Any car mechanics here? (aka My OH's car has developed a sense of humour...)

[Kestevan]

Was it raining?

Our car had a series of temperature fluctuations like this - but only when it had rained.. Eventually tracked it down to a faulty seal in the wing mirror. The water was running down the mirror and pooling in the bottom of the housing (where the temp sensor is located on a C4 Picasso) the water was playing merry hell with the sender. Reseated the sender and sealed with bathroom sealant and problem fixed.

I believe the temp sensor in a Passat is behind the front grill. Might be worth checking the wiring is intact/sealed. Failing that a new sensor should be easy enough to fit and would probably only be £20 or so from ebay (or £200 from VW).

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Was it raining?

Our car had a series of temperature fluctuations like this - but only when it had rained.. Eventually tracked it down to a faulty seal in the wing mirror. The water was running down the mirror and pooling in the bottom of the housing (where the temp sensor is located on a C4 Picasso) the water was playing merry hell with the sender. Reseated the sender and sealed with bathroom sealant and problem fixed.

I believe the temp sensor in a Passat is behind the front grill. Might be worth checking the wiring is intact/sealed. Failing that a new sensor should be easy enough to fit and would probably only be £20 or so from ebay (or £200 from VW).

no it wasn't trading at the time. my only other thought had been that I noticed the aircon was on when I drove into Chester this evening and if they happened to be anywhere near each other and it had a leak (gas wise) it could explain it but that seems a touch far fetched and it odds not a one of event. this evening was similar for a while then it resolved itself. Saturday am was cold and frosty but not the -18C it was recording then either... think OH is planning on using the car tomorrow rather than cycling so will not have chance to get under it before it visits the garage on Thursday sadly. shall have to see what they say just a local to his work garage and they won't repair anything they don't consider worth repairing. none of this the customer is always right malarkey!

 

[simon the viking]

cover the gauge the with a piece of black tape..........................Out of site.....out of mind......................problem solved

Did this with an airbag light once................

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

My advice: Get a car without a temperature sensor. In fact without any sensors. One that you can get home with a toolbox consisting of screwdriver, pliers, bit of spare wire (for electrical repairs or tying something up), and a set of points and condenser

Oh I miss the basics. Even my old-fashioned Skoda Felicia has a hall sensor. Which is always the thing that goes wrong. But at least a spare is only £20 and a 10mm spanner

Temperature sensor is thus: If the windows are iced up on the outside, it's cold. If the windows are iced up on the inside, it's bloody cold. If the door locks are frozen up then for a short journey, slip the yaktrax over walking boots and leave the 2 miles per hour crawling chaos to those with heated seats

 

[Bryony]

My OH is a mechanic he told me to show you this

 

[I like Skol]

My OH is a mechanic he told me to show you this
View attachment 43182

I was just going to add before I flicked to the above post. I have owned a 2005 130hp Tdi auto since 2010. It's a jolly good car but before buying I trawled the forums for info on common problems and the one BIG issue that came up was water in the passenger footwell messing with the central locking/alarm and body control ECU. The problem is that the scuttle panel void below the wipers (where the battery lives) can get blocked drains. This then fills with water and overflows into the passenger footwell.... where the body control ECU lives and most of the cars cabling is routed so you get a fried ECU and corroded wiring loom connectors.

It is now my twice yearly task to reach down into the engine bay and probe the drain grommet with my fingers then get the hose out and make sure the area is draining properly. It's tricky and just about reachable but you would be amazed at how much gunk can gather down there. apparently when they are really bad and the car is parked on a slope the right way the water can actually get into the brake servo and stop the brakes working. How VW got away without having to recall the cars to sort out the problem is beyond me but according to the reports on the owner forums the cost of repairs can scrap a car like yours and mine at the age they are now.

I don't want to scare you, hopefully your problem is just a faulty sensor

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I was just going to add before I flicked to the above post. I have owned a 2005 130hp Tdi auto since 2010. It's a jolly good car but before buying I trawled the forums for info on common problems and the one BIG issue that came up was water in the passenger footwell messing with the central locking/alarm and body control ECU. The problem is that the scuttle panel void below the wipers (where the battery lives) can get blocked drains. This then fills with water and overflows into the passenger footwell.... where the body control ECU lives and most of the cars cabling is routed so you get a fried ECU and corroded wiring loom connectors.

It is now my twice yearly task to reach down into the engine bay and probe the drain grommet with my fingers then get the hose out and make sure the area is draining properly. It's tricky and just about reachable but you would be amazed at how much gunk can gather down there. apparently when they are really bad and the car is parked on a slope the right way the water can actually get into the brake servo and stop the brakes working. How VW got away without having to recall the cars to sort out the problem is beyond me but according to the reports on the owner forums the cost of repairs can scrap a car like yours and mine at the age they are now.

I don't want to scare you, hopefully your problem is just a faulty sensor

luckily we know about that problem. water in the front passenger footwell is about the only place we don't have that problem! rear driver's door is leaking yet again in the last few days (but only in very small quantities) but there is a limit to how far a door can be tightened. I also regularly de-leaf the car of debris from such areas (my old mk 3 ford escort 1.6 ghia used to have this issue with a seal between the front wing, bonnet & windscreen & my old audi A4 used to have its own nature reserve around the same area if we didn't deal with it every couple of months...) Miss my old audi tbh, family friend now has it and she loves it - still we would not have been able to afford the fuel for it, she can

 

[perplexed]

Speaking of leaks, I had an old Renault once, which used to leak monumentally if left on a slope.

You'd open the rear door after heavy rain, and literally a gallon or so of water would pour out of the door itself...

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Speaking of leaks, I had an old Renault once, which used to leak monumentally if left on a slope.

You'd open the rear door after heavy rain, and literally a gallon or so of water would pour out of the door itself...

I used to live in the Lake District and anyone living where we did got used to driving through flood water routinely. On one of these occasions my best friend asked me how deep the flood water was - well I knew it was very deep, I was slipping the clutch and really pushing my luck keeping the engine revs as high as possible knowing full well where the air intake was and that the exhaust was well and truly underwater (it was my old ford escort mk iii 1.6 ghia) and I had to do this if we were to stand a chance of getting my 2 year old brother & 4 year old sister home. I had also not taken into account that for some unknown reason the child locks were not on... my little sister decided to find out how deep the water was and you can guess the rest. I was the only person unable to remove their feet from the flooded interior of the car! I was decidedly unimpressed!

 

[I like Skol]

I had also not taken into account that for some unknown reason the child locks were not on... my little sister decided to find out how deep the water was and you can guess the rest. I was the only person unable to remove their feet from the flooded interior of the car! I was decidedly unimpressed!

LOL. Used to do this on purpose when I had my off-road landrovers. If you got into a particularly deep bit of water (about 4ft+ would do it) you would lose traction due to the floating effect. The choice was to wait for the water to trickle in through the various missing door seal and grommets or open the doors and get it over with. Once sunk, traction returned and the journey could continue