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Anonymous Posted on Jan 14, 2010

2003 VW Jetta 1.8T Temp Guage/False Overheating Issue

Hello,

I have a 2003 VW Jetta GL 1.8T 4 Cyl.
My problem is a strange one... My temperature gauge on my dashboard is reading that my car is overheating and buries the needle in the 260*F end, however the car is running fine, not overheating... if anything its running a bit cool.
This reading tends to go up when driving uphill, and goes down when going downhill. If I stop it "cools off" within a period of seconds and the gauge drops back to 190* almost as fast as it would when you turn the car off.

Here's the strange part... when the heat is on, and that needle starts to point to the 260* line my heat blows cold air at me. I have already replaced the temp coolant sensor, and it hasn't done a thing. I went to advance and that was the only code that showed up, so I'm at a bit of a loss. Help, please?

  • Anonymous Jan 15, 2010

    The engine itself is not actually overheating, it would not cool down to 190 in a matter of seconds if it was really cooking at 260... The engine itself seem to run a bit cooler if anything. The ONLY time it blows cold air is when the gauge reads it is at 260. Once the gauge drops below the 260 line it blows hot air again.

    If my reading for the engine is at 260, and I stop the car, the reading on my gauge drops back to 190 as quickly as if I turned my car off, and the power was cut to the gauges. I have also opened the hood of the car, checked my coolant levels, and made sure the engine was not overheating. It is not. I will change the theromostat and see if that is it, and hopefully thats the only problem.

  • Anonymous Jan 15, 2010

    The engine itself is not actually overheating, it would not cool down to 190 in a matter of seconds if it was really cooking at 260... The engine itself seem to run a bit cooler if anything. The ONLY time it blows cold air is when the gauge reads it is at 260. Once the gauge drops below the 260 line it blows hot air again.

    If my reading for the engine is at 260, and I stop the car, the reading on my gauge drops back to 190 as quickly as if I turned my car off, and the power was cut to the gauges. I have also opened the hood of the car, checked my coolant levels, and made sure the engine was not overheating. It is not. I will change the theromostat and see if that is it, and hopefully thats the only problem.

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  • Posted on Jan 15, 2010
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Your car is cooking!!!! if your heater starts to blow cold air its got an air lock in the system and need to be blead out to get this air out of the water jaket in the engine sounds like your gauge is working fine to me, its screeming at you to stop! as its over heating the engine, look under your hood for the water hoses you should find a hose with a kind of nut or screw in it at the higest point on a water hose, this is the bleed point, fill the rad up with water and turn on the heater to hot only do this when the engine is COLD undo this screw or nut start the engine up and watch the water flow out this bleed point till there is no more air coming out with the water, keep the rad full of water and you dont need to put the rad cap back on till the air has been bled out but keep the rad full of water all the time after all the air is out refill the rad or top it up put the cap back on and run the motor it should not show as hot as it was and the heater should work just fine

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  • Master 1,206 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 14, 2010
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Its your thermostat .i just had same problem with a nissan sentra.after replacing it make sure to run for about ten minutes with cap off so you get all the air out of the system,

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  • Posted on Nov 15, 2012
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Did miket756 solution work? Im having the same problem now. but mine is a 2004 Jetta 1.8T 4 Cylinder, 5 speed.

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  • Posted on Jan 27, 2010
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I have a 2004 VW Jetta GLS Sedan. I had an overheat problem going to work on a very cold day in the midwest a few weeks ago. I added distilled water to the reservoir and hoped it would get me home the 16 miles from work. It overheat again even though it was 11 o'clock at night and very cold. The VW dealer was closer at that time versus going all the way home to give it to my outstanding mechanic in my town. Next day, the VW service department called to say I needed a new water pump and temp sensor. $620.00 later I drove it out of the dealer glad that the engine had not burned up. One week later the check engine light came on, so I took it to my independent mechanic to fix that. I told him the overheat situation and later in the day he called to say that only the sensor had been replaced and that he would show me when I picked up the car why he knows the water pump had not been replaced! The alleged water pump replacement costed me $562.00. I am still trying to see the service manager, he is always in"meetings". Next call with be to the State Attorney General's office. I always had my car dealer maintained, but now I wondering if any work was done.

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