following decline temps dropped immediately about 20 degrees C (in gauge down 2 "big" stops from the center 90 deg position".

And yes, I have the radiators fully covered. I bought a specifically made cover kit for my exeo. A local manufacturer makes these to cover both upper and lower grille. These help a lot, but not enough for extreme temps. I also have electric engine & cabin pre-heaters that I use for 1-2 hours before heading of to work during mornings.. cabin is nice & warm, no scarping of windows and engine is somewhere in the plus temps instead of being a frozen block of ice.

Friend of mine works at a local VAG specialist and I've had a quick chat about this with him.. he told me this is perfectly normal and to be expected from these low consumption diesels. They don't burn enough fuel to generate the required heat.. too efficient in a way. That's why we have the electric heaters in the air ducts and on some VAG models factory built-in webasto.

//Juha

 

[andyj]

Thanks for that useful information Juha, much appreciated

Kind of explains alot to be honest!

 

[mcdonald]

In a dutch Seat forum this is mentioned too. As Loonyjuice explains it has to do with the efficiency of diesel engines.

So far no issues with the temp.gauge of my petrol engine.

The only thing I noticed is that snow has access to the motor compartment under the hood. I did found lots of snow on my battery yesterday. The original A4 had a cover (Mfg Part #: 8E1819422A01C) over the battery for protection so next week I wil do some shopping to get one too.