Warning light on oil temp gauge?

Icecavern

Active Member
Jun 12, 2001
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Berkshire, UK
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This morning I started the car to warm up while I scraped the worst of the ice off the screen, when I got back in the car the temp gauge hadn't risen and the little light in the gauge was flashing.

The gauge started to rise as normal when I pulled away slowly but the light kept flashing. Then I stopped and restarted the car and it stayed out :confused:

Anyone know what this light means as I've not got the manual with me?

Pete
 

Icecavern

Active Member
Jun 12, 2001
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Berkshire, UK
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I think it's the same thing, a few people appear to have had this recently after scanning the forum. I think it's a sensor goign out of range due to the cold and the ECU throws a wobbly. If it was serious it wouldn't go away after a restart and I'd have had problems on my way in this morning as I was stuck in traffic for about an hour and a half.

Pete
 

Kam

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Jun 6, 2002
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Icecavern said:
I think it's the same thing, a few people appear to have had this recently after scanning the forum. I think it's a sensor goign out of range due to the cold and the ECU throws a wobbly. If it was serious it wouldn't go away after a restart and I'd have had problems on my way in this morning as I was stuck in traffic for about an hour and a half.

Pete

Really ... must cause all sorts of false alarms if I lived in Scandinavia then! Good old reliable VW sensors!
 

Cupra_Jeff

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Mar 8, 2005
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Icecavern said:
I'll see whether it happens again. But might be worth you bringing it next time we have a go at the cordy ;)

My ibiza had this intermittant fault, it turned out to be a sensor on the coolant expansion tank, I got a new fitted under warranty (you can't buy the sensor separately, although its quite a cheap part if your car is out of warranty) and it hasn't happened since.
 

Kam

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Jun 6, 2002
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Can the car still be driven if this sensor is fecked? I think the one in my car has gone :( Flashing red coolant temp warning but there is plenty fluid in the expansion tank!
 

vern

I Miss Her Below!
Jun 17, 2003
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Icecavern said:
I think it's the same thing, a few people appear to have had this recently after scanning the forum. I think it's a sensor goign out of range due to the cold and the ECU throws a wobbly. If it was serious it wouldn't go away after a restart and I'd have had problems on my way in this morning as I was stuck in traffic for about an hour and a half.

Pete
Pete my lcr once did this after being jacked up for an hour, to fit dog bone mount, even though level looked correct, through bottle, i added a few "egg cup" fulls, never did it again :) one thing, coolant expansion tank has to be replaced as sensor cannot be bought seperate, tis covered under warrenty though ;)
 

jetsetjimbo

a.k.a James
Jun 12, 2005
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J2 M5
I had the flashing water temp light this morning also and not having seen any of these threads before was understandably a little alarmed!! :wtf:

Is the general opinion that this is just a sensor our of range 'messing with the ECUs head' or is it actually a faulty sensor that needs looking at?

Just wondering if I should be taking it in to the Stealers? It's going for a service at Westec in a week... would it just be worth getting them to check it out? It dosen't seem that others with this issue are getting any errors in VAG-COM although I don't have access to it myself.
 

Bowks

Guest
I also had this warning last night - a loud beep and flashing red light in temp gauge in my LCR. i turned the engine off and started it again and all was ok. i'm guessing that the cold weather may have something to do with the sensor throwing a wobbly, the manual just states to check coolant level and mine seems to be ok.

If it keeps happening then a trip to the stealers is in order to get it replaced under warranty.
 

The Governor

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Nov 29, 2003
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Exact same problem on my car this week, the level is just above Min at cold and the engine gets to running temperature in the same amount of time as normal, plus it doesn't overheat so I'm not particulalrly worried.

I was going to top up but when I read the manual it starts banging on about G12, G11, G12+ for so long I wanted to kill myself.
 

Cheerserm

Guest
All,

I had this problem a few months back. After starting the car first thing in the morning, the water temp light would start flashing and the beep would go. The actual gauge hadn't moved and the level of fluid in expansion tank was spot on right. I had to retsart the engine a couple of times to clear it.

I turns out it was a faulty sender in the expansion tank (not sure if the sender is temp or fluid level related?). Apparently the sender cant be replaced alone, only as part of the whole expansion tank. The dealer replaced uinder warranty and said it was a common problem (they had two others on order at the same time due to the same problem!).

So i would get down to the dealers who should sort if in warranty. If not I believe the part / job isnt that expensive / difficult.

Cheers erm.....
 

CupraR-Rog

Just Cruising...
Jul 19, 2003
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CupraR-Rog said:
Less than a tenner for a new one if warranty's run out tho!! ;)
As I said earlier ;)

It's a problem, yes, but isn't going to break the bank to fix!!

Coolant wise, I bought Mobil 1 from Halfords. Confirmed to all the specs. Got a 5ltr bottle, and it did 2 coolant changes!
 
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