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View Full Version : 1996 a6 temp guage and heater problem



hoppouk
16-12-2009, 01:08 AM
hi all,im having temp guage and heater problems with my a6 abc engine.

Basically the temp hardly moves above the first 3lines on the guage tho the engine gets warm.

Also the heater works fine when moving but when sat stationary,it runs cold until the fans kick in and then the heater blows hot.


Any ideas anybody,im hoping not the thermostat..:(


Also,forgot to say the fans kick in and stay on for what seems an age,compared to my other a6 same year and engine.

bubi
16-12-2009, 12:37 PM
Are you sure that engine is not warm? Try to measure its temperature. Maybe the probleme is in the gauge itself. Same thing happened to me, new gauge solved the problem.

hoppouk
20-12-2009, 06:58 PM
the engine is warm but doesnt seem hot,nor does the pipe going from the coolant tank to the radiator,though the temp gauge goes to normal after a while.the heater blows cold yet the engine fans kick n at such a speed the battery level drains and they stay on for ages and ages.ideas anyone,thermostat stuck open perhaps???????????????????

Crasher
21-12-2009, 01:15 PM
Does yours have one electric fan and a viscous fan or two electric fans? What year is yours and is it manual or auto? If you allow the car to stand, does the gauge go up to half way and the heater get hot?

hoppouk
21-12-2009, 01:28 PM
hi crasher,its 96 a6 auto abc engine with 2 electric fans.

When sat on the driveway yesterday the guage did go up to 90 eventually,tho when at 90,i put the heating up to hi and manual fans up to full and the heating blew out cold,then when revving the engine the heater temp got slightly warm.
After about 30mins of the engine running,the engine fans cut in and seemed to go on for an age before slowing down,but they didnt shut off until i turnrd the ignition off.

The car has had a new cambelt water pump and thermo 4000 miles ago,tho the guy i bought the car off said he did have matrix probs before and the matrix was backflushed then ran hot.
the car when i bought it a week ago had been sat for a few weeks..

Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.
regards.

Crasher
21-12-2009, 02:18 PM
Unfortunately I don’t have a wiring diagram for that car which makes working out why the fans are seemingly overrunning more difficult. I suspect you have a problem with the radiator fan switch or one of the fan control relays but without the wiring diagram I am a bit stuck. The coolant should not over cool through even if the fans run continuously and what you have could be a faulty thermostat but I suspect the matrix may be blocked.

hoppouk
21-12-2009, 02:36 PM
ok crasher,many many thanks for your reply,is the car still ok to drive,albeit its on my drive and wont be taxed till the new year now?

And as i have a another a6 which is the same and runs fine tho it needs too much mechanical work for the next mot,is it possible to swap the heater matrix over before i scrap or sell the one a6 for spares and repairs.

Crasher
21-12-2009, 02:47 PM
The cost of the matrix itself isn’t the issue, it is the work required to change it. If the engine runs too cool it can cause the ECU to over fuel the engine which does not do the engine, cats and lambda sensors any good at all.

hoppouk
21-12-2009, 03:09 PM
as im not a mechanic then is it from what ive read in the forums,a case of getting it into an indy,and the whole dashboard etc comes out,so im looking at huge labour costs?

Crasher
21-12-2009, 03:12 PM
It is a long time since I did one of those but I remember the last one taking me two days and all the bits took up a lot of bench space.

hoppouk
21-12-2009, 03:27 PM
exactly,lol,a lot of labour involved.Im wondering if vagcom would show up any faults first before changing the matrix.Im in rugby,not all that far from yourself,but im wondering if you know of anybody on here whos localish with vagcom just to do a diag test first?

Crasher
21-12-2009, 04:09 PM
I doubt a scan will be of help, this is a circulation problem.

hoppouk
21-12-2009, 11:28 PM
ok thanks for that,was just wondering if the diag would bring up a faulty fan switch or relay etc..

Crasher
21-12-2009, 11:31 PM
Not as far as I know.

hoppouk
21-12-2009, 11:45 PM
ok,thanks crasher,looks like il be booking the car in for the new year somewhere.

is that link of yours a direct link to that site,id be more than happy to make a donation/and thanks to your time and patience in replying.

Regards