[200q20v] Thermostat is bad?

[hah at srv.net]

>Both gauges are running much higher than normal in city driving.  I had
>owned the car for
>8 months and the temp gauges hardly ever moved between highway and city
>driving.
>Now they both go way up as soon as I get into stop and go type of driving.
>The coolant
>warning light and beeper go on occasionally.  I checked the fusible link 
and
>it appears good.
>I always remember hearing the fan kick in when I drive around town or sit
>idling for a period
>of time.  Now I don't seem to hear it kick in.  Probably where my problem
>is.  Just wondering
>what would fail to cause it not to kick in?

"No fan" is very scary! Start by checking the thermo-switch in the bottom 
of the main radiator, the big blue resistor on the frame rail underneath 
the main radiator, and the fan relays - did the fusible link "look" good, 
or did it show continuity with a meter? I would strongly recommend *not* 
driving the car until this is fixed...overheat = very bad news like 
sudden coolant loss from failed hose or radiator leading to head warpage, 
etc.

HTH
Henry Harper
http://www.srv.net/~hah
1991 200 quattro, 112k, not going to drive it until the A/C is fixed
1988 GTI 16v, 218k