Re: Cold Weather Qattro Quirk

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

Thomas;

    If the thermostat is working properly, the engine will maintain it's
temperature down to very cold ambient temperatures (-60 or so depending on
engine design. At some point the heat loss through the block matches the
heat generated in the engine). The cardboard trick is more useful in keeping
engine bay temperatures up by restricting air inlet through a large front
mounted rad than it is for engine temp control. It's too easy to overheat
the engine if the ambient temp warms up too much and it's not great for the
rad to be subjected to the thermal stresses induced by a small cold section
immediately adjacent to the hot (blocked) section.
    I would suggest that you take a good look at your new thermostat - it
sounds like it is opening too soon or not closing properly. Is it hanging up
on something in the housing? Is it an Audi part or aftermarket? I have had
problems with aftermarket thermostats on other cars and now buy them only
from the dealer - a small price to pay for reliable temperature control. Is
it properly oriented? Some thermostats have to be installed "this side up".
They are usually labelled or marked with an arrow.

HTH

Fred Munro
'91 200q  264k km
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas Turse <tturse@ps-b.com>
To: quattro list <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
Date: Saturday, December 19, 1998 8:25 PM
Subject: Cold Weather Qattro Quirk


>Hi all, just got back from a nice, well-deserved vacation.  Couldn't find
>any good snow in Colorado though.  Oh well- it's coming.  Anyway, on this
>trip my car started doing something strange.  In the cold weather when I
get
>to speeds above about 50 mph, my temp gauge drops into the white marks at
>the very bottom and the heat in from the vents gets noticeably cooler.  The
>temp seems normal driving around town.  My mechanic said something about
>putting cardboard in between the radiator to stop the cold air from getting
>in- it's a new radiator.  The only problem is that it didn't do this last
>winter.  I just replaced the thermostat last week thinking this was a
>possible solution to no avail.  The temp here just dropped into the single
>digits and even with 3/4 of my radiator covered w/ cardboard it still
drops.
>It did seem to help a little.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
>as always.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Thomas C.  Turse
>85 4ksq
>Boulder, CO
>tturse@ps-b.com
>