operating temp / gauge question...

[Arryn Milne]

I put a brand new Audi thermostat in last year, and when I'm on the 
highway, my gauge reads maybe a few millimeters over ¼ (I'll call it 
30-35%), much closer to the ¼ than ½ mark.

I guess a good question would be what is the coolant temp when the gauge 
reads "0".  Either way, I'm with Jim, better a little cool than a little hot.


At 11:21 AM 12/1/00 -0800, jim rose wrote:
>just told by a mechanic (vw/audi specialist - he is flushing coolant and 
>replacing hoses/tstat, etc) that its normal for the 5k qt's to show  1/4 
>mark on the temp gauge when cruising on the highway. it wasnt running this 
>cool until it got cool outside. in traffic the temp needle hovers right 
>above the halfway mark.
>
>is this correct /good advice? it seems that 1/4 of the gauge would be 
>cold.  this is, of course, based on no real information. only my 
>susperstition of where I think the needle should be : )
>T.I.A !
>
>jim