[V6-12v] Car not getting up to temp in winter...thermostat not the problem

[Austin Franklin]

Hi,

96 A4Q 12V, was not getting up to temp in winter, so I just put cardboard
over the radiator, and it worked great for the cold weather (I got heat, car
was at temp), and removed in the warm, works great as well.  I thought it
was the thermostat...and given that it's major surgery, I decided to do the
timing belt (car has 70k miles, and is 10 years old), water pump, pulleys
etc. as well as the thermostat.  All went well (KTR in Ayer, MA did all that
work for $300 and I highly recommend them, plus parts were $200 from
Shokan...they let me buy the parts) but the thermostat wasn't bad!

It ended up being the expansion tank cap wasn't venting.  It's supposed to
rattle when you take it off and shake it (like a PCV valve) to allow
pressure to escape...as the pressure will keep the thermostat open...so a
new $8 cap fixed the problem.  I needed to do the timing belt etc. anyway,
but I wish I had figured out the cap in the winter.

But, all is well now with the cooling.  On to the mirror and other minor
issues.

Regards,

Austin