Engine temperature gauge wrong?

[venomizer]

Just got my brand new Cupra 290 and the engine temperature gauge has some weird behaviour.

The 'basic' gauge on the left of the digital display will show cold at start-up but then suddenly jump to nominal (90deg) after about 20 seconds. But if I look at the monitor on the digital display itself that slowly rises up to 90-100deg over about 5-10 minutes as expected.

Will try and get a picture showing the difference shortly.

 

[LouG]

Mine doesn't do that. But I was surprised how fast the engine did reach running temps.

 

[TheLuckys]

The one on the left of your instrument cluster is not your engine temperature. Instead, it's the temperature of your coolant. Due to the design of the EA888 engine in the Cupra, the coolant heats up very fast (it's cooling the exhaust manifold).
The gauge on the center display is probably displaying the engine oil temperature, which will go up a lot more slowly. This temperature is much more indicative of your engine temperature.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[AndrewJB]

As above

 

[Damo H]

What others have said, but on my old 280 it clearly stated Oil Temperature. Weirdly the digital dash doesn’t give a digital version of the water temp, but my old 280 did on its little screen.

Water temp says 90 all the time when heated up. Never changes, even though its not always exactly 90 behind the scenes.

 

[venomizer]

Yeah you're right, the one for the left appears to be coolant and the one on the digital display is oil.

The coolant one literally jumps from one bar up to like 4 or 5 (whatever is the middle) in one go though which is why I was confused.

Also - is it normal for the radiator fan to stay running after a relatively short mild journey? I know it's warmish at the moment, but even running it at night and sensibly the fan will stay running for a few minutes after I turn off the engine.

 

[TheLuckys]

Mine also does this sometimes, although it's usually after a sporty drive. If your temps are normal while driving I wouldn't worry about it.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[bgb]

Yeah you're right, the one for the left appears to be coolant and the one on the digital display is oil.

The coolant one literally jumps from one bar up to like 4 or 5 (whatever is the middle) in one go though which is why I was confused.

Also - is it normal for the radiator fan to stay running after a relatively short mild journey? I know it's warmish at the moment, but even running it at night and sensibly the fan will stay running for a few minutes after I turn off the engine.

You may find it’s for the petrol particulate filter or whatever the new name is. It will run like a diesel and burn up like a catalytic converter every now and then.

 

[Seastormer]

Mine only come on after some hard driving if I have not slowed down early enough before reaching home. It is not often I hear them on, even in this hot weather.

 

[Deleted member 103408]

I like @Seastormer have the 280 and don't get the fan that much, normally only after i have been out on the track.

However its a know issue https://forums.seatcupra.net/index....ne-fans-on-after-journey.446988/#post-4802690 and seems (like most things) that the newer models are more sensitive than our older cars.

 

[venomizer]

I like @Seastormer have the 280 and don't get the fan that much, normally only after i have been out on the track.

However its a know issue https://forums.seatcupra.net/index....ne-fans-on-after-journey.446988/#post-4802690 and seems (like most things) that the newer models are more sensitive than our older cars.

Thanks, glad to know I'm not the only one!

 

[LouG]

The one on the left of your instrument cluster is not your engine temperature.
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

All liquid cooled engine temp readings are that of the coolant, except for oil cooled engines which are rare or even nonexistant now. The temperature of the coolant is the measure of engine temperature. The 300 has three temp readouts, one is for oil.

 

[TheLuckys]

All liquid cooled engine temp readings are that of the coolant, except for oil cooled engines which are rare or even nonexistant now. The temperature of the coolant is the measure of engine temperature.

I guess it depends on what you mean by engine temperature.

The temperature of the entire block is probably closer to your coolant temperature. The coolant will always be cooler than the block (when the engine is warm) though, otherwise it wouldn't be cooling the engine.

The ambient temperature within the cylinders is higher. Oil isn't cooled quite as much as coolant and as such more closely resembles the temperature of the warmer parts of the engine.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[LouG]

I guess it depends on what you mean by engine temperature.

The temperature of the entire block is probably closer to your coolant temperature. The coolant will always be cooler than the block (when the engine is warm) though, otherwise it wouldn't be cooling the engine.

The ambient temperature within the cylinders is higher. Oil isn't cooled quite as much as coolant and as such more closely resembles the temperature of the warmer parts of the engine.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

FFS. The horse is dead, stop flogging it. The coolant temp is directly related to engine component temps, which vary from component to component. The coolant temp is controlled by the thermostat. Remove that and all the engine will run cooler. Block it and the engine will overheat and seize.
You can touch the exterior block wall with your hand, but you couldn't touch the head of a piston. Cylinder temps vary with each stroke. How on earth can you measure piston head temps on a running engine for just one example.
The only example I can think of where a component has a sensor for temperature is the heads on aircooled aero engines.