Rrusse11
Veteran Member
Intermittently my ECT gauge in the instrument cluster starts to "bounce" around. It falls from the 12 o'clock position of 190 to usually around 9 o'clock. It moves quickly and erratically, not at all smoothly. It never goes over the the 190 reading. Throttle pressure, ie, more diesel, tends to bring it back up.
This afternoon I hooked up the laptop with VCDS running and ran the ECT monitor function, and as a check, the ambient temp as well. The car warmed up with no problems, ECT1 gradually climbing to 85C, ECT2 was slower to change but after a half hour of driving, stabilized at 45C. This with an ambient of 13C.
Of course the car knew I was testing, so the dash gauge remained rock solid at it's 190F TDC setting. Prior to warming it up and driving, I removed the airbox and eventually located the temp sensor on the engine and jiggled the wires. I did not remove them, I've still not yet mastered how the bloody clips work! And with it's awkward position, thought I'd just try the jiggle first.
My research indicates that the sensor in question has 2 feeds, one to the gauge in the dash, and one to the ECU, guessing here that the problem is in the sensor, and not the thermostat itself.
Neither of the parts are particularly expensive, IDParts has both for my CJAA engine, and the sensor replacement shouldn't be a big job, though I'm a bit unclear as to how difficult the thermostat replacement is.
Any input or experience on this issue appreciated.
Cheers,
R*2
This afternoon I hooked up the laptop with VCDS running and ran the ECT monitor function, and as a check, the ambient temp as well. The car warmed up with no problems, ECT1 gradually climbing to 85C, ECT2 was slower to change but after a half hour of driving, stabilized at 45C. This with an ambient of 13C.
Of course the car knew I was testing, so the dash gauge remained rock solid at it's 190F TDC setting. Prior to warming it up and driving, I removed the airbox and eventually located the temp sensor on the engine and jiggled the wires. I did not remove them, I've still not yet mastered how the bloody clips work! And with it's awkward position, thought I'd just try the jiggle first.
My research indicates that the sensor in question has 2 feeds, one to the gauge in the dash, and one to the ECU, guessing here that the problem is in the sensor, and not the thermostat itself.
Neither of the parts are particularly expensive, IDParts has both for my CJAA engine, and the sensor replacement shouldn't be a big job, though I'm a bit unclear as to how difficult the thermostat replacement is.
Any input or experience on this issue appreciated.
Cheers,
R*2