lanciabill

I am new to Audis and the D2 car. I have a 2002 S8.

I noticed that my car temp gauge hovers between two ticks on the gauge.

the thicker more prominent one at 11 o'clock seems to be where the needle is most of the time.

the needle does creep up to the next tick clockwise occasionally but does not go past it.

most of my Honda/Japanese cars I have owned always had the needle at one spot and it never budged.

Is this normal or not?

thanks in advance.

lanciabill

here is a pic in flight....

vwgti16vt

Not Normal!

I would guess you have not done the timing belt on your car yet?
Most likely, if you haven't done your timing belt yet, your thermostat is going out.

They tend to go out around the same time the timing belt need to be replaced 90k). Almost all shops replace it when the timing belt is being done since that is the only time you can get to it.

Your S8 in running pretty hot. Not blown head gasket hot, but hot.

The needle should be sitting right over the fat line (11 o'clock position)

I do know what you are saying about asian car temp gauges never moving. My 2000 40v A8 does move a little. I live in Arizona, and when its 120 degrees out, A/C blowing full power, and I am stuck in traffic it might move a little to the right of the thinker line on the gauge. But not to much. Maybe just before the next line to the right.

If it is your thermostat it will get worse as time goes on.

lanciabill

the car has 83k miles on it and the timing belt was done before I bought the car.

when I looked at the work order, I noticed that they reused the t-stat. (sounds foolish). so I imagine it could be.

the car has a new short block so I wonder if the technician screwed up the head gaskets or something else that would cause exhaust gas to build up in the cooling system (I guess I am fearing the worst).

could be the tstat as you mentioned. I will have it looked at.

roughyear

hmmm.. was that a recent TB change??? if so, see if you can get them to replace the thermostat under warranty.. usually its' 18month/18000 for a replacement like that.

tozoM8

Have them replace the coolant temp sensor too. It was a recall.

jfrahm

Aw, I replaced that sensor on my own nickel, maybe at 98K miles or so. I wonder if I can find the receipt?

My gauge was dropping, not climbing though.

The little clip for the sensor is pretty hard to find if you drop it behind the engine. I suggest tying a thread to the clip and tying the other end to Diora Baird.