1.6tdi thermostat

[Crasher]

Everything modern VAG is crap, the products they crank out these days are pieces of unreliable cripplingly expensive *****. When I work on a classic such as the S2 I am restoring and then work on a 5 year old RS6 which is falling apart, I feel despair… I want to go back to the eighties!

Another mechanic asked me yesterday which modern VAG would I buy and I replied “none of them”

[petrolhead63]

we would get on Crasher! we ran VAG Audi for over 30 years, wife still has one as she likes.....I have gone Jap....they just seem better, 5 years with a couple and no warning lights! also better to work on usually, little things like a panel in underguard to do oil change rather than an hour F....ing about with plastic junk panel, broken clips and missing screws!
Newest car we have as family is youngests 2024 A1 and it is as bad as others.
I have always run older cars to huge mileage, but struggling what to run now seeing as 10 year old cars are junk.
Interested what you are restoring...we have oldies, our S2 50/50 with eldest being an RX7 FB S2!

[Crasher]

I am building a 95 S2 Avant and an 87 Coupe quattro (2.5 conversion) for a chap to take home to New Zealand when he retires. I have restored a Golf 2 16v which I am building as a 3l VR6 turbo and various other projects waiting and multiple dozens of others over the last 42 years, many still out there, but I am going to have to retire one day even though I have at least four more in the queue now before I get to my own two, an 83 Golf 1 GTI and the best of all, a 72 1302LS automatic bug which I have owned for 42 years. My daily I have had seventeen years is a 200k mile 2003 Octavia VRS and that is as modern as I am going. This platform, PQ34, was the last of the great VW’S, Golf 5 (PQ35) came along and all went to ****; then again everything after Golf 2 sucked and if I am really open, I am air cooled at heart and even then it all went to dogs in 68 when they went 12V!

[petrolhead63]

nice, best Audi for build we ever had were the 1990 80 sport and the 2002 As 1.9tdi. All since have been rubbish by comparison other then my final A6 diesel estate. (c5?) that stat was a joke!

[Crasher]

We have a 1990 80 sport special edition here for the same customer, built like a tank but parts are a pain.

[petrolhead63]

yes the parts are a pain, it is a shame because the older Audi circa late 80's to early 2000's were superb.

[Roverfan]

My Golf 1.6tdi 2012 sits at 90 degrees, on a steady cruise, if the blower heater is not being used. On idle at cold start and heaters on it struggles to get off bottom of the temperature gauge although the heating does get warm enough for comfort, eventually. It concerned me enough to check it on scan tool a few years back and I had to conclude there was no fault because it was showing correct operation oscillating 89-90-89-90.

A fleet of 2016 Merc sprinters I drove would freeze you in the cab at extended idle!

Not too sure if this is similar to your A1's symptoms but hope it helps. I've found the diesels just run on the cold side unless pushed

[Crasher]

Although the temp gauge will read 90 at a real 77 and still read 90 at a real 116 then suddenly shoot up to max.