[Vwdiesel] overheating redux
S. Shourds
sshourds at flash.net
Mon Mar 13 00:52:38 EST 2006
This weekend, I finally lit a fire under myself and replaced the
thermostat in the TDI. Enthusiasm has not been high. I got it
together, changed the oil while I was at it, and started it up.
Everything looked fine. I drove it to a car wash to de-grease the
engine in the interest of tracking down a small oil leak. The
temperature was fine. I drove a few more miles and then hit the
entrance ramp on the highway. Just as I'm hitting warp speed and
beginning to merge with traffic, the dash starts beeping and flashing
"ABS". I also notice at this time that the temperature gauge is heading
straight to the red. I hook a hard right at the next exit and while
waiting at a yield to get back home, I reboot (shut off and restart) to
at least get rid of the ABS light. Curiously enough, at this point, the
temp needle drops to dead center. I drive a little ways farther on a
surface street, and the temp needle is going high enough to give the
overheat warning light. I shut off the engine so as to not overcook it
while I wait for a hole in traffic to dip into a parking lot. 30
seconds later, I restart, plow through a small hole in traffic, and look
down at the gauge: dead center. I pop the hood. Fluid levels normal,
upper hose too hot to handle, lower hose just a little above pleasantly
warm, the coolant fan is cycling on and off. The thought occurs to me
that the cooling system could be working fine and it could be an
electrical problem, particularly as it occurred simultaneously with the
ABS warning, which, when VAG-COMed indicates "Supply voltage at terminal
30 outside range, intermittent."
The sole caveat is that when the temp gauge went up, the first thing I
did was crank the heat to max. I never got any heat. I did, of course,
drain and refill the coolant system when I replace the thermostat. If
there was a bubble in the heater system, could that make a problem on
these lines? I know the IDI engines were bad about getting bubbles, but
I don't know about the TDI. Everything's so strangely different (they
take the same thermostat, though). I did fill according to
instructions: slowly into the reservoir, warm up the engine, cool, and
top off. I had coolant at the upper hose. I wasn't getting solid flow
at the coolant reservoir hose. At least I don't think so. The memory's
vague on that point.
As far as the electrical concerns, the CD version of Bentley won't let
me see the wiring diagrams. It just chokes. Anyone had that happen?
So the questions: I've filled and drained this thing a couple times
before and had no problems. Anyone know where a bubble might be hiding?
Anyone know if the ABS connection to
"terminal 30" and the temperature sensor pass through a common
junction? I've already had a few problems with the harness right under
the drip shield between the wipers--there's
a big hole in it someone cut to access that junction.
Anyone else had problems with the Bentley
wiring diagrams? The computer's really flaky anyways so who know what
the problem there is.
BTW, my DVD drive won't give me any sound when I try to watch a movie
and even my oven popped an error code, so it's just sort of been like
that lately. I'm thinking of running away and joining the Amish. Of
course then, my chickens would get bird flu.
-Shalyn
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