How long does it take for a TDI to get to operating temperture?

[diesel steve]

I have a 98 Jetta TDI and it seems to take too long to get to operating temperture. I mean 180-190. The previous owner had the thermostat replaced.The outside temp. has been in the upper 20's and it takes about 15 miles of city/highway driving or 20 min. for it to get to 180. When it gets there it stays there. The car does have heat and I don't think the thermastat is stuck partialy open. I had a 96 Passat TDI and it warmed up much faster.

 

[Ski in NC]

My 01 used to take 10mile of suburban 40-50mph to get to full temp. Replaced thermostat (the original) with a new one from idparts (the more expensive one) and now it takes 5mile of same driving to get needle to full temp. That's with car starting at maybe 50F so if it was 20F it would probably take another mile or two.

I bet your tstat, even if new, might be a cheapo and leaking by a little when closed.

 

[jtm02011]

Is your belly pan off? The pan provides insulation on cold days below freezing.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

That's pretty normal. Make sure your belly pan is in place. Also try blocking off the radiator grille with pipe insulation -- this makes a big difference in how quickly the engine warms up.

 

[slapshotjh]

At those temps is take my B4 6-7 miles at 40-50 mph to reach 195ish. A little quicker on the highway. I limit revs to 2500 until the temp gauge gets to the third tic mark from the bottom.

 

[TonyJetta]

My Passat, in <30F weather, takes about 10 miles to get up to operating temp. >40F, it takes about 3-5 miles. But, when it's up to temp, it stays there. VCDS shows it is steady +/-5C.

I don't think your thermostat is at fault, it's just cold outside.

As VeeDubTDI mentioned, pipe insulation may help the warm up, a little.

Tony

 

[Digital Corpus]

At those temps is take my B4 6-7 miles at 40-50 mph to reach 195ish. A little quicker on the highway. I limit revs to 2500 until the temp gauge gets to the third tic mark from the bottom.

Same for mine

 

[AJxr]

wow mine must be beyond shot. in 20 degree weather itll take a solid 20 miles to even get close to 160 degrees let alone full temp. dont think i ever hit it unless im towing on a long trip. and if i does get there when i stop and let it idle for 10 mins or so i goes right down below 160. time for a new t-stat. it was fine last winter.

 

[schultp]

wow mine must be beyond shot. in 20 degree weather itll take a solid 20 miles to even get close to 160 degrees let alone full temp. dont think i ever hit it unless im towing on a long trip. and if i does get there when i stop and let it idle for 10 mins or so i goes right down below 160. time for a new t-stat. it was fine last winter.

Yep, this is how mine acting last year. A new t-stat fixed it and increased the heater temp too...nice and toasty now!

 

[TonyJetta]

time for a new t-stat. it was fine last winter.

Like I keep telling my wife...Nothing lasts forever!

Tony

 

[turbodieseldyke]

takes my A3 about 7 miles at highway speeds @ 80F, to hit 195.

 

[mgyip]

As VeeDubTDI mentioned, pipe insulation may help the warm up, a little.

I like this idea but am having problems visualizing where one would mount pipe insulation to block off the grille - behind it? Photos?

My '97 Passat takes about 4 miles of in-town driving before the needle starts to move off cold. Then it gets to about 180 and stays there regardless of highway or city travel.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Scurvy has a how-to thread in the TDI 101 forum with good pictures and instructions.

 

[FlyGuy2480]

I have a 98 Jetta TDI and it seems to take too long to get to operating temperture. I mean 180-190. The previous owner had the thermostat replaced.The outside temp. has been in the upper 20's and it takes about 15 miles of city/highway driving or 20 min. for it to get to 180. When it gets there it stays there. The car does have heat and I don't think the thermastat is stuck partialy open. I had a 96 Passat TDI and it warmed up much faster.

Sounds perfectly normal to me, assuming you park your car outside (i.e. not in a garage) overnight. It's simply because the engine is so efficient at converting as much chemical energy in the fuel into mechanical energy pushing down the piston rather than heat energy being dissipated in the exhaust and block. Fortunately, VW routed the coolant to the heater core such that you can get warm air blowing into the cabin before the temperature gauge needle starts to move away from cold. For me, warm air starts blowing after driving two miles at 35 mph after parking the car outside overnight in 30*F temperature, and at that point, the coolant temperature gauge is still at cold.

How about installing a block heater? I am surprised nobody has suggested that yet. Frost Heater makes block heaters with custom hoses and installation instructions for almost all VW models. All you have to do with this kit is drain the coolant, replace some existing coolant hoses with the Frost Heater kit, and refill the coolant.

 

[schultp]

Sounds perfectly normal to me, assuming you park your car outside (i.e. not in a garage) overnight. It's simply because the engine is so efficient at converting as much chemical energy in the fuel into mechanical energy pushing down the piston rather than heat energy being dissipated in the exhaust and block. Fortunately, VW routed the coolant to the heater core such that you can get warm air blowing into the cabin before the temperature gauge needle starts to move away from cold. For me, warm air starts blowing after driving two miles at 35 mph after parking the car outside overnight in 30*F temperature, and at that point, the coolant temperature gauge is still at cold.

How about installing a block heater? I am surprised nobody has suggested that yet. Frost Heater makes block heaters with custom hoses and installation instructions for almost all VW models. All you have to do with this kit is drain the coolant, replace some existing coolant hoses with the Frost Heater kit, and refill the coolant.

I park my Jetta outside in 20F weather. It gets up to temp in about 7 miles of driving. It did exactly what the OP describes prior to my changing the thermostat. I also installed a frost heater but it only heats the coolant prior to driving. The OP clearly has an issue with engine temp not acting normal while driving. I again recommend a new thermostat. You will likely see a modest increase in fuel economy as well.

 

[98tdicolo]

Slow to heat up

You might check your coolant glow plugs. There are 3 in the housing on the drivers side of the head.

 

[diesel steve]

I put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator with 3 openings 1 inch wide and about 8 inches long and it made little differance. I put another piece in to block the holes I cut and seal the front completely the best I could. I still takes a long time to warm up,maybee a little faster but I noticed once it does warm up,the gauge sits straight up in the middle.I assume that must be 190 degrees and wthout the cardboard it was around 180 or 185. Also the heat is much better. I just have to keep an eye on the gauge and make sure it doesn't go past the middle notch.

 

[ToddA1]

This morning, the temperature gauge didn't make it past 160*, and I'm usually around 195*. The thermostat was replaced when I did the pump about 2 months ago.

This was the first really cold day that we've had and I only have a 7 mile commute to work. Lack of heat wasn't too great. While at work, I grabbed a cardboard box and a knife and blocked off the majority of the radiator from underneath the car. Poked some holes in the cardboard and attached to the air dam slots with some wire ties. About halfway home, I had full heat.

I don't really do much highway, so it shouldn't become an issue. On my IDI, I have to expose about 25% of the radiator, otherwise it starts running hot. Otherwise for in town driving, the radiator is blocked off 100%.

-Todd

 

[FlyGuy2480]

I put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator with 3 openings 1 inch wide and about 8 inches long and it made little differance. I put another piece in to block the holes I cut and seal the front completely the best I could. I still takes a long time to warm up,maybee a little faster but I noticed once it does warm up,the gauge sits straight up in the middle.I assume that must be 190 degrees and wthout the cardboard it was around 180 or 185. Also the heat is much better. I just have to keep an eye on the gauge and make sure it doesn't go past the middle notch.

I've noticed that the gauge on the dashboard tends to stay very well centered (on what I would also assume to be 190* F), so I don't trust it at all beyond determining when the engine reaches operating temperature. I have a Scan Gauge that I use to monitor the digital coolant temperature readout via OBD. When flooring the accelerator pedal on a steep uphill, the digital readout sometimes reaches as high as 215* F, and the needle stays right on 190* F. Conversely, when I am using engine braking down a long hill, the digital readout drops as low as 165* F, and the needle drops only a needle-width below 190* F.

On a Mk4 Jetta, I once had the problem that if the engine idled (i.e. waiting at a traffic light) for any longer than a minute, the coolant temperature gauge needle would drop all the way to cold. After a minute of driving, it would return back to dead center.

From this, I conclude that VW coolant temperature gauges are not infinitely variable, but rather have only a couple slots across the readout range within which the needle must fall to remain stationary.

 

[slapshotjh]

9 degrees in CT this morning, and it took 7 miles again to reach 195 (by gauge). So ambient temp doesn't seem to effect it much. I have MFA and at the 7 mile mark it indicated my average speed had been 35mph.

I replaced my thermostat last fall and it took forever for the car to warm before I did that.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

The subject of the factory temp "gauge" has been addressed many times. It's more of an idiot gauge than a real gauge... reading "190F" at any temperature between about 165 and 215. The gauge has a huge deadband to prevent dumb people from calling the dealer when the gauge moves up or down a little. Personally, I'd prefer a REAL gauge like my Mk2 has.

Speaking of the Mk2, it was pretty pissed this morning. 14F when I went to work... 7.5 mile commute... didn't reach full operating temperature. Granted I was taking it super easy and didn't get above 50 mph the whole way.

 

[diesel steve]

where would you install a mechanical gauge and still leave the factory gauge in place?

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Rather than a mechanical gauge, get a Scangauge. It's infinitely more useful for the amount of money that you're going to spend. It plugs into the OBD port and will display up to 4 engine parameters at any given time.

 

[Hollyfeld]

I just installed a scangauge and have spent a few hours on this site finding out that people are getting the same flucuations in temp as I am. I started to get concerned when the temp didn't go to 190* and started to fall to 155* sitting at a traffic light. Good to know it's normal.

Hey ToddA1 (fellow Jerseyan). Tuesday morning was bitter cold up in Sussex County and I did not like the way my Jetta started, so I ordered a Frostheater a few hours later. She usually warms up to temp before I get on the highways, but Tuesday was a different story.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

See this thread for more scangauge and temp data... http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=340142

Feel free to contribute if you're so inclined. I'd love to see how a PD behaves.

 

[schultp]

If you don't want to spend the money on a scangauge, consider an ultragauge. I have one in my Jetta. Gives me all the parameters I need and costs much less. They only sell online. www.ultra-gauge.com.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Never heard of the Ultra Gauge before... will have to check that out. For $70 it's a screaming deal, although most likely Super China.

 

[shadowguy]

Like I keep telling my wife...Nothing lasts forever!

Tony

Nope, not even the universe

 

[UFO]

In the winter weather it took almost 10 miles of driving to get up to temperature. Now it's less than 5. And it does not exceed the thermostat temperature at the end of the drive.

I expect it will have to come off when the weather warms again. Or if it rains.

 

[FlyGuy2480]

where would you install a mechanical gauge and still leave the factory gauge in place?

It's not a mechanical gauge. Scan Gauge is a trademark for a digital gauge that retrieves the engine parameters via OBD. I have it mounted on a universal cell phone dashboard friction mount.