Changing the thermostat on a v6

[mike ryan]

I have noticed my temp does not always come up as it should and i am putting it down to the cold weather. I have put some card over half of my rad and did not help much so as matter of course i am going to change the stat. I have seen the videos and read the tutorials which say i need to get the front of the car off and timing belt but my question is how much do you really need to get off? I mean bare minimum to change the stat. I would prefer to just do as little as possible because the belt has already been done so no need to get it all off.

Cheers Mike

:confused: :beerchug: :confused:

[iwaters]

You need to remove the bumper, put the front into service position, remove the viscous fan. Then remove the timing belt. You also need a variety of tools to lock the crank and cams in place when you remove the belt and when you re-install it. The camshaft sprockets are tapper fit onto the end of the cams so the tools are needed. I have heard of people doing it with paint marks, but I think you would have to be mental to try that, plus without loosening the camshaft sprockets you can't correctly set the inital tension on the belt.

PM me your email and engine code if you want the pages from the manual on how to do it.

[sbt]

hi mate i changed my thermostat on my 2.8 v6 its situated behind the timing belt but there is no need to remove the belt . the stat is behind a very thin aliminium plate and it is possible to remove by turning the belt verticle which then lets you slide the plate down exposing the stat. you do have to remove the front to gain access and also remove the auxhilary belt it took me about 3 hours from start to finish . one word of advice get yourself a genuine audi stat because you dont want to do this twice

[mike ryan]

hi mate i changed my thermostat on my 2.8 v6 its situated behind the timing belt but there is no need to remove the belt . the stat is behind a very thin aliminium plate and it is possible to remove by turning the belt verticle which then lets you slide the plate down exposing the stat. you do have to remove the front to gain access and also remove the auxhilary belt it took me about 3 hours from start to finish . one word of advice get yourself a genuine audi stat because you dont want to do this twice

Thanks for that I am going to leave it for a bit then as i am still not convinced it needs doing. It runs fine all the time just when its really cold as in the last week or so. It had a belt done within the last 20000 miles by audi so i will get in touch with them to see if they changed it then. Does anyone know weather the main dealer would do this as standard while they were doing a cambelt?

[mike ryan]

Has any body else had experience with this?

[yaman]

I have noticed my temp does not always come up as it should and i am putting it down to the cold weather. I have put some card over half of my rad and did not help much so as matter of course i am going to change the stat. I have seen the videos and read the tutorials which say i need to get the front of the car off and timing belt but my question is how much do you really need to get off? I mean bare minimum to change the stat. I would prefer to just do as little as possible because the belt has already been done so no need to get it all off.

Cheers Mike

:confused: :beerchug: :confused:

What temperature is your gauge reading?

In very cold weather, its normal to sit at 70.

If your heater is not pumping out as much as it used to, it
could be a partially blocked matrix.

Regards
Jim

[ike]

Jim,

Any dealer worth their salt would at the least, recommend renewing the thermostat at cambelt change. It is a very common problem. A good thermostat will keep the temp at 90. If it is 70 or less, it's duff simple as. Cold weather it will just be slower to get hot. And do get a genuine stat.

When mine went it sat at 60. Didn't want to leave it long as it started showing hint of cream inside cam cover due to excess condensate. All sorted as it was due a new cambelt at the time.

Ike

[yaman]

Jim,

Any dealer worth their salt would at the least, recommend renewing the thermostat at cambelt change.


I agree, and maybe they did, mikes not sure.

In these temperatures, in slow-moving traffic, it takes a
long time to reach 90, you could be below 80 for
half a hour.

Blocked matrix is still a possibility.

Regards
Jim

[mike ryan]

It will get to 90 degrees in certain driving conditions but other times it wont budge above 70. I did notice last night that whenn i turned my climate control down from hi to 24 it seemed to warm a little more quickly but still only got to 80-85. I have got half of the radiator covered to and in all my previous cars this has been enough to get it up to temp.

I have been on to audi just to see if they can tell me if it was changed but they are a bit useless. The previous owner has kept his private plate for his new audi and there system doesnt seem to be able to find my one.

I think that i will do it but i dont want to do it in these conditions and this is the time i it needs to be done. A bit of a chicken and egg situation. I think it is going to have to be a cold weekend with the front off my car.

[yaman]

It will get to 90 degrees in certain driving conditions but other times it wont budge above 70. I did notice last night that whenn i turned my climate control down from hi to 24 it seemed to warm a little more quickly but still only got to 80-85. I have got half of the radiator covered to and in all my previous cars this has been enough to get it up to temp.

I have been on to audi just to see if they can tell me if it was changed but they are a bit useless. The previous owner has kept his private plate for his new audi and there system doesnt seem to be able to find my one.

I think that i will do it but i dont want to do it in these conditions and this is the time i it needs to be done. A bit of a chicken and egg situation. I think it is going to have to be a cold weekend with the front off my car.

Normally, when people cover their radiator, it means they are not
getting heat into the cabin, now you say that you can turn the climate
down from 30 to 24, so I've been reading this wrong.

If your temp gauge is getting to 80-85 in this weather, its -10c
here tonight, you've got nothing to worry about.

Regards
Jim