s1ngletracker
08-22-2010, 12:46 PM
So I just put about 2000 miles on my 170k mile basically stock 93 TSi in the last week or so, driving out to colorado and utah. It was a lot of fun and I really love taking it on long trips. It has been pretty reliable to this point.
The problem came up in the heat of the day, both on the way out and back. in the 90+ degree heat and scorching direct sunlight, after having driven about 4 hours, with the AC on constantly (econ mode), and under a decent amount of load going about 80 mph, the temp started to climb.
At first it was just a bit, but it would get to the point eventually that it would start to get too high for comfort so I'd either scale back the speed or shut the A/C off and then it'd be fine.
As soon as the sun got lower in the sky and the temp cooled off a few degrees, the problem disappeared. Also worth noting is that every time I popped the hood when the car was hot, I'd hear a gurgling from the thermostat/radiator cap area. While I was out there, i replaced both, sound didn't go away. No visible external leaking.
If you've read this far, I imagine this problem won't be a big deal to me unless it gets a lot worse, as I typically don't drive it for more than 4 hours at a heavy load in a lot of heat... but it is still unnerving.
Brainstorm:
-Water pump? I hear they don't really start to go incrementally, they just totally fail. I could be wrong. I haven't replaced it, it may have been in the life of the car at some point.
-Coolant looks nasty, gonna flush it.
-Any other gaskets that could be failing?
-Could bent fins on the radiator cause this? The lower front fins on the radiator are all pretty folded.
-Don't think it is a radiator fan issue, when I'd slow it down and idle, the temp would go back down. Fans work fine.
other ideas?
Thanks in advance!
The problem came up in the heat of the day, both on the way out and back. in the 90+ degree heat and scorching direct sunlight, after having driven about 4 hours, with the AC on constantly (econ mode), and under a decent amount of load going about 80 mph, the temp started to climb.
At first it was just a bit, but it would get to the point eventually that it would start to get too high for comfort so I'd either scale back the speed or shut the A/C off and then it'd be fine.
As soon as the sun got lower in the sky and the temp cooled off a few degrees, the problem disappeared. Also worth noting is that every time I popped the hood when the car was hot, I'd hear a gurgling from the thermostat/radiator cap area. While I was out there, i replaced both, sound didn't go away. No visible external leaking.
If you've read this far, I imagine this problem won't be a big deal to me unless it gets a lot worse, as I typically don't drive it for more than 4 hours at a heavy load in a lot of heat... but it is still unnerving.
Brainstorm:
-Water pump? I hear they don't really start to go incrementally, they just totally fail. I could be wrong. I haven't replaced it, it may have been in the life of the car at some point.
-Coolant looks nasty, gonna flush it.
-Any other gaskets that could be failing?
-Could bent fins on the radiator cause this? The lower front fins on the radiator are all pretty folded.
-Don't think it is a radiator fan issue, when I'd slow it down and idle, the temp would go back down. Fans work fine.
other ideas?
Thanks in advance!