Engine Temperature Gauge

[SJFISHER67]

Over the last couple of days when it has been really cold, and i have been driving to work, a journey of about 15 or 20 minutes, my temperature gauge goes from cold to the middle mark, and if i am sat in traffic it drops to about quarter of the way down.

Is this normal on a Toledo TDi 130? I never noticed it on my old Ibiza TDi 100.

It looks like the engine is getting cold, but when i continue to drive it the gauge rises back to the middle.

Is the engine cooling down? Bearing in mind that the temp has been from about -2 to +3 - This gauge behaviour only happens when it is this cold.

Please help

Regards

SJF67

 

[mik]

It's normal mate

The TDIs have superb thermal efficiency, which is why they take so long to heat up, and why you're advised to have lights & rear screen demister on when scraping the car to give the engine an "electrical load" to work against ~ simply allowing it to idle won't allow it to reach temperature.

Unless the engine is warmed thoroughly (maybe 10mins at full temp) then temp will indeed drop when you are static in traffic.

 

[Jon TDI]

Mine does it on very cold days.
On the way to work, I drive about 5 mins thro' the town & then onto a dual carriageway. The engine warms up nicely to 90 degress. The traffic starts to build when I reach the next town - speed reduces & the temp gauge goes down to around 75 degrees.
It's a good 15 mins before the engine reaches normal temp.

 

[BigMon]

Sorry to rehash this old post, but I get exactly this in my 2004 Toledo 150 TDI. 10 minute drive, sit in traffic and the engine temperature goes down to about an eighth\quarter.

If this is normal I won't bother whipping it into the dealer then!

The only problem I have had is the "flashing red light" when it was about -2 the other day. It flashed all the way on my drive into work (about 20 mins) then stopped when I turned off, and restarted the car at some traffic lights.

I've tried scraping the sensors with a screwdriver yesterday. Hope this does the trick.

If the sensor has gone, are there any "cast iron" signs that I should look for?

Thanks in advance.